ROY KEANE took aim at Manchester United’s “frightened to death” stars as he singled out Harry Maguire as the reason why they can’t press.
The Irishman, 52, spent 12 years as a player at Old Trafford and skippered them to huge success under Sir Alex Ferguson.
YouTube/The OverlapRoy Keane (left) has explained why Harry Maguire is a big problem for Man Utd on The Overlap[/caption]
GettyHe says the United players are ‘frightened to death’ to press in case Maguire gets caught out[/caption]
These days the former midfielder regularly watches Erik ten Hag’s side as a pundit, and he is never shy of giving his opinion.
However, it was his fellow Sky Sports star Jamie Carragher that hit the headlines this week after slamming United for their disjointed set-up and lack and midfield pace after the 2-1 home defeat to Fulham on Saturday.
That led to Ten Hag firing back at the Liverpool legend, but now Keane has joined in and revealed why he believes that centre-half Maguire is at the root of his old team’s problems.
And it is all because he says United are “frightened to death” that he could be caught out by a ball over the top.
Speaking on the Stick to Football podcast, brought to you by Sky Bet, he said: “They aren’t pressing up. I don’t want to be just pinning it on Maguire, but there’s always that worry with Maguire coming up and squeezing the pitch, like all the other top teams are doing.
“There’s that worry with him all the time – that’s where there is gaps. They are frightened to death to come all the way up because they’re thinking ‘anything over the top, he’d be in trouble.”
The ex-United captain then highlighted both Marcus Rashford and Bruno Fernandes as he explained the differing style of player in the Red Devils side and those who will not subscribe to a high-energy form of defence.
Keane said: “Manchester United haven’t got the players to [press].
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“Fernandes is not going to do it. Rashford won’t do it. They might do it for five or ten minutes, so if you’ve got a team that’s not going to press – we’re talking about leopards and spots.
“Man United are never really going to be good at that pressing side of it.”
Carragher then expanded on his criticism from last weekend on the show.
He said: “Teams now press from the front, press high and everyone is on the halfway line.
“Man United are trying to do two different things; the front six were going man-to-man pressing [against Fulham], and the back four were miles behind them. You’re either one or the other.”
That was after his scathing analysis last weekend after the last-ditch loss to Fulham.
He said: “They’ve got no pace at the back and they have a lack of legs in midfield. Another big problem for them is when they’ve got the ball.
“These players can’t receive the ball in the positions they take up so actually there is a massive problem for Manchester United when they’ve got the ball.”
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