‘Talent is not enough,’ roared former Manchester United captain Roy Keane in an passionate argument with Ian Wright over current Red Devils skipper Bruno Fernandes.
As a symbol of United’s glory days, Keane has not shirked his responsibility to lambast a succession of players who have, in his view, failed to live up to the demands of Old Trafford.
And with the side in its modern nadir – resident in the bottom half of the Premier League table and with a myriad of off-field issues, ranging from baffling to deeply troubling – the Irishman took aim at their current leader.
‘I see fans at matches and they’re singing for Bruno. I see these boys, I think you’re f***ing imposters!’ said Keane on the latest episode of the Stick To Football Podcast, brought to you by Sky Bet. ‘Talent is not enough! You keep going back to talent – Bruno’s a talented player, but it’s not enough!’
Keane’s United swipes have gone under the radar in recent years, with the likes of Gary Neville, Rio Ferdinand and Paul Scholes stealing the spotlight in the booming ‘Roasting-Man United’ market.
But that should not detract from some of his all-time hits, the likes of which have yet to be replicated by his former team-mates.
Roy Keane has blasted the current Man United squad as ‘f***ing imposters’ in a heated tirade
Man United skipper Bruno Fernandes’ leadership has been questioned a number of times
‘These players are no good to you!’
We’ll begin with a Keane rant for the ages following Manchester United’s 2-0 derby defeat by City in November 2021.
The Red Devils began the campaign with four wins and a draw but quickly suffered a winless run that cost Ole Gunnar Solskjaer his job.
Having seen his former side lose at home to Aston Villa, away to Leicester and be humbled 5-0 by Liverpool at Old Trafford in recent weeks, it’s little wonder Keane let rip on several in the United dressing room.
And that’s ignoring the context of the previous seasons under Solskjaer where the club could only flirt with competence and cohesion.
Keane unleashed on a United squad that contained the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Harry Maguire and Marcus Rashford and insisted the players ‘are no good’.
‘I can imagine Ole [Gunnar Solskjaer] and I try to picture a manager,’ he said on Sky Sports.
‘I’ve been there as a manager where you don’t know what you’re going to get.
‘These players are no good to you. You don’t know what you’re going to get with Manchester United. Micah [Richards] is going to enjoy his day and Man City and Liverpool, with one title in 30-odd years.
Perhaps Keane’s most iconic Man United rant came after their 2-0 defeat by Man City in 2021
He insisted that the current crops of players are no good to the managers they have played for
‘Man United are in a a bad place but there’s a way out of it. Is Ole the man to do it? Huge question marks.’
Solskjaer was not the man to do it. The Norwegian was relieved of his duties the following week after a 4-1 defeat by Watford.
Ralf Rangnick took temporary charge until the end of the season before Erik ten Hag’s was appointed and the post-Sir Alex Ferguson cycle began anew.
Maguire the robot
Keane’s analysis of Manchester United ahead of their clash against Spurs the previous week deserves inclusion solely for his Harry Maguire impression.
The then-United skipper had the unenviable task of fronting up to the cameras after an embarrassing performance and or defeat. And his monotone delivery got on Keane’s wrong side.
The former star reflected on Maguire’s contrition after United’s historic 5-0 home defeat by rivals Liverpool, in which the visitors stopped attacking in the last 30 minutes with the scoring complete and Old Trafford barely a third full.
‘I heard Maguire talking during the week,’ said Keane. ‘He was like a robot, “er apologies to the fans”, there was no emotion behind it.
‘And these guys are off the back of a good European Championship for England so they’ve turned up before for big matches and [Luke]Shaw has fallen back into his old habits from a few years ago.’
Harry Maguire (middle) apologised for the side’s 5-0 defeat by Liverpool in October 2021
Keane mocked the defender for making a public apology and slammed his display in the match
‘I would be swinging punches at that guy’
Maguire took a portion of the blame in perhaps Keane’s most iconic United rant in recent years.
The centre-back was a common target for the former midfielder during the Solskjaer years but it was goalkeeper David De Gea who suffered the harshest barbs.
The Spaniard was undoubtedly a hero at Old Trafford, saving the side on many occasions with incredible stops.
However, by 2021, the pendulum had firmly swung, with him now as likely to prevent a goal as essentially assist one for the opposition.
This was the case against Tottenham in 2020 when De Gea failed to keep out a strike and United headed into the interval a goal down.
‘I am flabbergasted,’ said a visibly shaken Keane. ‘There’s got to be some stuff going on at half-time. If I was Ole I’d make some changes, get some lads off the pitch.
‘Spurs have been okay, but Man United,’ he fumed. ‘Maguire and De Gea, I wouldn’t even let them on the bus after the match. Get a taxi back to Manchester. These are established international players and I know we have to analyse the game.
‘Analyse it until the cows come home. You do your job. We’re trying to get into the top four, not win leagues by the way – god forbid about winning trophies. Shocking! I am disgusted with it.
David de Gea began to produce errors at an alarming rate in his latter years at Old Trafford
Keane remarkably claimed that he would have swung for the Spaniard if he was still in the dressing room after his mistake against Tottenham
‘Maguire and De Gea, you should hang your heads in shame.’
