United conceded 28 shots in Sunday’s match at Old Trafford but managed to claim a point thanks to wonderful strikes from Bruno Fernandes and Kobbie Mainoo – though they are now 11 points adrift of fourth-placed Tottenham.
Ten Hag was happy with his side’s performance afterwards but Keane was slightly bemused by his post-match interview and feels United are a long way short of where they need to be to challenge.
‘Listen, I don’t know whether he’s had obviously a couple of glasses of wine after the game, I don’t know how strong that is,’ said Keane on Sky Sports after listening to Ten Hag’s interview.
‘But he seemed really upbeat and I admire him for it, because he’s obviously seeing something that I’m not seeing at this moment in time.
‘I’m not saying there’s not potential at the football club, or with these young players, but in terms of competing with Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester City they are way off it.
‘They’re competing at this moment in time with Aston Villa and Spurs for that fourth or fifth position, and at this stage they’re well behind them. So I don’t get his positivity, but maybe that’s just me being a bit old and grumpy. He’s upbeat, but I certainly didn’t see that upbeat performance.
‘I thought two very good goals from Man United, and a team that hung in and stuck at it and I’ll give them credit for that. But if you’re looking at the bigger picture I’m not sitting here going, “Listen, Man United are on their way back”. Far from it.’
He continued: ‘There’s so many bits of their game they have to tidy up, they play in moments, I’m not sure it’s a real team out there.
‘I can’t sit here and say that Man United will be challenging for league titles, I just can’t see it.
‘There’s big expectations with recruitment in the summer and new people [behind the scenes] coming in, but there’s a long way back for Man United.
‘You need characters, you need leaders, I keep repeating myself every week on here. That’s what you need from a group of players.
‘The way Man United are playing is like a mid-table team, a small club. You don’t know what you’re going to get, there’s a bit of excitement.
‘But if you want to win the big prizes – or even compete to win the big prizes – you’ve got to turn up week in and week out and these players don’t. The stats tell you that. They’ve lost 12 games, the goal difference – is it minus one? – nowhere near good enough.’
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