Roy Keane accused Manchester United players of not ‘running hard enough’ for Erik ten Hag and criticized the efforts of the club’s first-team stars under his former manager.

Ten Hag was sacked by United earlier in the week after a heavy defeat against West Ham left the 13-time Premier League champions flirting with the relegation zone.

The troubled Dutchman received a huge payout after his contract was terminated, with United’s board confirming him as the successor to Sporting Lisbon boss Ruben Amorim.

But former United captain Keane believes Ten Hag, who won two trophies during his reign at Old Trafford, was let down by his players, who responded to his dismissal by scoring five goals in a dominant win over Leicester.

The club legend believes that new arrival Amorim will have a big role to play in changing the mentality in the United squad and stressed that the Portuguese could face similar problems to Ten Hag.

Roy Keane accuses Manchester United players of ‘not running hard enough’ for former boss Erik ten Hag

United stars have underperformed this season and Ten Hag has been sacked as a result of their struggles

Sporting Lisbon boss Ruben Amorim (pictured) confirmed as Ten Hag’s successor

‘You’re disappointed, you always are. This is a new start, a new manager will arrive in a few weeks. You always wish him well.

Trying to get United back to the top flight is a big challenge for him. “It’s a big ask, wish him well,” Keane told Sky Sports.

‘But you always sympathize with a manager losing his job and I think, whatever you think of the board, the players let him (Erik ten Hag) down with their effort and not being good enough.

United legend Keane believes the mentality of the club’s first team players needs to change

“The challenge will of course be to get the players involved. We emphasize that there are a few players in the United team who cannot run in big positions, which is a big problem, isn’t it?” “But there are also players who don’t want to run,” he added.

“Or when they do run, they don’t run hard enough or they don’t run fast enough or they don’t run long enough, so you have to adopt that mentality in the locker room and try to get that to the players who aren’t doing that.” It’s difficult to mobilize them because they have long-term contracts,’ Keane said.

Amorim will have the chance to face an underperforming United squad for the first time on November 11 as he begins work to turn the club’s season around.

The 39-year-old coach became the only coach in Europe’s five biggest leagues, at the top of the Primeira Liga, Sporting, to start the season with 100 percent victory.