Villa forward Alysson slid his opening shot through the legs of Senne Lammens in the first minute at Old Trafford on Sunday, and by the fourth minute Nicolas Jackson had made it 2-0. By the final whistle, Manchester United had salvaged a 4-4 draw thanks to stoppage-time goals from Joshua Zirkzee and Patrick Dorgu, but the point left them 18th on 8 points from 10 matches.
For Roy Keane, the goalkeeper was again the problem.
“The goalkeeper has to do better,” the former United captain said on Sky Sports in the aftermath.
“It doesn’t help if your goalkeeper isn’t making saves, he hurts the team a lot.”
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Keane contrasted the start of this campaign with last season, when he said Lammens’ bigger saves had been part of a winning run.
Lammens stands by his pre-break interview
Lammens had already drawn a line under the ex-United punditry a few weeks earlier, in an interview with Belgian paper Het Belang van Limburg ahead of the October international break.
“I have not changed character by playing football at Manchester United,” he told the paper, as reported by Sport Witness.
“You do have to be mentally strong and have self-confidence in the face of all those people expressing their opinions.”
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He went on to produce strong Belgium performances against Italy, France and Turkey during that break.
Staff say he has improved and is skipping days off
Not everyone around the first team shares the pundits’ verdict. A Daily Mail report carried by Brit Brief said some figures at Manchester United believe parts of the Belgian’s game have actually improved from his debut season, and that he has been skipping scheduled days off to put in extra sessions, arriving first at Carrington and leaving last.
The habit traces back to Antwerp, where staff recalled him using the club gym as late as 1am to carry out night sessions.
Carrick’s job under growing pressure
Lammens’ form is one strand of a far wider problem at Old Trafford. Head coach Michael Carrick is under growing pressure, with Mauricio Pochettino named a leading candidate to take over should the hierarchy decide to act.
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United dropped into the relegation zone for the first time this season after Nottingham Forest beat Manchester City on 7 November, and the point against Villa was not enough to climb back out.
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