IT IS JUST over three years since Roy Keane gave a scathing assessment of the state of Manchester United.
Speaking on Sky Sports in the aftermath of a 6-1 defeat to Spurs in October 2020, the former Ireland assistant said: “I’ve been saying it for the last 12 months, year and a half.
“Their performance against Spurs was disgraceful. You all have bad days in football, but some of the players were a disgrace to the Man United badge.
“There are too many bluffers, and ultimately these players will cost Ole his job. The players he has got there, they threw the previous manager under the bus, and they will do the same to Ole.”
Keane’s theory that the players rather than the manager are the big problem at United is ageing well.
On Monday, Sky Sports News reporter Kaveh Solhekol issued the following update on current manager Erik Ten Hag.
“My information is that some of the players are confused with what is happening. He has lost elements of the dressing room. One source tells me that he’s lost about 50 per cent of the dressing room. Quite a few players are unhappy with the style of play, they also feel that they’re training too hard and that they’re running too much during training. I was told that the players don’t know what they’re running for.
“Also, some senior players have spoken to Erik ten Hag about where they feel the club is going wrong. They’ve spoken to him about their other experiences of playing for big clubs, and they feel that the manager should be a little bit more touchy-feely.”
At this point, it feels as if the club has descended into self-parody.
The trajectory has nearly always been the same since the appointment of David Moyes, who didn’t even have the luxury of a honeymoon period.
Louis van Gaal, Jose Mourinho, and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer all had a positive impact initially where it seemed as if they were turning things around, only for it to ultimately go pear-shaped after a decent first season.
Here is part of a Guardian report from 2014…
David Moyes faces a fight to convince several senior Manchester United players of his credentials following the dismal form that has resulted in three consecutive defeats for the first time in 13 years.
The Guardian can reveal that some within the dressing room are unsure of Moyes’s ability to reverse a sequence that includes a league defeat by Tottenham Hotspur, being knocked out of the FA Cup by Swansea City, and Tuesday’s 2-1 loss at Sunderland in the League Cup semi-final, first leg.
When Moyes was appointed as Sir Alex Ferguson’s successor at the close of last season he brought in his own coaches – Steve Round, Phil Neville, Chris Woods, and Jimmy Lumsden, and also appointed Ryan Giggs – while discarding the existing backroom staff of René Meulensteen, Mike Phelan and Eric Steele.
This move is being privately questioned by some within the squad who were happy working with a group that had helped Ferguson oversee part of the most successful period in United’s history. According to well-placed sources, there is a bemusement among a number of players, with a strong sense forming that as United won the title by 11 points last term there was little need for Moyes to undergo a complete revamp of a set-up that had a proven winning structure.
Below is an excerpt from a report in the Independent in 2016.
Members of Manchester United’s first team are believed to have turned on manager Louis van Gaal in the aftermath of the 3-0 defeat by Tottenham after questioning his decision to deploy England midfielder Ashley Young as a lone striker.
Young came off the substitutes’ bench to replace 18-year-old striker Marcus Rashford at half-time after Van Gaal was left unimpressed with the teenager’s contribution, but instead of moving Anthony Martial to his favoured role as the lead attacker and place Young on the left, he left Young up top on his own.
This drew widespread criticism from United players who felt Van Gaal’s tactics were once again hindering United, and they went on to concede three second-half goals inside six minutes to suffer a major blow to their top-four hopes.
And check out another Independent report on the final days of the Mourinho era in 2018.
Jose Mourinho gave his squad a loud dressing-down in the hours before Manchester United’s 2-2 draw against Southampton.
While the Portuguese’s castigation of Paul Pogba has received most attention in the aftermath of that latest slip-up, as he reportedly called the midfielder a “virus”, it has emerged that the Old Trafford boss ranted at his players in the hotel before the match too.
Some were described as “spoiled”, although a handful were spared criticism.
It all reflects a hugely tense situation at the club again, that has seen them go three league games without a win, ahead of the visit of Arsenal on Wednesday.
Mourinho’s relationship with his squad is described as “hugely difficult” right now, with one senior player saying he’s never experienced anything like it in his entire career.
And below is part of a Telegraph article from 2021.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s dwindling authority at Manchester United has suffered another severe blow with a deflated dressing room losing faith in the manager’s ability to take the club forward.
Solskjaer remains well-liked on a personal level by the players and there is none of the toxicity that marked the end of Jose Mourinho’s reign as United manager, nor is he an unpopular figure among the squad like Louis van Gaal.
