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Football

20th Feb 2022

Roy Keane hammers Leeds for ‘insane’ defensive tactics

Daniel Brown

Keane says Leeds’ defending against Man Utd was ‘madness’

Roy Keane was critical of Leeds United’s defensive tactics against Manchester United as Marcelo Bielsa’s side suffered a 4-2 defeat to the Red Devils on Sunday.

Harry Maguire opened the scoring for United, before Bruno Fernandes doubled the away side’s lead in added time of the first half.

The home scored two goals in quick succession to draw level through Rodrigo Moreno and substitute Raphinha.

United made it 3-2 with 20 minute remaining when substitute Fred finished off a well-worked move with a tidy finish, with Anthony Elanga securing the victory with a late strike.

Despite coming back from two goals down, Keane was far from impressed with Leeds’ performance and highlighted their defending as an issue, suggesting it’s a sign of ‘insanity’ to consistently do something wrong.

Speaking on Sky Sports after the match, he said: “From Leeds’ point of view, the sign of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.

“They did this at United earlier in the season and conceded five and they’re doing the same again today.

“When you’re up against real quality players and the players are trying to do that man-for-man [marking] stuff, it’s madness what they’re doing.”

The 4-2 win over Leeds sees United move four points clear of West Ham United in fifth, with David Moyes’ men being held to a 1-1 draw against much-improved Newcastle United on Saturday.

United travel to Madrid to take on Atlético on Wednesday night in the first leg of their Champions League round of 16 tie, hoping to secure their third win in a row in all competitions.

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