Jump to content
  • Sign up for free and receive a month's subscription

    You are viewing this page as a guest. That means you are either a member who has not logged in, or you have not yet registered with us. Signing up for an account only takes a minute and it means you will no longer see this annoying box! It will also allow you to get involved with our friendly(ish!) community and take part in the discussions on our forums. And because we're feeling generous, if you sign up for a free account we will give you a month's free trial access to our subscriber only content with no obligation to commit. Register an account and then send a private message to @dave u and he'll hook you up with a subscription.

If Roy Keane played for us


Kevin D
 Share

Would you like Keane  

60 members have voted

  1. 1. So?

    • Yes. He'd be our cunt.
    • No. He is a prick.


Recommended Posts

14 minutes ago, Ronnie Whelan said:

I loved Whelan and he was a class act in great Liverpool teams. I would say he was better technically than Keane, but Keane was the better all round player. Having said that, all of the Liverpool players mention that Whelan was the silent assassin type and hard as fucking nails in a quiet manner. 

 

I remember Giles as a kid and he was the best player in a great Leeds team. World class player no doubt. Can't say if Keane was overall the better player, but Giles was technically one of the best midfielders to play in this country. If you asked my dad or older Kopites, they would reckon Keane wasn't fit to lace Giles or Bremner's boots.

 

Brady was wonderful to watch. I reckon he is the second best Arsenal player of all time behind Henry. 

I loved Whelan too.  A Dubliner in my team when I was a teenager was a dream.  Funnily enough he used to get the Henderson treatment too.  We were always being told he wasn't good enough.  He was excellent.  I think Keane had more, but I do agree that Whelan was far more talented then given credit for.

 

Anyone I know who saw Giles in his pomp says he's the best Irish player ever.  My dad raves about him and he doesn't even like football

Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 minutes ago, JohnnyH said:

I loved Whelan too.  A Dubliner in my team when I was a teenager was a dream.  Funnily enough he used to get the Henderson treatment too.  We were always being told he wasn't good enough.  He was excellent.  I think Keane had more, but I do agree that Whelan was far more talented then given credit for.

 

Anyone I know who saw Giles in his pomp says he's the best Irish player ever.  My dad raves about him and he doesn't even like football

Like a lot of the great Liverpool players of the 70s and 80s, Whelan didn't get the attention he perhaps deserved because he was surrounded by greatness. Robson and Hoddle were surrounded by a lot of mediocrity so got the recognition and still would from fans of their clubs. Maybe, it's a bit similar with Stevie here.

 

In some ways, our current team is very like our great teams. Guys like Gini who are pivotal but content to quietly be in the background.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, Bjornebye said:

I'd go as fas as to say I'd rather have had Keane play for us than any other player in Prem history. Redknapp was a decent player but never a leader. Imagine the difference Keane would have made to that side. One thing we lacked is discipline. He wouldn't have stood for any of the shit that went on. 

But Keane wasn't really that professional before joining the mancs was he? He was a piss head at forest wasn't he? He might have been as bad as the rest of them if he'd have come and settled down with Neil Ruddock.

  • Upvote 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

18 minutes ago, The Gaul said:

But Keane wasn't really that professional before joining the mancs was he? He was a piss head at forest wasn't he? He might have been as bad as the rest of them if he'd have come and settled down with Neil Ruddock.

Possibly mate who knows. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 hours ago, JohnnyH said:


Are you from Cork or something?  Calm down you tart. 
 

This is my opinion too. It’s a football forum debate about which player is better than which. If you need people to state “in my opinion of course” in a football forum debate that can so obviously only be people’s opinions then you need to go and sit in a dark corner and give your head a wobble. Of course it’s just my opinion. As it’s stands, I’m not yet able to give others their opinion...
 

As for “what couldn’t Keane do?”  We’re not talking about the ability to just kick a ball or cover a bit in a position. This is about when someone says a player is best or second best in a major league with a statement that “he could do everything”. This means they are saying he was one of the very best in whatever position. Thus why I said Gerrard is the only one in that list who can justify that accolade. He was literally one of the best in the league when he played centrally, right wing, a number 10, and even bossed it in a European Cup Final at right back. Keane could not do that. He was not “an all round player”. 
 

Keane was an excellent defensive midfielder. He had a spell of being good as an attacking midfielder in a team that was relegated. He couldn’t play a back 4 defensive line and the handful of times asked to cover there by Ferguson was not great. He didn’t possess an eye for goal at a top level. He was not an excellent finisher. He didn’t have top pace or skill to contribute from the flanks. He was not an all round player. Not many are. 
 

