Man Utd analysis: Old Trafford celebrates 3-2 win against Nottingham Forest, but Roy Keane still had something to say
On a remarkable afternoon at Old Trafford, Roy Keane found a way to cast a shadow over one of the most joyous days of Manchester United's 2025/26 season, writes Sports News Blitz’s Noah Ngcobo.
A day Old Trafford will not forget
Sunday, May 17, at Old Trafford was a day of sunshine, goals, and the kind of pure, uncut football joy this club has been desperately craving.
Manchester United beat Nottingham Forest 3-2 in a breathless last home game of the season.
Bruno Fernandes equalled the Premier League assists record. Casemiro received a proper hero's farewell.
The stands were rocking. 60,000 people went home smiling.
Third place in the Premier League and Champions League football confirmed.
The atmosphere was electric, the memories were made, and the season that had been careening off a cliff was rescued in spectacular fashion.
And then Roy Keane opened his mouth. Of course he did.
From 15th to the Champions League...Try criticising that
Let's get the facts straight, because Roy Keane clearly doesn't like them.
When Michael Carrick stepped into the hot seat after Ruben Amorim's dismissal in January, Manchester United were 15th in the Premier League table. 15th. That is a relegation battle in disguise.
The club were in freefall, morale was shredded, and nobody, absolutely nobody, believed the Champions League was reachable.
What did Carrick do? He won 11 of his 16 matches in charge. He beat Arsenal. He beat Manchester City. He beat Liverpool. He beat Aston Villa.
He dragged this enormous, wounded football club from the mud of mid-table all the way up to third place, securing Champions League qualification for the first time in three years.
That is not a "safe decision."
That is an extraordinary football turnaround by any measure.
"Michael Carrick will not give a s**t what Roy Keane says. Any negativity was like water off a duck's back when he was a player and I don't think he'll be any different as a manager,” said Rio Ferdinand on Rio Ferdinand Presents.
READ MORE: Premier League news: Man Utd overcome Nottingham Forest as Bruno Fernandes equals assist record
Roy Keane's selective memory is exhausting
Keane's gripe, aired on Sky Sports after the Forest win, was that there are "still huge problems at United."
Nobody is denying that challenges exist. Every elite club has problems.
But the breathtaking nerve of sitting there in a studio, months after declaring Eddie Howe should get the job, and choosing the moment United seal Champions League qualification, with the fans still singing, to deliver a lecture on "huge problems"? That is next-level contrarianism.
Keane even admitted, rather reluctantly, that Carrick deserves the permanent job, that he "has been in the driving seat."
But he couldn't help himself.
He has spent months questioning Carrick's experience, his credentials, insisting "there are better options out there."
Yet here we are: Carrick has done what none of those better options were asked to do.
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Let the man have his moment
Old Trafford on Sunday was not a place for grumbling.
Bruno Fernandes equalled a Premier League assists record and milked every second of it.
Casemiro took his bow in front of a crowd that adores him.
This was a celebration of a rescue job, of team spirit, of a manager who kept his head while everyone around him was losing theirs.
And that, really, is the point.
Carrick never complained. He never pointed fingers. He just got on with it, quietly and effectively.
As Rio Ferdinand put it, criticism slides off Carrick like rain off a window.
Roy Keane's commentary says far more about Roy Keane than it ever will about Michael Carrick.
The man took a broken football club from 15th to third.
He brought Champions League football back to Old Trafford. He gave the fans their Sundays back.
So sit down, Roy.
The only huge problem visible on Sunday was you, refusing to enjoy a genuinely brilliant day.
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