Roy Keane slams Nemanja Matic after he says goodbye to Manchester United in post-match interview
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Updated 29/04/2022 at 08:41 GMT
Matic is leaving Old Trafford at the end of the season, and used his post match interview to share his affection for the club saying they "will stay forever in my heart". Former United captain Roy Keane was left furious with the comments, accusing manager Ralf Rangnick of allowing a "testimonial" mentality to run through the club as their season comes towards a disappointing end.
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Roy Keane was seething after listening to Nemanja Matic’s post-match interview following Manchester United’s 1-1 draw with Chelsea at Old Trafford in the Premier League.
The Serbian midfielder is leaving the club at the end of the season, and despite having three games of the campaign remaining, Matic used his opportunity to give a farewell message to the club and its supporters.
“For me, it was a pleasure and honour to play at Old Trafford for the five years. As I said before the game, I will do my best to help my team. I can just repeat, it was a pleasure”, he told Sky Sports.
Despite revealing he’s yet to decide his next move, it seems Matic could be heading away from England, adding: “Three more games to play and United will stay forever in my heart, of course, together with Chelsea, of course, because I also played for Chelsea.”
Keane was left angered by what he called “inappropriate comments” from the midfielder, saying: “Where’s the standards at the club? Matic’s talking about I’m leaving, I’ve had a great time, Man United will always be in my heart, oh and Chelsea as well, oh and Benfica don’t forget them. They all can’t be in your heart!”
It was not just Matic who received stern words from the former United captain, with Keane also frustrated with the way interim manager Ralf Rangnick is managing the team as their season fizzles out to a disappointing end.
Juan Mata replaced Marcus Rashford for the final 10 minutes of the match, and this decision irked Keane, who accused Rangnick of failing to look ahead to the future.
“Mata has come on for Man United again tonight, he’s come on the last few games. You’ve got some young kids on the bench - get them on. It’s like a tribute to Mata. I thought it was his testimonial tonight”, he said.
With Erik ten Hag taking over at Old Trafford at the end of the season, Keane fails to understand why the rebuild of their under-performing squad is not starting now, instead of a sentimental approach to its outgoing players.
“You’re Man United, you’re fighting for points, you’re playing for pride. It’s all like ‘we’ll give him a game, we’ll bring (Phil) Jones on, everyone gets a round of applause’. You’re there to try and win a game of football for Man United. For get all this ‘oh, we’ll give someone 20 minutes because he’s leaving in a few weeks’ - actually you should have left two years ago, a few of them”, Keane continued.
Aside from securing himself a place in Keane’s bad books, Matic put in a good performance for United, setting up Cristiano Ronaldo’s equaliser.
He’s expecting the club to rebuild strongly, with success to return soon, saying: “United is a big club. Expectations are high. At the end of this season, the club needs to look forward to see where they can improve. For sure, I will be a supporter but I’m sure that better times will come.”
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