Keane is seen at the level he is half because of roaring at Viera in the tunnel and trying to end Haaland’s career. And the other half because he became a top defensive midfielder. But so much about his game is blown up because of that awful British and Irish virtue ‘he gets stuck in’. A prime example is what is known as his ‘greatest hour’, the Juventus v Man Utd game. One of the big things spoken about is how he got booked and would miss the final, yet he still played well. Like that’s not the bare minimum we should expect? Was it ok for him to down tools? Every British and Irish paper game him man of the match and it’s now the go-to example of how great Keane is. Yet every Italian and Spanish newspaper gave man of the match to Andy Cole because of his attacking and link up play. Keane getting a yellow card was a passing comment. We look for a lot of the wrong things in players to applaud. 
 

Keane was a great player. One of the best in his defined position surrounded by great players.  He was not better than Viera or Toure who did much more from midfield in wonderful title winning teams. IN MY OPINION. 

It was a list of central midfielders. Keane could do everything asked of a traditional box to box version - tackle, pass, force the issue, cover, tackle, compete. I’ve already stated in a different thread that Gerrard would be my choice if I had to pick a team with only one player covering every position, so you’re preaching to the choir there.

 

Keane kicking off in the tunnel or booting Haaland has no bearing on my opinion of him as a player.

 

I’d be keen to see “every” British and Irish match report in comparison to “every” Spanish and Italian one as well. Busy paperboy round yours it seems. You tart.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, belarus said:

 

I’d be keen to see “every” British and Irish match report in comparison to “every” Spanish and Italian one as well. Busy paperboy round yours it seems. You tart.


Not busy paperboys. An article written a few years back in the Times I think talking about what qualities are perceived as better in UK football compared to continental Europe. It was trying to identify why English football particularly had been left so far behind at international level despite all the quality players. It used the motm in the Juve game in UK compared to mainland Europe as an example of what’s perceived as more import. You slut. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 hours ago, VladimirIlyich said:

I've never seen a better Irish player than Liam Brady,technically. Shame he didn't win what his talent deserved. Loved to have seen him in a Liverpool shirt.

Brady won a couple of Serie A medals in his two seasons at Juventus, which isn’t to be sniffed at; scored the title-winning goal for the second one too. 
 

Arsenal didn’t win anything during his time with them though. How very different that is to nowadays...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

15 minutes ago, Ron B said:

Brady won a couple of Serie A medals in his two seasons at Juventus, which isn’t to be sniffed at; scored the title-winning goal for the second one too. 
 

Arsenal didn’t win anything during his time with them though. How very different that is to nowadays...

He won the FA Cup in 1979.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Keane was a fine footballer.and without doubt one of the best midfielders we've had since football.started in 92. But I don't quite get the idea he could do everything. In an attacking sense he was pretty limited. His shooting wasn't great and his forward passing pedestrian. That doesn't mean he wasn't fantastic and in addition he's one of the best captains of the last 30 years, but I don't believe he was this all round footballer talked about on here. 

  • Upvote 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, The Gaul said:

Keane was a fine footballer.and without doubt one of the best midfielders we've had since football.started in 92. But I don't quite get the idea he could do everything. In an attacking sense he was pretty limited. His shooting wasn't great and his forward passing pedestrian. That doesn't mean he wasn't fantastic and in addition he's one of the best captains of the last 30 years, but I don't believe he was this all round footballer talked about on here. 


He was a far more attacking centre mid at Forest and when he first joined the mancs. 
 

It was only later on that he became known as a DM/enforcer. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 hours ago, lifetime fan said:


He was a far more attacking centre mid at Forest and when he first joined the mancs. 
 

It was only later on that he became known as a DM/enforcer. 

Yeah, I remember him like that, but I always felt the reason he went back at man united is that's where he excelled and his attributes going forward were nothing extraordinary. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

20 hours ago, Ronnie Whelan said:

I loved Whelan and he was a class act in great Liverpool teams. I would say he was better technically than Keane, but Keane was the better all round player. Having said that, all of the Liverpool players mention that Whelan was the silent assasin type and hard as fucking nails in a quiet manner. 

 

I remember Giles as a kid and he was the best player in a great Leeds team. World class player no doubt. Can't say if Keane was overall the better player, but Giles was technically one of the best midfielders to play in this country. If you asked my dad or older Kopites, they would reckon Keane wasn't fit to lace Giles or Bremner's boots.

 

Brady was wonderful to watch. I reckon he is the second best Arsenal player of all time behind Henry. 

I would throw Bergkamp into that Arsenal argument.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

10 hours ago, lifetime fan said:


He was a far more attacking centre mid at Forest and when he first joined the mancs. 
 

It was only later on that he became known as a DM/enforcer. 

He was mainly an attacking mid in a relegated forest team. When he moved to Utd he was attacking also, but fairly quickly moved more defensive and that was when he rightfully started getting called one of the best in the PL. 

