'Ten Hag was LET DOWN by Man Utd players' - Keane

Cameron Smith

• 3 Nov 2024 12:00 CST
• 3 min read

Roy Keane has blamed Manchester United’s first-team squad for the club’s decision to sack Erik ten Hag.

Ten Hag, 54, was fired following a 2-1 defeat to West Ham United last week and the Red Devils have already appointed Sporting CP’s Ruben Amorim as his permanent replacement.

The Dutchman guided Man Utd to two domestic trophies during his time at Old Trafford, but he was sacked with the Red Devils sitting in a lowly 14th place in the Premier League table.

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Amorim has been confirmed as Man Utd’s new head coach, but he won’t take charge of his first game until 24 November against Ipswich Town due to a notice period in his Sporting CP contract.

While Ten Hag was widely criticised for Man Utd’s poor form at the start of the 2024-25 campaign, club legend Keane believes the current crop of players are also responsible for the Dutchman’s departure.

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What has Roy Keane said?

“Disappointed, you always are,” Keane told Sky Sports ahead of Man Utd’s clash against Chelsea.

“It's a new start, a new manager coming in in a couple of weeks. You always wish him well. It's a big challenge for him trying to get United back competing at the top of the table. It's a big ask, you wish him well.

“But you always have sympathy for a manager losing his job and ultimately I think, whatever [you think] about the board, the players let him down by their efforts and not being good enough.

“The challenge will be, of course, getting players in. We make the point that there's a few players in the United team in big positions who can't run, right, which is a big problem. But they also have players who don't want to run.

“Or when they do run they don't run hard enough, or run fast enough or long enough, so he's got to get that in the dressing room, that mentality - and the players who aren't doing it, you have to try move them on, which is difficult because they're on long-term contracts.”