Roy Keane has admitted that he is "surprised" by caretaker manager Michael Carrick's decision to drop Cristiano Ronaldo to the bench for Manchester United's trip to Chelsea this afternoon.
Ronaldo is one of four changes that Carrick has decided to make to his side following Tuesday evening's 2-0 triumph over Villarreal in the UEFA Champions League.
Carrick, who has also dropped Donny van de Beek to the bench, has tweaked his side's look in an attempt to try and combat the threat that current table-toppers Chelsea will pose.
However, his decision to leave leading marksman Ronaldo out of the side has come as a huge surprise to almost everyone, not least former United skipper Keane.
He told Sky Sports : "I’m surprised. Ronaldo is one of the great players, but the manager has said he has a plan.
"Ronaldo has come back [to United] to play in these games. He is a big player for the big occasions.
"His stats against Chelsea aren’t great, but I'm surprised to see him being left out."
With Ronaldo having been left out of the starting line-up, United's attack is set to be led by the returning Marcus Rashford, plus Jadon Sancho.
Although Keane has no doubts about the duo's pace, which should cause Chelsea problems on the counter-attack, the former United midfielder is worried about how they will perform when out of possession.
"There’s no question about Rashford and Sancho’s pace, but the problem has been their work out of possession," Keane continued. "Are they going to close them down against a confident Chelsea team? I’d be worried about United today.
"Carrick has chosen a defensive team, but the back four would really worry me.
"I can see the reason behind it. If you look recently, they're so open, but they’ve tried different tactics and are still being open. Players aren’t working hard enough.
"In possession, United are a good team, but out of possession they’re all over the place."
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