Manchester United quick to get their Premier League season off to a winning start, but that didn’t suffice to keep their former captain Roy Keane from suggesting there is still room for improving further after their tense 1-0 win against Fulham at Old Trafford.
Joshua Zirkzee was obviously coasting through his midsummer night’s dream debut as the summer signing came off the bench to earn United a late victory, as he lethally stabbed home a 87th minute winner.
The victory was likely a much-needed relief for United manager Erik ten Hag, who spent the first half of this summer tensely waiting to discover if he would get the official nod from Sir Jim Ratlciffe and his Ineos board to continue in his role as the gaffer.
Immediately after the match, Keane in his usual blunt manner told the former Ajax manager he needs to “keep on winning”, as he spoke directly to the United manager on Sky Sports.
Host Kelly Cates had actually offered Keane a chance to join the debate with Ten Hag and the former United skipper suggested he was happy to sit back and just listen, inspiring a slightly cheerky Ten Hag to say provocatively: “Oh, so you don’t want to spoil the vibes, no?”
Responding to the smiling Dutchman’s comment, Keane replied: “Not tonight. There is a good vibe going on. Next week, I’ll be waiting! Just keep winning, it’s easy, it’ll be no problem.”
To which Ten Hag replied: “It’s so simple!”
Keane asked Ten Hag about his transfer plans in the final days of the transfer window and the United boss seemed clearly guarded in his response.
“We cannot stand still, but also it depends on what happens in the market,” added Ten Hag.
“I’m happy with the squad and when we have this squad I am quite confident going into the new season.”
Keane also urged United to show a more ruthless streak, after they struggled to break Fulham down at Old Trafford.
“United need to punish teams more but hopefully that will come,” he added. “ Of course, there’s positivity there but they can’t reproduce what they did last year which was nowhere near good enough. They need to show personality.
“United have to show skill and try to win football matches and not focus on what’s going on in the background. The players need to turn in week in, week out – not just when they fancy it.”
Keane’s former United team-mate Gary Neville added to the ambient mood of optimism around United with some notes of caution.
“The squad is better, there’s no doubt about that as they were embarrassing and pathetic at times last season. You didn’t know what was going on,” said Neville.
“The manager must have felt he was going to get sacked and then the Man City game [in the FA Cup final] changed everything. There will still be pain along the way this season.
“They can’t be as bad as last season. A lot of change, off and on the pitch at Manchester United, there is a new hierarchy.
“There is a new profile of player that the club are signing – I’m optimistic about that. But I do think there will be some pain along the way, there are still questions to answer. Not just for the club, but for Erik ten Hag as well.
“The FA Cup final threw people, it threw us all, because most were prepared for Ten Hag to leave. The club flirted with other managers and it probably didn’t go as well as they thought.
“Most Manchester United fans had got to a point, especially after the FA Cup final, where they wanted Ten Hag to stay. The idea that Ten Hag can have another season, with hopefully more of a stable structure around him, might actually pay off.”