Roy Keane has criticized the behavior of Arsenal and Manchester United players in the tunnel before their recent Premier League clash.
During the match, which took place at the Emirates Stadium, Marcus Rashford opened the scoring for Manchester United in the 27th minute after a mistake by Arsenal’s Kai Havertz.
However, celebrations were short-lived as Martin Odegaard equalized immediately for Arsenal. In the 88th minute, Alejandro Garnacho appeared to have scored the winner for United, but VAR ruled it offside.
Arsenal then took advantage of the opportunity to go 2-1 ahead in extra time through a goal by Declan Rice, with Gabriel Jesus sealing a 3-1 victory for Arsenal.
Keane took issue with the players’ antics in the tunnel before the match, as images of their behavior were shown on Sky Sports.
“I’ll shake your hand after the game!”
Roy Keane was never a fan of speaking to the opposition before a game 🤣 pic.twitter.com/qxny74GWfy
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) September 3, 2023
However, prior to the match getting underway, ex-United star Roy Keane had some choice words to say about how the players were treating each other in the Emirates tunnel.
In footage broadcast by Sky Sports, goalkeepers Aaron Ramsdale and Onana were seen conversing with one another, while Odegaard and new United signing Sergio Reguilon were seen embracing.
After viewing the footage, Keane said that in his day: “You were going to war, you were going to battle. That was what it was about.
“I am looking at the tunnel there, everyone thinks I am old school but I don’t know why you’d be chatting to people you are just about to go into battle against. You are going to be kicking lumps out of each other.
“Why are you shaking hands? I’d shake hands after the game but not before the battle. Maybe these younger lads will educate me,” the 52-year-old concluded.
However, Keane wasn’t the only pundit to be unimpressed with the affectionate tunnel atmosphere.
Former Gunner Theo Walcott backed up his co-host’s claims and stated that he would never have been involved in such scenes.
“I was never into it,” the 34-year-old stated. “Maybe the goalkeeper side of things but no, I wouldn’t do that.”
While the stars agreed that friendly chitchat in the tunnel definitely wasn’t their thing, the pair have recently clashed with opinions involving both teams.
Prior to the Arsenal vs United game kicking off, Keane and Walcott were joined by Micah Richards and discussed which side could be considered the ‘biggest’ team.
In a video shot by Richards for Sky Sports, Walcott said: “Arsenal finished above United so if you’re going right now, for me, I would have to say them. I feel like they’re a bit more organised.”
The Irish international obviously thought that his companion was wrong and decided to put a hand on his shoulder.
“So naive and young, huh?” Keane laughed before making it abundantly clear that he believed United to be the ‘bigger club’.