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8th July 2025
11:42am BST
Manchester United legend Roy Keane has named his best XI of players he has played against, including only one household Premier League name.
Keane, speaking at Like At The Marquee in Cork on Monday night, was asked by host Roddy Doyle to name an ‘against’ XI, and there are some striking omissions.
He’s previously named his best Manchester United and Premier League XIs, but when asked to expand his thinking to all leagues and competitions, Keane left out some huge names.
Liverpool’s Steven Gerrard made his XI, which was otherwise filled with international superstars.
German Oliver Kahn, in goal for Bayern Munich during United’s famous Treble triumph in 1999, was included, with a back four of Paolo Maldini, Franco Baresi, Ronald Koeman and Lilian Thuram.
Frenchman Didier Deschamps, who did play in the Premier League for Chelsea but made his name predominantly for Juventus, Marseille and France, makes the defensive midfield position, with Hristo Stoichkov, Gerrard, Zinedine Zidane and Gheorghe Hagi in front. Brazilian Ronaldo is No 9.
Keane chose to overlook the likes of Arsenal's Patrick Vieira (no surprise there!), Thierry Henry, Robert Pires and Dennis Bergkamp, plus Frank Lampard, John Terry and more.
Keane famously had running battles with Vieira and his Arsenal team-mates in the late 90s and early 00s, iconically calling out the Frenchman for picking on Gary Neville in the tunnel during Manchester United's 4-2 win at Highbury in 2005.
But both Vieira and Keane, who captained their respective sides to huge success, have reunited several times since on punditry duties, sharing a laugh and plenty of digs about their playing days.
In 2022, Keane named his Manchester United XI from the Premier League era, leaving out Rio Ferdinand, Steve Bruce and Ruud van Nistelrooy.
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