Bruno Fernandes should be ‘pulling’ Diogo Dalot in the Manchester United dressing room instead of relying on ‘soundbites’ as captain, says Roy Keane.
Newcastle tore Manchester United to shreds on Sunday as Ruben Amorim’s side slipped to a 14th defeat of the Premier League season.
Keane, having already hammered one player for their part in one of the four Newcastle goals, laid into captain Fernandes for his post-match interview.
“We’re not stupid, we know the position we are it’s easy to criticise because this club has never been like this,” the Portuguese told Sky Sports. “When you play for Manchester United you know the criticism will be there.
“Thursday is big to get into the semi-final, we’re going to play at home, we’re going to play in front of our fans. They will be there for us on Thursday. It’s time for us to understand we need to give something back. We always try.
“You’ve even seen myself frustrated. I know we’re much better than we have been. My teammates I only get frustrated with because I know how good they are.
“We’re going to create a big atmosphere, we want to give everything we have.
“I don’t need to believe, I need to see what we have done in the past. We play our best football in decisive games where everyone is watching. We are Man United, we have to step up and I’m pretty sure we will be together.”
Keane was not having any of it.
“It’s not easy, to be fair to Bruno,” he said. “He does front up and he does come out and obviously the club push him out because he’s the best player and he’s the captain.
“Of course, it’s important what he says. But to me it’s kind of just soundbites now from him.”
Roy Keane accusing someone of “soundbites” in big 2025 is absolutely sensational work, by the way.
“Let’s hope they win on Thursday by the way. My goodness, that’s all they’re talking about. Thursday. Lyon, I think Lyon are sixth in the French league, so I fully expect Man United to beat Lyon at home on the Thursday.
“But yeah, he’s talking about his teammates there and belief, but what about his right-back who didn’t put a leg out trying to tackle for the goal, Dalot?
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“I hope he’s pulling him in the dressing room, because he keeps talking about belief in the players and ‘my teammates’, but a real good teammate puts demands on each other, whether that’s out on the pitch or in the dressing room or on the training ground during the week.
“I suppose it’s called the culture of your football club. So when I listen to Bruno – and I’ve been harsh on Bruno, he’s an amazing player – but I still have question marks about his leadership, even when I’m watching him there in the bigger picture and he’s doing his usual stuff.
“But he’s certainly not getting any help around him. It must be tough playing in that midfield when the expectation on him is to turn up week in, week out, and obviously that’s unfair on him because when you’re playing for a big club like Man United you need a helping hand.
“But now when he’s doing the chats about the supporters and all this, again, to me it’s just soundbites. There’s no…there’s not even meaning to it.
“I don’t know how we can even listen to the United players doing interviews anymore because I’m not sure they’re an honest group, so why should we listen to them? I don’t think we’re going to get real honesty from this group of players when we’re not seeing it week in, week out.”
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