Roy keane and patrick vieira nice

I like that, I respect that. He is one of the best midfield players I have come across and possibly the hardest I have played against. Freddie Ljungberg put the hosts ahead at the break, but after the restart Keane cranked his already impressive performance levels up to 11, yielding two priceless goals and one very public, very literal head-to-head with Vieira.

Through it all, the ferocity of the Keane-Vieira meetings remained high but never spilled over. A foul from one on the other was seldom met with anything beyond bruised acceptance. Less the competitive edge, Vieira cajoled Keane in the tunnel beforehand, prompting a begrudging grin from the Irishman. Despite the absence of Keane and Vieira some six weeks later, two much-changed teams once again clashed as the Reds won in the League Cup.

Thus, when the sides reconvened for the Premier League return at Highbury two months on, all parties were suitably amped up in advance. For Keane, that meant pre-match revenge.

Roy keane and patrick vieira nice

Ahead of the return game at Highbury, French World Cup winner Vieira made his feelings clear after the warm-ups as he issued a warning to Neville. That led to Keane clashing with his fellow midfield hardman in the tunnel as the teams prepared for kick-off. I felt that you were over the top against him. Robert was nice, he was too nice to complain, and I felt at that time you went over the top, it was too much, and it was too obvious.

When I came back out the second time, I knew that something had gone on, and I remember what you [Gary] told me previously. My annoyance was that he went after Gary — you go after one, you go after all of us. We've launched a dedicated transfer news channel to send you the latest deals, rumours and more directly on WhatsApp and all you need to do to sign up is click through to our one-way broadcast channel here for 'SPORTbible News' to appear in the 'Updates' tab on your WhatsApp.

Club legend has doubts over Gunners boss. Arsenal close in on prolific winger as homegrown star heads for exit: report. For more than a decade Joe Mewis has worked in football journalism as a reporter and editor, with stints at Mirror Football and LeedsLive among others. He is the author of four football history books that include times on Leeds United and the England national team.

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