Keane slams ‘shocking’ Arsenal star as key trio ‘didn’t turn up’ vs Man Utd amid ‘backfired’ warning

Manchester United legend Roy Keane hit out at three Arsenal players after they “didn’t turn up” against the Red Devils on Sunday afternoon.

Arsenal joined Liverpool and Manchester City in winning their opening game of the 2025/26 Premier League season on Sunday, beating Man Utd at Old Trafford.

The Gunners took the lead inside the opening 15 minutes as Declan Rice’s corner was nodded home at the back post by Riccardo Calafiori after stand-in goalkeeper Alter Bayindir failed to clear.

This goal proved to be enough for the north London side as they won 1-0, though it was a concerning display as Man Utd were clearly the better side over 90 minutes and deserved at least a point.

As usual, Arsenal defended well as they kept Man Utd at bay, but they lacked cohesion in attacking areas and it was clear that some of their key players were not up to speed.

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Keane poured cold water on praise for Man Utd as Martin Odegaard was “shocking”, while two other Arsenal players “didn’t turn up”.

The outspoken pundit also thinks Arsenal could have the same weakness this season as 2024/25 after it “backfired on them last year”.

“This was an Arsenal team where four or five of their players didn’t turn up,” Keane told Sky Sports.

“[Declan] Rice… Nev [Gary Neville] praised Odegaard, I thought Odegaard was shocking, Saka didn’t do too much.

“Players off the bench didn’t do too much so this was a below par, poor performance from Arsenal.

“But they got the result so you give them credit. From United’s point of view this wasn’t a strong Arsenal team coming at them.”

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Keane added: “The sign of a really good team is when you’re not at your best and you win football matches.

“The worry for me in the second half is there were opportunities to really go at Man Utd, but they seemed off it from that point of view.

“But going forward, competing with the likes of Liverpool and Man City, they seem to want to go for that second or third goal, whereas Arsenal are thinking they’ll hold onto the lead.

“That backfired on them last year when they had too many draws. That won’t win you league titles and they have to improve.

“Arsenal need to be clinical in their play and really go for that second or third goal.”