Roy Keane has blasted Manchester United star Diogo Dalot, not convinced the right-back is ‘a good player’ after his glaring miss against West Ham United last week.
United suffered a 2-1 defeat to the Hammers at the London Stadium – a match that proved to be Erik ten Hag’s last in charge with the Dutchman sacked the following day.
Dalot served up perhaps the miss of the season that afternoon, racing through one-on-one and clipping the ball around the onrushing Lukasz Fabianski. With an open goal at his mercy, the Portugal international inexplicably blasted a wild effort over the bar.
Scoring goals has been a huge issue for United having hit just nine in 10 Premier League matches this season – with only Southampton and Crystal Palace scoring less this term.
Their shortcomings in front of goal were on display once again against Chelsea on Sunday afternoon with former captain Keane criticising his old side for ‘missing open goals’, taking direct aim at Dalot.
He told Sky Sports: ‘You have to get hold of these lads. Hit the target, these are big chances. These are top quality players missing open goals. Dalot missed a chance last week and people keep telling me he’s a good player. Put the ball in the back of net, keep your manager in the job for another couple of weeks at least.’
After the 1-1 draw at Old Trafford, United captain Fernandes revealed he had apologised to Ten Hag after the decision to sack him at the start of the week.
Keane however was not buying it.
‘Too little, too late,’ he said. ‘Listen, these are always awkward interviews but I wouldn’t have much time and patience for a player to say ‘listen, sorry we’ve let you down’. Too little, too late.
‘You’re judged by what you do on the football pitch and I don’t think Bruno done enough in a lot of the games where he didn’t show that leadership.
‘So, it’ll be interesting to obviously hear what Ten Hag has to say about it but you also have to move on. Listen, a lot of players don’t care that much when a manager goes.
‘They just focus on the next manager coming in, they get ready and they look after themselves. Of course, that’s as part of the game. Players can be selfish, we know that.
‘But I don’t think Bruno done enough as a captain of Man United over last year to help the manager out. Far from it. The proof’s there with all the results.
‘Not just on to Bruno, of course, but I don’t think he showed enough leadership skills when the going got tough with some of the performances.
‘I don’t think Bruno should be too proud of himself of what’s happened to the Man United manager over the last week or two with Ten Hag. I think the players let the manager down ultimately.’
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