Roy Keane and Gary Neville have given their candid views on Manchester United’s struggles this season regarding the lack of on-pitch harmony throughout the current United team, which has worried both former players considerably.
The former United stars are in agreement that there is something greatly amiss at the club dressing room amid their struggling battle for the top four. The Red Devils have struggled this season, trailing bitter rivals Arsenal and Tottenham in the race for the Champions League.
Before the United game with Brentford kicked off, the Red Devils trailed the Gunners by a horrific eight points, with only nine available from their final three games. Spurs are also ahead of them which means they would need a massive, miraculous pendulum swing of results in their favor to finish fourth.
With Ajax manager Erik ten Hag announced as their new manager, the club are all set for a rebuild over the summer, with Mikel Arteta praising the Dutchman after the appointment:
“I think he’s [Erik ten Hag] been really good at what he did a couple of years ago in the Champions League, especially the way his teams play. It’s a Man United decision, and there’s nothing more to say.”
Clearly there could be quite a bit to do to close the gap between both Arsenal and Spurs heading into next season. However, former club captain Roy Keane points a finger at the dressing room as one of the main causes for the disharmony on the pitch this season.
Speaking on Sky Sports, he said: “For the all issues they have, the chaos seems to be all over the club. If you haven’t got a decent dressing room, forget about it, you’re in trouble anywhere.
Reports of a toxic atmosphere inside the Old Trafford dressing room have been rife amid their alarming slide in form and results. Keane feels the the instability off the field is among the factors leading the players to “throw the towel in” which, he said, is a very worrying sign.
He told Sky Sports: “For the all issues they have, the chaos seems to be all over the club. If you haven’t got a decent dressing room, forget about it, you’re in trouble anywhere.
“We’ve seen with Man United, when things go against them, that’s it, they almost throw the towel in. It’s a bad reflection of senior players at the club.
“Young players getting carried away and thinking they’re players. A bad dressing room, forget about it, you’ve got no chance.”
Keane’s former team-mate Neville was quick to agree that there was a “sour’ atmosphere around the club, and admitted he doesn’t quite know the root cause of where it stemmed from.
He added: “You can point to Ole, maybe reaching his height and he couldn’t go any further – and got, not sick of the message, but stale and didn’t believe he could take over Jurgen Klopp or Pep Guardiola.
“Or, something has disrupted that dressing room, they’ve put the wrong ingredient into the dish and it’s made it go completely sour. That’s the bit that has to be dealt with because these players, they’re not as bad as that points tally that they’ve got on that board.
“They’re better than that. There is something deeper that is wrong in that dressing room that’s making them play the way they are and making them get results they’re getting.”