Keane had the perfect response after listening to Richards’ comments.
Roy Keanewas having none of Micah Richards’ comments aboutManchester United’slegendary 1999 treble-winning team.
In recent weeks, there’s been plenty of debate about how Pep Guardiola’scurrentMan Cityside compare to Sir Alex Ferguson’s team that won the Premier League, Champions League, and FA Cup at the end of the 1998-99 season.
Man City now have a great chance to equal that historic achievement after beatingArsenalto the Premier League title.
City are also the favourites heading into the FA Cup final (vs Man Utd, on June 3) and the Champions League final (vs Inter Milan, on June 10).
What did Micah Richards say about Man Utd’s 1999 team?
Richards expressed his belief that Man City’s current team are better than Man Utd’s 1999 side.
“As a team and the way they play football, I don’t think the Man United team could compete in terms of style of play,” the Sky Sports pundit said.
“We talk about these new terminologies, breaking the lines and inverted full-backs…”
Roy Keane reacts to Micah Richards’ comments
It was at this point that Keane, United’s captain in 1999, intervened.
The Irishman, looking perplexed, said: “We broke the lines.”
Richards continued: “Pep is moving the game on…”
Keane then said: “This is the problem you have. People talk about playing between the lines as if we didn’t. Do you know what I mean? It’s bizarre.”
Richards replied: “But you didn’t play as well as this team…”
Keane responded: “How do you know?”
When Richards argued that he watched Man Utd in 1999, Keane said: “No, no. You weren’t watching us every week.
“Maybe we had tougher challenges around us: Arsenal, Juventus.”
Presenter Geoff Shreeves then said: “Is that a fair thing, though, to say that it’s a different style of football under Pep – but Manchester United swept all before them?”
Watch the clip here:
Roy Keane puts Micah Richards straight in regards to the United 99 vs City’e (maybe) treble 🗣️ pic.twitter.com/LDT7f0zUir
— Stretford Post (@StretfordPost) May 22, 2023
There’s no way to know for certain whether Man City’s current team are better than Man Utd’s 1999 team, or vice-versa.
It’s all based on personal opinion.
However, Keane is right to point out that United – and other teams – were still playing between the lines back in the late 1990s.
Shreeves arguably summed it up best by pointing out that City’s style of football under Guardiola is unlike anything we’ve seen before in English football.
However, Ferguson’s United were a trophy-winning machine and may still have found a way to get the better of modern-day City.