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| Keane is rarely one to hold his tongue, but chose to defend manager Louis van Gaal on this occasion |
ROY KEANE believes Manchester United's players are hiding behind their manager in the wake of Champions League elimination.
United crashed out of Europe's premier club competition after a 3-2 defeat to Wolfsburg, meaning they will be playing Europa League football after Christmas for the second time in five years.
And Keane, a former United captain, thinks there is a lack of leadership in the playing staff that is creating uncertainty in the dressing room.
"The manager's getting a lot of criticism and I think the players are hiding behind that," Keane said on ITV.
"People talk about the tactics and the systems but it's about the players as well.
"The goals they conceded from the set-pieces, forget about tactics and the systems, that was just about doing your job.
"They're almost robotic. We talk about tactics and systems, sometimes [you need] a bit of passion, desire, Man United players showing a bit of character.
"Okay, I know they'd love to win the game but don't lose it. There seems to be a lack of leaders at a lot of football clubs at the moment, technically good players but this idea that [they need] a bit of passion."
Keane himself was a formidable leader at Old Trafford, making 480 appearances over 13 years there, picking up seven league titles along the way.
The Republic of Ireland international played alongside some of the Red Devils' best players like Eric Cantona and Cristiano Ronaldo and insists that similar star players are what his former club now lack.
"Man United have a lot of good players, there's no getting away from that, I just don't think they're good enough for Man United, I really don't," Keane added.
"I think they lack real quality.
"You look at the recruitment, they've thrown decent money at it, no special players at the moment.
"When you think of Man United you always associate them with one or two special players who can produce.
"Man United's best player at the moment is the goalkeeper and he nearly left two or three months ago. He was out of the door.
"There are a lot of experienced players in the team with Carrick, Schweinsteiger, the goalkeeper, experienced international players, it's up to them to help out the younger players and, as I said, they've spent so much money it's untrue.
"I think Wayne [Rooney] is a loss, even when he's not at his best, but injuries are part and parcel of the game.
"To me at Man United you need certain characters, as well as good players, and they seem to be lacking players as much as anything else."
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