Roy Keane, known for his old-school, no-prisoners style of punditry, absolutely tore into a Manchester United player during his post-match analysis for Sky Sports. It came after the Red Devils suffered their eighth consecutive Premier League match without a win on Friday night, with Marc Cucurella scoring the only goal in a 1-0 Chelsea victory.
Though the former United captain has often insisted he holds no emotional ties to his old club from a supporter’s standpoint, his modern-day grumblings rarely stray far from the chaos unfolding at Old Trafford. Loyalty or not, Keane has never had much patience for mediocrity, and when the bar drops, so does his hammer, and so he simply can’t resist weighing in on United’s ongoing demise.
Their 18th league defeat of the campaign now guarantees that Ruben Amorim’s side will finish at least 40 points behind arch-rivals and 20-time English champions Liverpool. They’re also staring down the barrel of their worst Premier League voyage to date – fewest wins, most losses, and a points tally that scrapes the club’s rock bottom since the division’s 1992 rebrand. While there’s blame enough to go around, it was Rasmus Hojlund who bore the brunt of Keane’s fury this time around.
Roy Keane Tore Into Rasmus Hojlund After 1-0 Chelsea Loss
The Irishman compared him to an academy player during his verbal lashing
Though Amorim was surprisingly quick to heap praise on his striker’s supposed improvement in recent weeks, the numbers from Friday night suggest he doesn’t have a leg to stand on when it comes to his continued faith in Hojlund. In his 90-minute appearance, the Dane didn’t register a single shot, failed his only dribble attempt, lost possession 13 times, and completed just 11 passes.
His performance was a world away from what supporters envisioned when he arrived from Atalanta for upwards of £64 million in 2023. His temerariously dishevelled showings in front of goal have left much to be desired – evidenced none more so than the fact he’s now gone scoreless in 27 league matches during the 2024/25 campaign. Unsurprisingly, Keane was quick to turn him into a verbal punching bag. He said (see the full segment below):
“They’ve [Man United] got no striker. [Rasmus] Hojlund looked like a young kid who’d just come from the academy. His runs weren’t right, his timing, his hold-up play.
“We keep making excuses for him – his confidence – but if you’re a striker, you have to make some things happen sometimes. Man United have always had strikers that can do something by themselves, even when they are not getting service.”
Keano clearly wasn’t prepared to give the Denmark international the same level of patience as his manager. Perhaps that’s just one item on a long list of reasons United have failed to rediscover their old sheen from the Sir Alex Ferguson era. The Red Devils have become walkovers these days, shadows of their former selves, and it’s painfully clear their standards have slipped to unforgivable lows.
Long gone are the days of Eric Cantona, Wayne Rooney, and Ruud van Nistelrooy. The modern incarnation of Man United seems to hinge on overly patient managers who settle for second best. The culture has shifted dramatically, and it’s a sorry sight for those who once saw the club as the darlings of English football.
If they fail to get anything from their final-day showdown against Aston Villa, they’ll end this campaign without even cracking the symbolic 40-point mark, which was once considered the safety net from relegation, but now serves as a yardstick for how far the mighty have fallen.
That said, some will argue United’s full focus lies on Wednesday’s Europa League final, where a win against Tottenham at Bilbao’s San Mames Stadium would grant them a backdoor entry into next season’s Champions League – a last-chance saloon for a club running dangerously low on prestige.
