Keane accuses Man Utd of bottling title; names loss that ‘scarred them’


Roy Keane reckons Manchester United’s second-half performance at Chelsea proves Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side have now “given up” on trying to halt Manchester City’s march to the title.

United went into the game knowing they needed to win to close the gap to City back to 10 points. City had ominously marched 13 clear with a 2-1 win over West Ham on Saturday – their 20th straight win.

However, the stalemate in west London means United have drawn a blank in their last six meetings with the ‘big six’. Paul Scholes was also far from happy with Bruno Fernandes – and also named two other problem players for United.

And Keane reckons the manner of their second-half performance at Stamford Bridge proves their players know the title is now beyond them.

Assessing their title prospects, Keane painted a bleak picture when reviewing the game on Sky Sports.

“We saw United second half – a real lack of quality from United. We look back over the big games where they’ve not produced that must be a concern.

“Maybe we can’t be too critical overall for United because I think they’ve scored the most league goals of any team. They do try and win. But whether their mindset is ‘let’s not be beaten’.”

When questioned if he thinks United’s players have given up their hope, Keane replied: “From that second half performance, yeah. I think they’re probably concentrating on cementing that second place and win a cup.”


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Keane pinpoints Tottenham defeat

With Solskjaer blaming a key decision in the game, Keane bemoaned yet another dismal performance for United against one of their big six rivals.

And Keane feels that United may still be suffering after the chastening 6-1 home defeat to Tottenham earlier in the season.

“Maybe they are scarred from the Spurs game. I don’t know the scoop, we’re just guessing,” added Keane.

“But maybe their mindset is going into these games. We’ve seen poor games. Sometimes you have a 0-0 and it’s a fantastic game, the keepers are fantastic, missed penalties or whatever.

“But some of these games we’ve watched and covered have been really boring. And when you consider there’s some really good attacking players in the team…

“We dressed it up before the game – there’s clean sheets and positives. But the lack of goals from United’s point of view, with the real good players they’ve got on the pitch, might be something in their mindset. Or as the game goes on they settle for the draw, not wanting to be beaten.

“I always think United mindset the onus is on to win a football match. They must take on the risk to lose. The mindset of United at the moment is not being beaten in these games.”

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