MANCHESTER UNITED and Ireland legend Roy Keane has labeled some footballers ‘crybabies’, with his former club struggling so far this season.
Former Nottingham Forest player Keane was speaking to Notts TV about player/manager relationships, with the Red Devils currently dogged by reports of dressing room unrest.
United, runners up last season, currently sit 10th in the table after three wins from seven league games and are without a win in four games in all competitions.
Mourinho's relationships with players and staff at United has come under the microscope, while club captain Antonio Valencia liked a social media post claiming it was time for Mourinho to go following Tuesday's draw at home to Valencia.
Jose Mourinho (Image: Getty)The winger has since apologised, saying he hadn’t read the text of the post.
Keane told Notts TV players need to leave their grudges with managers on the sidelines.
“I don’t care what fallout you’ve had with your manager, I don’t care if you’ve been at each other’s throats, because that is part of the industry – people do fall out, it happens in other industries,” Keane told Notts TV.
“But unfortunately when you’re at Man United, one of the biggest clubs in the world, things will get exaggerated.
“But if you’re a footballer for Man United and you put that jersey on and you walk out and you don’t give 100 per cent because you might be upset with somebody… then good luck to Mourinho in this stuff.”
'Crybabies'
Keane denied he was talking about United’s record signing Paul Pogba, saying players in general need to put personal grudges aside.
“I’m not taking about Pogba,” he said. “I’m talking about players in general, players who get upset with the manager or coaching staff and think, ‘I’m not going to train properly because somebody upset me’.
“There’s a lot of cry babies out there.
“When you walk out on that pitch, you're playing for your pride, you’re playing for your family, you’re playing for your city, whatever it might be.
“Don’t get that worried about what the manager’s said about you or the coaching staff. You get out there and play.
Keane won seven Premier League titles at United (Image: Getty)“You can fall out after the match, but when the game’s going on, liven up – play with pride, play with energy, play with spirit, hopefully play with a bit of skill.
“You can’t always play with skill, you can have a bad day, but on your bad days you roll your sleeves up and you fight for that jersey and don’t get distracted by the balloons out there.”
Keane won seven Premier League titles, four FA Cups and a Champions League during a 12-year spell at United.
