MAN UNITED’S PLAYERS look drained of passion and lack real quality, according to former club captain Roy Keane.
United’s 3-2 defeat at Wolfsburg, combined with PSV Eindhoven’s late comeback against CSKA Moscow, sent the Red Devils out of the Champions League on Tuesday and into the Europa League.
Keane, who won seven Premier League titles during his time in Manchester, is unimpressed by the return on a financial outlay by manager Louis van Gaal that has topped £300 million and says United’s squad remains devoid of “special” players.
“Man United have a lot of good players, there’s no getting away from that, I just don’t think they’re good enough for Man United, I really don’t,” Keane told ITV. “I think they lack real quality.
“You look at the recruitment, they’ve thrown decent money at it, no special players at the moment. When you think of Man United you always associate them with one or two special players who can produce. They seem to be lacking a few characters, a few leaders.
He added: “I think managers get too much credit when things are going well and too much criticism when things aren’t going so well. There’s a lot of experienced players like Carrick, Schweinsteiger, De Gea and it’s up to them to help the younger players.
“They’ve spent so much money it’s untrue.”
Van Gaal’s position has come under increased scrutiny on the back of United’s failure to progress in Europe but Keane believes the players must take responsibility.
“The manager’s getting a lot of criticism and I think the players are hiding behind that,” he said.
People talk about the tactics and the systems but it’s about the players as well. The goals they conceded from the set-pieces, forget about tactics and the systems, that was just about doing your job.
“They’re almost robotic. We talk about tactics and systems, sometimes [you need] a bit of passion, desire, Man United players showing a bit of character.”
