Former Arsenal midfielder David Hillier has shared his experience of taking on Manchester United legend Roy Keane.
Widely regarded as one of the best midfielders the Premier League has seen, Keane struck fear into opposing players across the country during his time in England.
However, as TalkSPORT reported, speaking on the Under The Cosh podcast, Hillier gave a rather different take.
Hillier stated that playing Roy Keane was a “dream” because he “wasn’t a smart player”.
Referring to a match he played against Keane, who was at Nottingham Forest at the time, Hillier said “he was my dream player to play against. I camped on top of it.
Hillier, who made 142 appearances for Arsenal in the late 1980s and early 1990s, said Keane was an easy job because of the Irishman’s lack of footballing intelligence.
“Roy Keane was not a smart player when he was making runs. He was just a direct third man, that’s all. Easy to remove,” he said.
The former Arsenal midfielder then declared how much better off he was than Keane and ended with a rather strange anecdote about him and Keane standing in line at a nightclub.
“Oh, he was as fit as Roy Keane, easily. He was fitter than Roy Keane.
“He was so fit that when he got stuck in a nightclub when we went out that night and didn’t go in because he was wearing tennis shoes, I ran back to the hotel, bought him a pair of shoes and came back. You owe me a pair of Gucci loafers if he’s listening,” he said.
Fortunately for United and Keane, not everyone found him as easy to deal with as Hillier.
The United captain went on to make nearly 500 appearances for United, lifting 7 Premier League trophies, 4 FA Cups and 1 Champions League trophy. Keane was also inducted into the Premier League Hall of Fame last year.
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