Roy Keane Tears Into Liverpool For ‘Classless’ Act | OneFootball

Former Manchester United captain Roy Keane has delivered a scathing review of Arne Slot’s decision to heavily rotate his Liverpool squad after wrapping up the Premier League title, claiming that it lacks “class”.

The retired Republic of Ireland international won seven Premier League titles while patrolling the midfield for United, Liverpool’s fiercest rivals of the modern era. Since swapping the pitch for punditry, Keane has chiselled out a niche as English football’s angry uncle, raging against various aspects of the game which infuriate him.

United captain Bruno Fernandes is usually at the centre of Keane’s ire, but now Slot has found himself under scrutiny. “Liverpool have switched off—they’re irritating me,” Keane huffed on the Stick to Football podcast. “It doesn’t matter [that they’ve won the league], but the fringe players and the B team are coming in—what kind of message is that? I’m thinking come on—show a bit of class.”

Keane’s tirade came after a rotated Liverpool side twice gave up leads to lose 3–2 to Brighton & Hove Albion on Monday night. Slot left club captain Virgil van Dijk on the bench for the first time in a Premier League game this season. Federico Chiesa was handed his maiden top-flight start of the campaign while Harvey Elliott, Jarell Quansah and Kostas Tsimikas all came in for rare appearances.

The south coast defeat represented Liverpool’s third winless game in succession since wrapping up the Premier League title, an unwanted feat no other champion had ever endured.

Even when they did romp to a 5–1, title-sealing win against Tottenham Hotspur, Keane wasn’t impressed by Mohamed Salah’s selfie celebration. “Salah scores a goal and he’s taking pictures—the game’s still on," the pundit fumed. “Liven up a little bit!”

Slot acknowledged the numerous alternations to the starting XI ahead of Monday’s match. “As the job of a Liverpool player always is to win a game of football, but as you saw in the lineup, it’s also interesting for me to see a few players that we haven’t seen enough, if you look at their quality,” the Dutch coach explained.

Liverpool finish the campaign at home to freshly crowned FA Cup champions Crystal Palace on Sunday. Slot’s biggest selection question for that contest will revolve around the involvement of Trent Alexander-Arnold, who was booed by Liverpool fans on his previous home appearance after announcing his decision to leave.