Manchester United opened their Premier League campaign with a 1-0 defeat by Arsenal at Old Trafford and Roy Keane is not expecting much improvement from them this season
07:59, 18 Aug 2025Updated 08:00, 18 Aug 2025
Roy Keane has a realistic take on Manchester United(Image: Sky Sports)
Roy Keane has punctured the feeling of optimism around Manchester United after their opening match of the Premier League season ended in defeat. United were beaten 1-0 by Arsenal at Old Trafford on Sunday as two familiar problems continued for Ruben Amorim’s side.
Riccardo Calafiori scored the only goal of the game with a close-range header early on after Altay Bayindir flapped at Declan Rice’s corner. There were United Premier League debuts for £200million new signings Matheus Cunha, Bryan Mbeumo and Benjamin Sesko, but David Raya left with a clean sheet.
United struggled in the goalkeeping department last season, where Andre Onana was inconsistent, while they managed just 44 goals in 38 matches in 2024/25. Nevertheless, Amorim sounded a note of optimism post-match, claiming “we were not boring” – an analysis which was quickly dismissed by Keane.
Asked on Sky Sports if there was grounds for optimism, Keane replied: “Yeah, I think with the couple of signings that have come in and we saw today, I was encouraged by that. They looked like Man United players, they were happy to deal with the pressure, they’re good characters.
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“But we’ve mentioned it many times before, there are problems at the back. We’ve heard noises about them not being boring, but ultimately you’ve got to score goals to win football matches or you’re constantly under pressure.
“The expectations around the club are so low now that everyone is almost happy.” Later he was asked to predict where his old club would finish. “Mid-table – 10th, maybe ninth,” he said.
Summing up his feelings, he added: “The expectations at United now are so low, that even Gary [Neville] said on commentary, everyone is OK with a 1-0 defeat. They’ve got to do better. It does worry me.
Ruben Amorim tried to put a positive spin on their defeat(Image: Getty Images)
“Some of the new signings, there was encouragement with that. They were getting you up the pitch with a bit of power. Things will improve, it’s tough against Arsenal, but no goals and another defeat. There’s still problems there with Man United.”
Mbeumo and Cunha troubled Arsenal’s defence and showed signs of a good understanding before Sesko came off the bench in the second half. Amorim has now won just seven of his 28 league games and after finishing 15th last season, Keane explained what should come next.
“I think it’s about trying to rebuild the team, get some confidence, get some momentum early in the season. Last year, obviously nowhere near good enough, we know that,” he said before kick-off.
Matheus Cunha impressed but ended up on the losing side(Image: Getty Images)
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“The biggest issue they had all season despite chatting about the goalkeeper and the defence, they didn’t score enough goals. When you’re not scoring enough goals, particularly if you’re Manchester United when they’ve invested so much money, you’re constantly under pressure.
“They’ve obviously tried to fix that this summer. The signings, looking at them in pre-season, I know it’s still early but yeah, the signs are good.
“They’ve obviously brought two players in who know the Premiership, they’re robust enough to deal with the challenge of that and obviously they needed a goalscorer, so they were constantly under pressure. Looking at it, I like the look of it.”
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