He later added: ‘I am sick to death of this goalkeeper. I would be fighting him at half-time. There’s no getting away from that. I would be swinging punches at that guy.’
‘I might smash into somebody’
Keane’s willingness to engage in violence comes as little surprise, given the robust way he played the game for many years.
Feared during his time with the Red Devils, Keane’s hardman persona was no act.
In a very telling window in his psyche during his rant about his former side after the defeat to Man City mentioned earlier, he revealed how he dealt with poor starts to games.
Effectively urging United’s current crop to heed his advice in order to recover from their slump.
‘This team doesn’t have personality,’ he said. ‘They’re trying things.
I’m sure they’re a decent group, they go for lunch and this type of thing but it’s what happens when the referee blows the whistle.
The former Red Devils midfielder provided a window into his psyche when he revealed he ‘might smash somebody’ to make himself feel better during his playing days
‘There’s one yellow card for United today. Now I’m not saying “go out and get seven, eight yellow cards” that doesn’t win you football matches but it is a derby game.
‘You have to show your quality but you do have to show some sort of emotion.
‘I’ve often had it when I’ve not been at the races and I go, “you know, I might smash into somebody just to make me feel better”. Sometimes it gets a reaction from the players and the fans.’
‘Talent is not enough’
Next to the episode that inspired this list, Keane was on top form as he ripped into Fernandes amid United’s dismal campaign.
The Portuguese’s captaincy has drawn plenty of criticism in recent seasons, with fingers pointed to his perceived petulance and histrionics on the field as reasons why he is perhaps not the best leader.
However the attacking midfielder is undoubtedly the most talented player at the club, and as such presents an example and a standard for the rest of his side to try to live up to.
But with United struggling down in 14th place in the table, things are hardly going swimmingly at Old Trafford.
‘Talent is not enough! You keep going back to talent – Bruno’s a talented player, but it’s not enough!’ he told Wright.
Keane got extremely heated and demanded more leadership from the current United skipper
‘Who were you in the dressing room with, Tony Adams! Tony Adams was this, Tony Adams was that, because he was a fighter!
‘You’ve got young players who have to look at somebody and go “I like what he does”. They all can’t put the ball in the top of the net from 25 yards, I get that, but you want someone who’s going “Lads, are you with me? Are you with me?”‘
He added: ‘Let me tell you something, when you close somebody down, this is what I call a bluffer, I’m closing you down, but I’m not really closing you down-‘ Keane mimes half-heartedly pretending to close down Wright – ‘and you pass it, “I’ve done my bit!”
‘F*** off! Excuse my language.’
‘At this level, you’ve got to hit people’
A rare instance of Keane aiming his fury at a team and players unconnected to Man United came during the European Championship last summer. The former Ireland captain torched Scotland’s stars for ‘letting down supporters’ after their 5-1 destruction by Germany – and ripped into Andy Robertson for his post-match comments.
Scotland were 3-0 down and left with 10 men after a disastrous first half and couldn’t muster much of a response as Germany’s attacking talents ran riot.
Andy Robertson lamented a lack of aggression after the game and vowed that Scotland would be angry with themselves on Saturday morning.
‘He said they weren’t aggressive enough,’ he told ITV. ‘You have to be aggressive in a game of football. When you’re up against opposition who are much stronger than you, being aggressive is part of being a footballer.
The ex-Republic of Ireland star blasted Scotland after their 5-1 loss to Germany at Euro 2024
Scotland were torn apart by a blistering Germany side, 3-0 down at half-time with 10 men
‘My goodness, when you’re playing at this level, you’ve got to hit people. Hit them properly, hit them aggressively, do it in the right way.
‘If you step off them like Scotland did tonight… It’s no good talking after the game saying we had a game plan. It’s rubbish! Andy Robertson… it’s all just rubbish coming out.
‘You knew before the game what was at stake and after the game it’s no good saying “we’ll regroup and be angry tomorrow.” You should be angry for a long time.
‘They spoke before the game about creating history – they’re creating history by playing as bad as that and letting their manager and supporters down.’
‘Imagine you’re depending on these guys’
Keane’s 10-minute long tirade against Man United in 2021 was really the peak of a genre. The dialogue contained enough quotable moments to fill a list all on its own.
And his closing statement that day, where he questioned why Solskjaer continued to play the Brazilian Fred despite the team lacking quality in midfield, provides a cautionary tale. Keane could not have foreseen the future he and Man United fans inhibit.
Perhaps the moral of the story is to be careful what you wish for. Like the 1993 D:Ream classic states, ‘Things Can Only get Worse‘. I’m sure that was it.
Keane wondered how his former Man United team-mate Solskjaer could justify playing Fred in midfield but four years on, the Red Devils are in a much worse position on and off the pitch
‘He came into Man United at a difficult time,’ Keane said. ‘He’s managing one of the biggest sides in the world but if you’ve goy bluffers on the bus with you and you’re dependent Shaw and [Aaron] Wan-Bissaka.
‘Imagine you’re depending on these guys. Ole, you might be better off out of it.’
He added: ‘If Ole walked in here now, I’d grab him and go “why are you playing Fred?” Managers have to make their own decisions, they’re working with them day-in and day-out but I would look at him and ask “why are you playing Fred in the middle of the park?”
‘He has to take responsibility for that.’
