Ex-Manchester United captain and midfielder has spoken about his “aggressive” and “nasty” rivalry with Arsenal and Patrick Viera in particular.
Throughout the late 1990s and mid-2000s, both Keane and Viera were bitter rivals on the pitch. On one occasion the two even had a tussle in the Highbury tunnel before a match in 2005.
However, the duo have now seemed to put that all behind them and are both on punditry on Super Sunday this afternoon.
Speaking to Sky Sports’ Super Sunday, the former Man United man admitted he missed playing in those tense battles.
He stated, “With the big clubs and obviously when I was playing and obviously Patrick [Viera]. We had a rivalry with you because you’re trying to win championships and we played the same position. So there was always going to be clashes, big personalities, the big clubs.
“Trying to win the big prizes and you’ve shown clips there of what it was like back in our time, and it was brilliant. You really really miss it because it was aggressive, it was nasty.
“There was some top-quality play. There’s obviously the pace to the game and you knew every time you played Arsenal from United’s point of view, that result was going to be so vital if you want to get your hands on the title and honestly, they were great days.”
That period in time when Arsenal and Man United were tussling at the top of the Premier League summit was a magical time in the history of the league.
There were so many top names at both clubs back then and both Keane and Viera were the respective leaders of their packs.
Seeing them both now hold an immense respect for one another and letting bygones be bygones, is great to see as they’re both two Premier League greats.