Former Man Utd skipper and defender Roy Keane has gone viral for his trademark no-holds-barred response when asked how far Man Utd are from winning the Premier League title.
Keane’s instant reaction was priceless when the question was put to him regarding Manchester United chances on winning the Premier League title after Erik ten Hag’s side lost 2-0 to Tottenham on Saturday.
Having been largely fortuitous to overcome Wolves 1-0 in their opening match of the 2023-24 Premier League campaign last Monday as Wolves were denied a late penalty when substitute Sasa Kalajdzic was clattered by United goalkeeper Andre Onana, Raphael Varane scored the only goal of the game to give the Red Devils their first three points for the new season.
The Red Devils then continued with another underwhelming performance at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium this weekend, while Pape Sarr put Spurs 1-0 up early in the second half before Lisandro Martinez’s own goal in the 83rd minute wrapped up the game for good.
Keane was on punditry duties for Sky Sports and described Man Utd as the “new Spurs” shortly after the final whistle, adding: “Desperate, absolutely desperate. I always think about teams who can’t do it away from home or players who aren’t up for it away from home. United go away today, second half, weak, no leadership, give bad goals away.
“It’s easy to play against Man Utd also, I said before the game they were poor against Wolves but they got the result and they’d be better today. They weren’t. You’ve got to show some belief, desire, fight.”
Keane went viral on social media later in the evening for his response when asked how far Manchester United are from winning the Premier League title as it’s been a decade since United were last crowned the league champions and Keane believes the mere suggestion that his former club could compete for this season’s title is ludicrous.
Sky presenter Dave Jones popped the question: “Roy, on this evidence, how far are Manchester United from the title?”
An emphatic Keane promptly replied: “Oh, title? Forget about it. You’re in cuckoo land. Forget about it. For titles? No chance. Not with their record, with their set-pieces, lack of goals – they need to get a striker in, so Marcus [Rashford] can go out wide. The wide players are fizzy drinks – no good to you away from home.”
Although it’s clearly still too early in the season to make a reading of the tea leaves, it’s hard to argue when a seasoned campaigner like Keane makes such a compelling, albeit damning, assessment of the club. Ten Hag’s side did look like they are currently a million miles behind title-favorites Manchester City, who made it two wins from two with a 1-0 victory over Newcastle United on Saturday evening despite clearly not being at their dynamic best.
The Red Devils also look a long way behind the likes of Liverpool, Arsenal, Newcastle and Brighton when it comes to performing as a united, galvanized team.