‘Like a Politician’: Roy Keane Tears Into Michael Carrick After Manchester United’s Chaotic 4-4 Draw

 

Roy Keane has launched a scathing attack on Michael Carrick’s leadership at Manchester United, saying the under-fire manager “talks a lot but doesn’t say much” after a chaotic 4-4 draw with Aston Villa at Old Trafford.

Villa stunned the home crowd by going two goals up inside the opening four minutes. United pulled level before half-time, only to fall apart again straight after the restart and trail 4-2. They salvaged a point deep in stoppage time through late goals from Joshua Zirkzee and Patrick Dorgu. The wild result did little to ease the pressure on Carrick.

After the game, Carrick told Sky Sports his side needed to “tighten up”, but he offered little clarity on his own future. Keane, speaking on Sky Sports, was not impressed.

“It’s obviously difficult for the manager. Under pressure, no doubt. He talks a lot but doesn’t say much. I don’t know if that’s a tactic. Like a politician,” Keane said. 

“He keeps saying we need to tighten up and there’s things we need to work on. But they better get moving on that. It’s the worst start in how many years, all these stats aren’t very good. If you keep giving up goals and chances, it’s just going to continue.”

He demanded to know what is actually changing.

“What are we expecting to change over the next few weeks and months? What are they working on? They need to do a lot better than that,” he added.

Keane did give the players some credit for their fight.

“I think we’ve said previously there have been question marks over this team but they’re showing a bit of fight, a bit of desire and, as bad as the game was from a footballing point of view, they kept going to the end,” he said. “So, on the one hand, you say dreadful to give up four goals at home, but they kept going, so we have to give them a little bit of praise.”

But he stressed that the bigger picture is grim.

“In terms of the bigger picture, it’s that rollercoaster of watching United. Some bits were so, so bad. Defensively the way it started, the start of the second half, but they found a way to get a point in a game where they looked dead and buried. Still nowhere near good enough to try and get towards the middle of the table.”

Forward Matheus Cunha captured the mood in the dressing room, admitting his frustration at the repeated mistakes.

“So tired. I feel so disappointed,” Cunha said. “After the other night we talked a lot about how to concede goals and then be there and then change our mentality to come into the game. And then we did it again, we conceded some goals. We can’t do it. We need to play like Manchester United and go forward.”

The point leaves United in the relegation zone with just one Premier League win all season. Carrick must urgently fix a fragile defence and lift a fractured squad, or the club’s hierarchy may soon be forced into a change in the dugout.