MY ACCOUNT
Roy Keane could not understand Michael Carrick’s praise for his Manchester United players after a 1-1 draw at Chelsea on Sunday.
United battled to a point away at the Premier League leaders, following up a 2-0 win at Villarreal in Carrick’s first game as interim manager.
The former midfielder is set to be replaced by Ralf Rangnick – another interim appointment – but was encouraged by their display, even as they attempted just three shots. United last had as few as three attempts against Manchester City in April 2017.
There was certainly a shift in United’s approach from their previous league game at Watford, the 4-1 defeat that spelled the end for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer seeing only three high turnovers in an extremely passive performance.
Starting on the path to the more aggressive set-up Rangnick is likely to employ, United had a season-high 14 high turnovers at Stamford Bridge.
But ex-United captain Keane was irked by the change under Carrick, who previously formed part of Solskjaer’s staff.
Following a Sky Sports interview in which Carrick took issue with the penalty awarded against Aaron Wan-Bissaka, the pundit was asked for his opinion.
“I disagree with everything he said in that interview,” Keane said. “Everything he said – he’s talking about a plan, he’s talking about the penalty.
“Of course it was a penalty. We’ve all looked at it, it’s a penalty.
“He’s talking about the players’ efforts, he’s proud of them… He’s been working with the players for the last few months. He was working alongside Ole, he was in the dugout with Ole, and now all of a sudden he’s proud of them this week and they had a plan?
“What about all the other games they had? Why aren’t they making effort in the other games? Why aren’t they closing down people in the other games?
“He’s talking about the high press – we’ve seen all the stats before the match, and they’re the worst in the league at closing people down, winning the ball back.
“He’s praising players, praising players for doing their jobs. He mentioned the three midfielders… It’s ridiculous.
“He was sitting in the dugout for the last few months with Ole, the last few years – he was sitting with Mourinho, as well. Now, all of a sudden, he’s proud of the players this week? He’s working with the same players.”
