Pundit says players must take responsibility and see the season through
Roy Keane has criticised Michael Carrick for focusing on refereeing decisions following Manchester United’s 2-1 defeat to Leeds United, describing the reaction as a “distraction” from a poor team performance.
The match at Old Trafford turned on a red card shown to Lisandro Martinez for violent conduct after a VAR review. Carrick reacted angrily after the game, calling the decision one of the worst he had seen.
Keane, however, said the focus should have been on United’s slow start that left them trailing by two goals before the dismissal.
“You should be angry with the performance,” Keane said on The Overlap. “It’s like a distraction, the sending off. No, you were 2-0 down at the time. Be angry with the first half where you turn up for a game so slowly.”
While he felt the “violent conduct” label may have been harsh, Keane added he understood why the referee made the decision based on recent Premier League precedents.
The former United captain also questioned Carrick’s credentials as a long-term manager, despite a strong win rate since replacing Ruben Amorim earlier in the year. Keane suggested the role demands much more, particularly around recruitment and maintaining discipline within the squad.
The pundit also placed responsibility for the defeat on the players, urging senior figures in the dressing room to show leadership at the business end of the season.
“People are looking at the manager – no, this is on the players,” Keane said, warning that United’s top-five hopes could be at risk if standards do not improve.
When speaking about the decision Carrick had said: “We didn’t start the game particularly well. We obviously conceded when Leny Yoro gets a forearm smash in the back of the head and they score the first goal.
“They didn’t decide to overturn that decision. That was a big moment in the game. We didn’t quite have the rhythm, we didn’t click. We had some moments but it wasn’t quite there for large parts of the first half.
“But second half, I thought the boys the way they went about it, stayed positive and fought to get something out of it after another shocking, shocking decision to send [Lisandro Martinez] off. Two games in a row we’ve had decisions like that go against us but that one was one of the worst I’ve seen.”
