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Roy Keane has predicted where Manchester United will finish at the end of this season and his verdict does not make happy reading for the team's fans. The Red Devils are currently languishing in 15th place after six games in the 2020-21 Premier League season. It is early days but the team has already lost three of their league fixtures.
Coming into the season, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men were expected to challenge Liverpool and Manchester City at the top of the table after securing third place last season. However, after a stuttering start to the campaign, doubts swirl around the squad's depth and the manager's tactics.
The Red Devils succumbed to a 0-1 home defeat to Arsenal, on Sunday. The result was the Gunners’ first win at Old Trafford in 14 years. And Keane believes Manchester United could struggle to make the top four this season.
Keane says Manchester United lack the hunger to win
The former Manchester United skipper gave credit to the team for their strong finish to last season's league campaign. Nonetheless, he argued that the semi-final appearances in the UEFA Europa League and FA Cup were simply not good enough for a club of United's stature. Keane conceded that things were not looking good for Solskjaer at the moment.
The Irish former international was also left unimpressed by the Manchester United players' lack of quality and enthusiasm.
He talks about the players, we forgive players for most things, making mistakes or having an off day. But when you listen to a manager and he’s talking about, ‘we didn’t start well’ and ‘enthusiasm’, I scratch my head at players who don’t have enthusiasm for a game of football.
The pundit was disappointed by the attitude of the Manchester United players displayed in the Arsenal game. The Irishman pointed out his former team’s start indicates that they might not qualify for next season's UEFA Champions League.
I never thought for one minute they’ll be challenging Liverpool and Man City but the way they’ve started this, the top four even seems out of reach.
The former Manchester United midfielder also said that he believes the fans' panic and anxiety is justified.
And at this early stage sometimes you say, ‘there’s no need to panic’, but the results and the performances suggest they should be panicking because it’s not been good enough.
Roy Kean concluded by calling out the apparent lack of desire in the current Manchester United squad and the startling lack of consistency.
I’d love to be sitting here saying, ‘they look like a great bunch of lads, they’ll bounce back, close football is all about disappointments’. But this group, their last huge disappointment was only three or four weeks ago against Spurs, it wasn’t three or four months ago where you think, ‘they’ll win their next 10 or 15 games’. This team reacts for a few weeks, then gets carried away with themselves and think, ‘we’re a team now’.
