Manchester United’s woeful performance in their 4-1 defeat to Newcastle on Sunday has drawn fierce criticism from some of football’s most respected pundits — with Thierry Henry, Jamie Carragher, and Roy Keane all delivering damning verdicts on the club’s current state.
Speaking on Sky Sports’ Monday Night Football, Thierry Henry reserved particularly harsh words for United defender Leny Yoro, whose reaction after Harvey Barnes’ second goal left the Arsenal legend baffled. After Barnes beat three defenders and slotted past Altay Bayindir, Yoro immediately looked toward the linesman — despite there being no indication of a foul or offside.
“Leny Yoro doesn’t go back to try and defend,” Henry said. “The desire was on Newcastle’s side. They’re just not good enough. That [Barnes’ goal] should never happen. Pause on Yoro — I don’t know what he is looking at. Are you looking at the linesman, trying to see if he is going to bail you out? I don’t know. I’ve never seen that before.”
Barnes’ solo effort echoed a similar moment from April 1, when Anthony Elanga ran 85 meters unchallenged to score for Nottingham Forest. That pattern — a lack of pressing and defensive resistance — is becoming an alarming trend for Erik ten Hag’s men.
Jamie Carragher didn’t mince words either, describing United’s defending as “unacceptable” even at the most basic levels of the game.
“If I tell you now [Barnes] picks the ball up and is going to score without being challenged, you wouldn’t believe it. That’s not acceptable — not at under-fives, and certainly not in the Premier League,” Carragher remarked. “We’re running out of things to say about them.”
The loss, which leaves Manchester United languishing in 14th place in the Premier League, has heaped further pressure on the squad ahead of their Europa League quarter-final second leg against Lyon.
Former United captain Roy Keane was equally unimpressed, questioning both the physical and mental strength of the team.
“That’s 14 league games they’ve lost,” Keane said. “There’s not enough players who run. You’ve got to dig deep even when you’re up against it. Newcastle were too fast, too powerful, too determined. United now are physically and mentally a weak team. I worry for this group of players — they don’t look like a strong group mentally.”
While manager Ruben Amorim has urged his squad to turn their focus to European competition, the fierce commentary from Henry, Carragher, and Keane underscores a deeper concern — that Manchester United’s problems extend well beyond a single poor result.
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