 

You just have to look at his goalscoring each season to see that barring one weird season where he got a bunch of goals in Europe, his figures were tiny. But his passing percentages were always in the 95 percentile because he won the ball and then squared it to Giggs, Scholes or Beckham to create. A vitally important function, but by no means creative. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

10 hours ago, The Gaul said:

Keane was a fine footballer.and without doubt one of the best midfielders we've had since football.started in 92. But I don't quite get the idea he could do everything. In an attacking sense he was pretty limited. His shooting wasn't great and his forward passing pedestrian. That doesn't mean he wasn't fantastic and in addition he's one of the best captains of the last 30 years, but I don't believe he was this all round footballer talked about on here. 

I thought him and Scholes were often found seriously wanting when they were up against Petit and Vieira in their pomp. Keane was skilled but most of his positive attributes lay around his workrate and drive and ability to get more out of the players around him. I never made a habit of watching them play except when they were against us, but suspect he didn't have many games where he couldn't be arsed turning up. 

  • Upvote 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

24 minutes ago, Section_31 said:

I thought him and Scholes were often found seriously wanting when they were up against Petit and Vieira in their pomp. Keane was skilled but most of his positive attributes lay around his workrate and drive and ability to get more out of the players around him. I never made a habit of watching them play except when they were against us, but suspect he didn't have many games where he couldn't be arsed turning up. 

Petit and Vieira had both the workrate and the style wheres Scholes and Keane were a mixture of the two. Its also impossible to measure what being World and European champions can do to the confidence of the French players.

  • Upvote 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

40 minutes ago, JohnnyH said:

He was mainly an attacking mid in a relegated forest team. When he moved to Utd he was attacking also, but fairly quickly moved more defensive and that was when he rightfully started getting called one of the best in the PL. 

 

You just have to look at his goalscoring each season to see that barring one weird season where he got a bunch of goals in Europe, his figures were tiny. But his passing percentages were always in the 95 percentile because he won the ball and then squared it to Giggs, Scholes or Beckham to create. A vitally important function, but by no means creative. 


Think the change in position coincided with Ince being sold iirc.
 

I wasn’t making the point he could play every position on the pitch like Gerrard, or that he could do any of them bar DM better than Gerrard. 
 

Just there was far more to his game than being a ‘kick him and pass it 5 yards square’ merchant. He could bomb on, he could score goals, he’d even played at centre back from memory. 
 

He was just very disciplined in playing that DM role. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, lifetime fan said:


Think the change in position coincided with Ince being sold iirc.
 

I wasn’t making the point he could play every position on the pitch like Gerrard, or that he could do any of them bar DM better than Gerrard. 
 

Just there was far more to his game than being a ‘kick him and pass it 5 yards square’ merchant. He could bomb on, he could score goals, he’d even played at centre back from memory. 
 

He was just very disciplined in playing that DM role. 

 

He did play centreback, briefly.  He didn't do it many times as it didn't go great. It was just injury cover.  He was of course more than just a 5 yard square ball merchant but his bombing on was average for his level. He could do it, but it was no Viera or Toure or Essien for example.

 

I can't believe you think he was better than Zidane. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, VladimirIlyich said:

I would throw Bergkamp into that Arsenal argument.

Yeah Bergkamp was marvellous as well. From watching PL years on Sky during lockdown, you could make a case for him being possibly better than Henry. Both sublime players. That Arsenal team of that era must be in an argument for the best team to never be champions of Europe.

 

Thinking of Brady/Giles and it's no slight on countries like Ireland, but if they had been from one of the major footballing countries, I can't help but think that they like Best, Souey or Kenny would be regarded in even higher esteem than they were.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

13 minutes ago, Ronnie Whelan said:

Yeah Bergkamp was marvellous as well. From watching PL years on Sky during lockdown, you could make a case for him being possibly better than Henry. Both sublime players. That Arsenal team of that era must be in an argument for the best team to never be champions of Europe.

 

Thinking of Brady/Giles and it's no slight on countries like Ireland, but if they had been from one of the major footballing countries, I can't help but think that they like Best, Souey or Kenny would be regarded in even higher esteem than they were.

I’ve often heard people say Best wasted his talent and/or didn’t play at the top for long enough. Probably because he left Manchester United in his late twenties. What these people either choose to ignore or don’t realise, he played well over 400 games for them.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

45 minutes ago, Tony Moanero said:

I’ve often heard people say Best wasted his talent and/or didn’t play at the top for long enough. Probably because he left Manchester United in his late twenties. What these people either choose to ignore or don’t realise, he played well over 400 games for them.

I think it’s probably how little he won given his immense talent too. He’s won his last league at the age of 21, the European Cup at 22, and then that’s it. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share


×
×
  • Create New...