Keane: Talent Without Work-Rate Is A Waste Of Time
Keane: Talent Without Work-Rate Is A Waste Of Time
Roy Keane has questioned the commitment of his United team-mates after a string of “poor performances” in recent weeks.
United’s shock 2-0 defeat at Norwich last weekend came hot on the heels of disappointing results against Crystal Palace and Blackburn in the Premiership, and the Champions League exit in Milan last month.
One of the major factors behind United’s recent decline in form has been their lack of fire-power. Despite registering four goals in the FA Cup quarter-final win at Southampton, the last four league games have yielded just one solitary strike from Cristiano Ronaldo in the 1-0 win over Fulham.
Ahead of Sunday’s FA Cup semi-final with Newcastle at the Millennium Stadium, the Reds captain urged his fellow colleagues to take a long hard look at their contributions to the United cause, as the team attempt to salvage their season by securing a place in next month's Cup final.
“Every player should be fighting for their place at this club,” Keane told MUTV. “We certainly haven’t been scoring many goals over the last few weeks and generally I think our performances have been very poor and not good enough.
"The table and the results don't lie - over the last few months the performances haven't been good enough."
Roy Keane
”It’s all well and good looking at other people but the most important thing to do is look at yourself. You’ve got to ask yourself if you're giving 100 per cent for the club, the manager and the fans, and I’m not sure every player can say they are.
”If you look back over the years at when we’ve been at the top of our game, we’ve had players who have never taken their place in the team for granted or their position at the club for granted. That’s what made them good players and what made us an outstanding team. We’ve obviously got talented players in the squad, but talent without work-rate and pride is a waste of time.
”How many chances do you think a player should get?” continued the skipper. “You can bring a horse to the water but you can’t make it drink. Everything is provided for the players at this club and anything the players want, they get. But you’ve got to come in every single day with an attitude of trying to help the team improve.
”It’s important that you talk about ‘the team’ because it’s not about individuals. You can have the most talented players in the world, but if you don’t play as a team, I guarantee you’ll win nothing, absolutely nothing.”
Many pundits have questioned Sir Alex Ferguson’s decision to stick with the 4-5-1 formation which he has deployed on numerous occasions this season. Keane, however, refused to blame the current team set-up and said people should stop searching for excuses.
”Good players will adapt to any system,” he insisted. “Over the weekend I’ve listened to the so-called experts employed by MUTV and other places and you can make excuses all day long. But you’ve got to have that desire and pride to go and do well for Manchester United.
"You've got to ask yourself if you're giving 100 per cent for the club, the manager and the fans, and I'm not sure every player can say they are."
Roy Keane
“It doesn’t matter if it’s against Newcastle, Norwich, Arsenal or AC Milan; you should try and treat every game in exactly the same way by preparing as well as you can and giving 100 per cent. If you don’t do that and go into a game thinking it’s going to be easy, you’re going to get beaten and that’s what happened recently.
”You can look at certain games over the last few weeks in which there has been an element of bad luck, especially in the first half against Blackburn, but you’ve got to make your own luck sometimes. We’ll go into Sunday’s game looking to win it - just like we should do in every game - and not think it’s a bigger game than last Saturday’s match.
”Team spirit is all well and good but you’ve got to do it on the pitch. You can have a laugh in the dressing room but if anything there’s been too much laughter. The fans see what happens on the pitch and I’m sure they're as fed up as anybody.
”The table and the results don’t lie, and over the last few months the performances haven’t been good enough. We can all make excuses but I think people are probably sick of excuses, and I think we’re running out of them. As I say you’ve got to look at yourself and ask ‘am I giving 100 per cent to this football club?’
”Everybody has to do that, not just the players; I’m sure the manager and the staff are doing that themselves. As I said, I’m not sure everyone can honestly say they are and that’s a crime in itself.”
