Roy Keane insists Man Utd have one player who is ‘entitled’ to have a poor performance

Roy Keane has jumped to the defence of Bruno Fernandes following his lacklustre performance in Manchester United’s defeat to Liverpool. The Red Devils have made a dismal start to the new season, losing two of their first three Premier League games.

The 3-0 thrashing by arch-rivals Liverpool on Sunday was a bitter pill to swallow ahead of the international break, and Keane was quick to express dissatisfaction with the number of errors made by his former side. Discussing the game on the latest episode of the Stick to Football podcast, the ex-United captain, 53, criticised the team’s tactical confusion and accused key players of failing to “turn up”.

He did, however, excuse Fernandes, insisting the 29-year-old had earned the right to put in a rare poor performance. “Bruno never turned up – [but] Bruno’s entitled to have a quiet game,” the Irishman said.

Earlier, Jamie Carragher had slammed United’s carelessness in possession, which consequently caused instability in midfield. In response, Keane argued that it was the defenders’ responsibility to ensure stability, and if mistakes are made by the midfielders, the players behind them should be stepping in to extinguish the problem.

“When you make mistakes you hope your defenders cover you, or your goalkeeper,” he said. “United are not really a settled team because there are still players coming to the club, and that’s not an excuse, [but] when you’re not at it you make mistakes.”

Gary Neville then questioned Keane over whether United needed to improve at playing the ball out from the back, or if their current philosophy ought to be scrapped. “A little bit of both,” the Irishman replied.

“You’re not expecting United to go long, but with United there’s still an element of [mimics a player hesitating and grimacing on the ball], they don’t look as if there’s a flow to them.”

United’s playing style has come under fire in recent months, with Erik ten Hag struggling to implement a cleary definable system since taking over. After finishing eight in the table and losing a record 14 Premier League matches, last season will go down as one of the clubs worst in their illustrious recent history, even though they somewhat salvaged it with victory in the FA Cup.

And just three games into the new campaign and United have already dropped six points, suggesting that last season’s problems haven’t been fixed. Next up for the Red Devils is a trip to the south coast to face Southampton, before an EFL Cup clash against League One outfit Barnsley, with both games feeling like must-wins.