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Legendary Manchester United captain Roy Keane pulled no punches in his assessment of Marcus Rashford, who endured a frustrating off-the-bench appearance in the club’s 2-0 loss against Arsenal.
Ruben Amorim tasted his first defeat since being named United head coach as defensive duo Jurrien Timber and William Saliba both scored from corners to clinch three points for the Gunners.
The hosts demonstrated incredible physicality and aerial prowess, which ultimately made the difference in what was otherwise a tight affair at the Emirates.
Keane watched the game alongside Gary Neville, Jamie Carragher and Ian Wright on a YouTube watch-along for The Overlap.
In the second half an angry Keane said, “I tell you what, Rashford has come on, his general play as a footballer is shocking. Watch his header there.”
There was a moment in which United clumsily kicked the ball out of play. Keane remarked, “You know what that is, rubbish! That is f—ing rubbish… kicks it out of play.”
Giving his verdict on the overall result, Keane explained, “You are on about these players, but what are we expecting from them? What have we seen from them for the last three or four years? This is what we have seen.”
“We’ve seen them do well in the cup but in the league, this is what we’ve seen. What was I expecting? For Man United to go and win at Arsenal? No, but I was expecting them to have a go and if they get beat 2-1 or 3-1, but they must be sitting in the dressing room afterwards wondering what happened.”
“They need to look in the mirror and ask if they gave everything tonight. Arsenal will be looking back saying ‘that wasn’t too bad’.”
“I’m really disappointed with Manchester United. I thought the players were going through the motions a little bit. He’s only in the door, but the manager’s probably thinking he thought United were a bit better than this. I was getting really frustrated at the end there.”
The Irish football pundit added, “It shows you what a job Amorim has to do there. It’s a massive job. That was obviously their toughest game and they have come up well short.”
“When you see them come up against a good team like Arsenal, they are a long way off. I can’t see United finishing in the top six. Can you? It’s good that he [Amorim] has come in now and he’s taking the hits rather than everyone expecting him to fix it if had a pre-season. It’s a massive job he’s taken on.”
Up next for United is a home meeting with Nottingham Forest on Sunday.
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