Never a man who’s shy of expressing a forthright opinion, Roy Keane has aired a stinging broadside at Liverpool over what Arne Slot and his players have done since clinching the Premier League title.
The Reds secured domestic glory with a 5-1 thrashing of Tottenham Hotspur at the end of April, but since then they’ve lost at Chelsea and Brighton and let a two-goal lead slip to draw at home to Arsenal.
The champions have also been letting their hair down with some overseas jaunts this month, with the head coach seen partying in Ibiza and the players enjoying a trip to Dubai last week.
Keane ‘irritated’ by Slot’s and Liverpool’s title indulgence
Keane has basically accused Liverpool of downing tools since being confirmed as champions 24 days ago and was also critical of Mo Salah’s selfie celebration following his goal in the title-clinching win over Spurs.
On the latest episode of Stick to Football, the pundit fumed: “Liverpool have switched off, haven’t they? They’re irritating me at the moment. It doesn’t matter [that they’ve won the league], but the fringe players coming in and they’re all in [sic] Ibiza – what kind of message is that?
“I’m thinking, ‘Come on, show a bit of class’. Salah scores a goal and he’s taking pictures when the game’s still on. Come on, liven up a little bit.”
While Keane praised the job that Slot has done this season, he questioned the Dutchman’s decision to go for a foreign holiday in between matches, saying: “He’s in Ibiza – relax on all that stuff.
“You don’t want to see a manager going around on a bike, do you? I don’t want to see a manager in Ibiza. Don’t be out on a bike! Go out at midnight when there’s nobody around.”
Slot and Liverpool are right to seize rare chance to relax
Few (if any pundits) expected Liverpool to even contend for the Premier League title this season, never mind winning it with four games to go…and now they’re being criticised for blowing off some steam after many months of relentless hard work to achieve their goal? Come on, lads, do us a favour!
If the Reds had nothing riding on their final few matches of the campaign but had gone off on foreign junkets, then we could understand that the optics wouldn’t be great, but the truth is that they’re champions and have earned the right to switch off mentally.
Once next Monday’s trophy parade is out of the way, Slot will be in constant contact with Richard Hughes about transfer activity for the summer and the players will be focusing on international duty in early June, with everyone reconvening in July for the ever-gruelling pre-season programme.
Given the extreme rigours of the modern footballing calendar at the highest level, there’s hardly any opportunity to take a step back and have a break away from the intense physical and psychological pressure of the sport, so what’s Keane’s problem?
It’s not as if the Liverpool boss or any of his players did anything untoward on their overseas excursions or got on the wrong side of the law, so let them have their well-earned holidays!
Oh, and did we mentioned that the Sky Sports pundit was the captain of a Manchester United team which, in 2001, won the Premier League with a month of the season to go and lost their final three matches? Yet he has the temerity to criticise the Reds for switching off after securing the title.
Not that anyone at Anfield on Sunday or around Merseyside the following day will be the slightest bit bothered about the naysayers when they’re too busy revelling in the trophy presentation and parade!
