Roy Keane accuses Man United players of hiding behind Louis van Gaal

Roy Keane has accused the Manchester United players of hiding behind under-fire manager Louis van Gaal.

The 64-year-old former Barcelona and Bayern Munich head coach is facing a fresh wave of criticism after the Red Devils crashed out of the Champions League on Tuesday night.

It’s about passion, desire, you are a Man United player

Roy Keane

The 20-time English champions suffered a dramatic 3-2 defeat by Bundesliga side Wolfsburg in Germany despite Anthony Martial giving the visitors an early lead.

Former United captain Keane, who won the Champions League with the Red Devils at Camp Nou in 1999, slammed the performance of Van Gaal’s players at Wolfsburg.

“The manager is getting a lot of criticism and a lot of the players are hiding behind that,” Keane told ITV Sport.

“People talking about the tactics and the systems. Forget about tactics and systems when you look at the goals they conceded. That was just about players not doing their jobs.

“It was a disaster for them last night when you consider the goals they gave away. It’s about passion, desire, you are a Man United player.

“At Man United, you need certain characters and they are lacking characters more than anything else.”

The Red Devils will drop down to the Europa League following their Wolfsburg humiliation.

United are in fourth place and three points behind surprise Premier League leaders Leicester City after a goalless draw with West Ham United at Old Trafford last weekend.

MORE: Read the latest Man United player tweets

Van Gaal’s men make the long trip to Eddie Howe’s Chelsea conquerors Bournemouth at Dean’s Court in the Premier League on Saturday afternoon.