Roy Keane accuses Manchester United players of throwing Jose Mourinho under the bus

Mourinho was dismissed on Tuesday morning following United's limp 3-1 defeat at Anfield which the left sixth in the Premier League, 11 points off the top four and 19 points shy of the leaders, Liverpool

Friday 21 December 2018 13:32 GMT
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Jose Mourinho in numbers

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Roy Keane has accused Manchester United players of downing tools and throwing Jose Mourinho under the bus, following the Portuguese’s sacking.

Mourinho was dismissed on Tuesday morning following United’s limp 3-1 defeat at Anfield which the left sixth in the Premier League, 11 points off the top four and 19 points shy of the leaders, Liverpool.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has been installed as the caretaker manager, taking charge of a squad which endured a largely acrimonious relationship with Mourinho.

“I do think the players, obviously, get away with murder,” Keane told BBC Radio 5 Live. “Just the way they hide behind the manager, Mourinho. Whatever you say about the players, they have thrown him under the bus and people have said Mourinho has been falling out with players, well you would fall out with players.

“That’s the name of the game and players turn up overweight or players are not training properly and not producing. And then for some of them to down tools, you know, shame on some of them players.

“I’m not Mourinho’s biggest fan, don’t get me wrong, but I just can’t tolerate footballers who just hide behind their agents, their pals in the media. A bit of a joke, really.”

Keane captained United through some of the club’s most successful years under Sir Alex Ferguson, and believes that modern footballers are “very weak human beings”.

Roy Keane slammed Jose Mourinho's under-performing players
Roy Keane slammed Jose Mourinho's under-performing players (Getty)

“I never really fell out with Alex Ferguson when I was playing. Just towards the end when I was coming back from injury and I felt, again, I was thrown under the bus,” he added.

“I suppose people think I’m a bit old-school. I don’t call it old-school; I call it good-school. No matter what’s going on at your club, when you go out on that pitch, particularly for a big club like United, you go out and give it your all – no excuses. It doesn’t mean to say you’re going to play well.

“This idea that these players may be a little bit upset... it’s not just at United. Trust me, the modern player, they’re not just weak players – they’re very weak human beings. You can’t say a word to them.

“I was very lucky with the dressing rooms I was in. There was good men, good leaders, good characters and there is definitely a shortage of them in the game now. The game has changed a little bit but, as I said, the players do get away with murder and it’s really frustrating.

“But it wouldn’t have happened in our dressing room. Just because we had good characters, good leaders, we wouldn’t have tolerated lads not putting a shift in.”

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