Roy Keane could not understand Michael Carrick s praise for his Manchester United players after a 1-1 draw at Chelsea on Sunday.
United battled to a point away at the Premier League leaders, following up a 2-0 win at Villarreal in Carrick s first game as interim manager.
The former midfielder is set to be replaced by Ralf Rangnick – another interim appointment – but was encouraged by their display, even as they attempted just three shots. United last had as few as three attempts against Manchester City in April 2017.
There was certainly a shift in United s approach from their previous league game at Watford, the 4-1 defeat that spelled the end for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer seeing only three high turnovers in an extremely passive performance.
Starting on the path to the more aggressive set-up Rangnick is likely to employ, United had a season-high 14 high turnovers at Stamford Bridge.
But ex-United captain Keane was irked by the change under Carrick, who previously formed part of Solskjaer s staff.
Following a Sky Sports interview in which Carrick took issue with the penalty awarded against Aaron Wan-Bissaka, the pundit was asked for his opinion.
I disagree with everything he said in that interview, Keane said. Everything he said – he s talking about a plan, he s talking about the penalty.
Of course it was a penalty. We ve all looked at it, it s a penalty.
He s talking about the players efforts, he s proud of them He s been working with the players for the last few months. He was working alongside Ole, he was in the dugout with Ole, and now all of a sudden he s proud of them this week and they had a plan?
What about all the other games they had? Why aren t they making effort in the other games? Why aren t they closing down people in the other games?
He s talking about the high press – we ve seen all the stats before the match, and they re the worst in the league at closing people down, winning the ball back.
He s praising players, praising players for doing their jobs. He mentioned the three midfielders It s ridiculous.
He was sitting in the dugout for the last few months with Ole, the last few years – he was sitting with Mourinho, as well. Now, all of a sudden, he s proud of the players this week? He s working with the same players.
