Part of me feels this is a bit harsh on Scott McTominay but he hardly helped my argument last night against Liverpool.
Former club captain Roy Keane insists the team will not win any major trophies with last night’s midfield duo.
United suffered a 4-2 defeat to Liverpool at Old Trafford on Thursday, with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side miles off the pace after 4 games in 8 days.
Fred and McTominay, a regular midfield partnership this term, were both rested on Tuesday against Leicester City but failed to impress after returning to the starting XI v Liverpool.
Keane went on a bit of a rant at full-time about the pair and suggested replacements for both players are needed if United are to challenge for the title against Man City.
Keane told Sky Sports: “All United’s shortcomings have been shown up in the last couple of days.
“Tonight there wasn’t enough quality. But the other worry is Liverpool could have scored six or seven. We have praised United the past few months, but this squad is so short of competing with Man City for title.
“I just look at the performance tonight of the two midfielders. McTominay is a good honest player, and they’ve got Fred.
“As long as those two players are playing in midfield for Manchester United, they will not be winning any big trophies.
“Okay, they have got the Europa League final in a few weeks. But they are only there because they came up short in the Champions League.
“The last few days, I can’t believe how short United are.”
🗣️ "As long as those two are playing centre midfield for Manchester United they will not win major trophies"
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) May 14, 2021
Keane’s criticism was more levelled at Fred, but McTominay was equally part of the problem last night as United never really got going. The midfield dynamic never quite worked and that ruined our flow throughout the game.
In the bigger games you need that extra dose of quality. We didn’t have that last night and failed to take advantage of Liverpool playing two inexperienced centre-backs.
Of course, we had problems of our own at the back, with Eric Bailly and Victor Lindelof being the defensive partnership last night.
Read more: Solskjaer: United deserved defeat after letting Liverpool off the hook
