Former Man Utd team-mate Mikael Silvestre reckons Roy Keane would be able to solve a “problem” currently rife under Ruben Amorim at Old Trafford.
The Red Devils have been awful this season in the Premier League with Amorim’s side currently 14th in the English top flight after 27 matches.
Amorim came in to replace Erik ten Hag – who was sacked at the end of October – but things have not gone to plan with the Portuguese head coach winning just five of his 16 Premier League matches in charge.
Man Utd exited the FA Cup on Sunday in a penalty shoot-out loss to Fulham in the fifth round and the Red Devils only now have the Europa League as a potential route to silverware this season.
Amorim has found it hard to get his players to adapt to his playing style, philosophy and formation with the Man Utd board affording him just the signing of Patrick Dorgu in the January transfer window.
When asked which former player he played with Man Utd need in their side right now, Silvestre told yaysweepstakes.com: “This Manchester United team are missing and need a leader like Roy Keane. He hated losing more than he wanted to win and right now the team is conceding too many goals. I think we are talking about simple defending and principles and there is a lack of it.
“I think he would be the former teammate that I would choose to put in the current Manchester United starting line-up. This United team needs a player that can guide some of the players, that could speak his mind, let them understand what the standards are at a club like Manchester United.
“Roy would be a brilliant communicator; he would show his leadership and his never-say-die mentality.
“There are so many doubts in this team. There isn’t a player that is able to show these guys the way. At the moment, there is nobody that is able to guide the players and nobody is taking charge of the team.
“A time machine would be good for sure.”
When asked if it’s impossible for someone like Keane who can be so outspoken and critical to have a role in the modern game, Silvestre added: “Everyone knows the situation the club is in.
“Former players, like myself, experts that write about and watch the game, we can all see the problems. When ex-players speak in the media, it seems like people at the club are more concerned about what we say than what they have to do to improve things.
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“For most ex-players, a lot of the United legends, this is the job now: we commentate, we analyse the games. We have to tell the people what we can see.
“If you’re a player in this United squad, you need to realise that there is a reason that you’re being criticised. You need to be strong enough to accept the criticism.
“Successful football teams all pull in the same direction. As a collective, you want to feel strong as a group and then you don’t pay attention to the noise from the outside.
“I don’t think the United group is strong. It’s weird that every time the formers players speak, there are problems.
“Roy is honest. He’s not shy to share his opinion on Manchester United.
“On Sunday night, it was Wayne Rooney who criticised Ruben Amorim and called him naïve for saying he wanted to win the Premier League, and that was the story that dominated things after the game. The truth is, when you listen to what Wayne said, if you look at his entire analysis, he’s been kind to Amorim.
“I think it would be great for Roy Keane to play a role at Manchester United. Because, the thing is with Roy, he always treated everybody exactly the same way. It didn’t matter if you were a new signing, an old guy, the manager, everybody. That’s how he got respect. That’s how Sir Alex got respect.
“If you treat everybody the same, no problem. Now, it’s true you have players, and as soon as you say something to them, they don’t collapse, but it affects them much more. We used to have thicker skin.
“I saw Joshua Zirkzee apologising on social media about missing his penalty against Fulham. So you missed a penalty – you didn’t kill anybody! There is no need for that. Plus, he had a good game, so don’t blame yourself, it happens. I can remember when Paul Scholes missed a penalty in the FA Cup final (2005) and we lost to Arsenal, he was one of the best players of his generation, but he didn’t apologise because that can happen in professional sport. You have to accept it and bounce back.
“I think it’s a bit of a problem with this generation of players. They find criticism harder to take.
“If Roy Keane was involved at Manchester United, if he was on the inside with the group, he would have to protect and work for the group, you wouldn’t see him criticising players in public, so there wouldn’t be any issue.”
