Keane slams Shaw after Man United collapse against City
Manchester United’s struggles deepened after a 3-0 defeat to rivals Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium.
Following the derby collapse, club legend Roy Keane has accused Luke Shaw of “giving up” in the build-up to City’s opening goal.
Phil Foden headed in the opener from Jeremy Doku’s cross before Erling Haaland struck twice in the second half to secure a win for Pep Guardiola’s side.
United, meanwhile, managed just two shots on target in a match where they offered little attacking threat.
Keane, speaking on Sky Sports, criticised Shaw’s role in the opener, claiming the defender failed to show the commitment expected at the top level.
Keane unimpressed with Shaw’s defending
“Listen, it was very good from City. Doku and Foden’s timing [was] perfect,” Keane said. “But United’s defending, the two midfielders before that are too square and Shaw just gives up.
“It’s a nice bit of skill, but Shaw is an England international player. He’s got hundreds of games under his belt and he doesn’t even get his body positioning right. It’s far too easy, it’s like he was throwing the towel in.”
The former United captain added that lapses in defensive concentration have been a recurring issue: “We know people can run off the back of Bruno [Fernandes], that’s been going on for years.”
Richards and Amorim weigh in
Meanwhile, fellow pundit Micah Richards disagreed slightly, shifting blame onto United skipper Fernandes.
“Once the ball is over to that [right] side, now you have to read the danger, and he just loses Foden there. He just switches off and it wasn’t good enough,” Richards explained.
United boss Ruben Amorim echoed concerns over his team’s defending. “If you look at the three goals, we can avoid these goals. Doku had a lot of space surrounded by four players. We can be more aggressive,” he said post-match.
United branded “average”
Keane also didn’t sugarcoat things about United’s overall performance. “This United team, they lack that real quality.
“They struggle defensively, the midfield too. I think United are an average team, an average Premier League team. The stats will tell you that, going back to last season as well.”
