Roy Keane branded Ruben Amorim’s Manchester United ‘physically and mentally weak’ after the side slumped to a dismal 4-1 defeat at the hands of Newcastle.
Alejandro Garnacho dragged the Red Devils back into the contest with a cool finish in the 37th minute, cancelling out Sandro Tonali’s opener with his first goal in three Premier League games.
But hosts Newcastle responded emphatically in the second half, with Harvey Barnes completing a 15-minute brace and Bruno Guimaraes capitalising on an Altay Bayindır howler in a resounding victory at St James’ Park.
It means United are now without a win in their last four matches in all competitions and the result leaves Amorim’s men stuck down in 14th place in the English top flight, just 17 points above the drop zone.
The humbling loss confirms that United will finish with their lowest ever Premier League points tally, even if they win every single game from now until the end of the season.
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‘Not good enough. That’s 14 league games they’ve lost now,’ former United captain Keane said on Sky Sports shortly after the final whistle.
‘They keep making excuses for this team. There’s not enough players who can run in this team, I don’t think there are players who want to run, nothing by way of a goal threat.
‘You’ve got to dig deep even when you’re up against it and they didn’t do that in the second half.
‘We spoke at half-time, the big test was to come in the second half. Look at Newcastle, Newcastle were outstanding, they’re used to winning big games, they’ve got in a really good habit.
‘United are the opposite. I think United now are physically and mentally a weak team.’
Keane argued that the Magpies – who were without their manager Eddie Howe – outperformed United in practically every department and were more than deserving of all three points.
He added: ‘Newcastle were too fast, too powerful, they were more determined. The pace up front, United couldn’t deal with their attacking players and they got what they deserved.
‘Well done Newcastle, they were outstanding.’
Keane said he had seen nothing from Amorim’s United to give any indication that good times could be around the corner.
‘This talk before the game about good signs for this United team, signs they’re getting better,’ he continued.
‘Well, I can’t see it. I just saw another poor performance, particularly in this second half. Not good enough.
‘I worry for this group of players. To me, they don’t look like a strong group mentally.’
In his post-match interview with Sky Sports, a defiant Amorim insisted he ‘didn’t care’ about the criticism he and his players would face in the wake of such a limp performance.
‘I understand but I don’t care. Nothing is worse than losing games,’ the United head coach said.
‘People can say whatever they want to say. I don’t want to defend myself or anything like that.
‘If you look at our position in the table, it says it all. Thursday is really important. Losing games is the hardest part by far of this job. Let’s focus on Thursday [against Lyon].’
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