But a calamitous past week, during which time United conceded 11 goals in three games and were humiliated 5-0 by great rivals Liverpool, has only deepened the feeling in the dressing room that Solskjaer has outstayed his welcome and that change is necessary if the club is serious about challenging for the biggest trophies.
Solskjaer’s tactical acumen, selections, reluctance to make big decisions and indulgence of underperforming players and star names have all been called into question by players as United’s season unravels.
And finally below is what The Mirror published during the last days of Ralf Rangnick’s tenure.
Ralf Rangnick has reportedly lost the Manchester United dressing room after making a string of decisions which did not go down well with his underperforming players.
After it emerged that substitute Jesse Lingard had labelled the Old Trafford dressing room a “disaster” following their frustrating 3-1 defeat away to Arsenal, interim manager Rangnick is continuing to make himself unpopular with the Red Devils’ players. Mirror Football understands that the acclaimed German coach has privately branded his squad “selfish” and now the Times say that the dressing room has been described by sources as ‘toxic’, and ‘devoid of belief and confidence’ as the close on the campaign nears.
That downbeat mood is the result of a host of factors, including the claim that a selection of players have not been convinced by Rangnick and his staff since their arrival in December following the sacking of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, whose decisions were also said to be criticised by the squad.
It is added that one senior player had already made up his mind regarding Rangnick and co’s credentials by January, as United narrowly kept themselves in the race for Champions League football. But in recent weeks, a sourness has returned within the camp, with problems on and off the pitch coming to the fore during last Tuesday’s 4-0 hammering at the hands of arch-rivals Liverpool.
Even the banning of four journalists by United today has a touch of deja vu about it — in October 2018, the club banned The Mirror’s David McDonnell for suggesting Mourinho was set to be sacked. Two months later, the Portuguese coach departed, while McDonnell was once again among the quartet barred from entry today owing to the aforementioned negative Ten Hag story.
Keane, meanwhile, also made some intriguing comments at the weekend as part of Sky Sports’ Premier League coverage, when speaking about the relationship between players and managers.
“I think it depends on the personalities of the manager and whoever the captain of the club might be,” he said. “I don’t think it has to be as cosy as what they’ve got going on there [at Tottenham] — obviously, the manager has only been in the door a few months — but from my own experience, I never had any cosy relationship with any of the managers I worked for.
“I didn’t believe in it, it just didn’t suit my personality. Even when I went to Forest with Stuart Pearce or particularly when I went to United and saw some of the senior players and the captains, most mornings they would be going up having a chat with the manager and a cup of tea but that was never for me, I never believed in being pally or close to any of the managers I worked with.”
On Alex Ferguson, he continued: “People like to say we had a good relationship, I think I had two or three really private conversations with the manager during my time at the club, it was a case of get on with it, do your job, go out and perform week in, week out, and be a good pro around the place.
“The manager gives you the captaincy for a reason. It doesn’t mean to say you’re having cosy chats and cups of tea in the morning with a few biscuits, that never worked for me and I’m glad I was never really close to a manager like that.
“It’s just my opinion, there’s no need for it. Why get close when you know at some point they’re going to make tough decisions and, as I found in my experience when you think you’ve done well for them and they throw you under the bus anyway, but that’s for another day.”
The above comments may come across as very uncharitable to Ferguson, but really, Keane was speaking about himself.
To the Corkonian, the identity of the manager did not influence his performance — he produced some of his best Ireland displays during the Mick McCarthy era, a coach he didn’t see eye to eye with, to put it mildly.
The former United captain did not need any external motivation to be at his best.
It was all about taking personal responsibility and that obsession with self-improvement is what drove the Red Devils to so many titles in that era.
Whereas Keane was quick to point to himself and his teammates for any failures, the current group too often seem unwilling to look in the mirror when the going gets rough.
The United legend recognised this fatal flaw three years ago and he sees it now too.
The culture of winning synonymous with the Alex Ferguson era has become a culture of excuses.
Upcoming Premier League fixtures (kick-offs at 19.30 unless stated otherwise):
Wednesday
Brighton v Brentford
Crystal Palace v Bournemouth
Fulham v Nottingham Forest
Sheffield United v Liverpool
Aston Villa v Man City (20.15)
Man United v Chelsea (20.15)
Thursday
Everton v Newcastle
Tottenham v West Ham (20.15)
