Roy Keane and Micah Richards disagreed on their comparisons between the Treble-winning Manchester United side of 1999 or the current Manchester City team who could match that feat this season.
United won the Treble in the memorable 1998/99 campaign. They clinched the Premier League crown and beat Newcastle United in the FA Cup final. And of course, they came from behind in the legendary Champions League final of that year in the Camp Nou against Bayern Munich. Teddy Sheringham and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's stoppage-time strikes ensuring a 2-1 comeback victory and the Treble being secured.
City have already claimed one third of that with the Premier League crown. Their fifth title in six seasons was confirmed after second-placed Arsenal suffered a 1-0 loss on the road to Nottingham Forest.
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City take on United in the FA Cup final next month, before heading to Istanbul to face Inter Milan in the Champions League final. A huge couple of weeks now follow for Pep Guardiola's side.
Naturally with City having the potential to match United's achievement, the question has been raised as to which side was the better one. That very question was posed to both Keane and Richards on Sky Sports ahead of City taking on Chelsea.
Beginning, Keane said: “I don’t mind watching good teams and I like to give teams credit where it’s due and I’ve no problem doing that with Man City over the last few years. I think they’re a brilliant team and I wouldn’t begrudge them the success.
“Micah thinks they’re the greatest team of any sport in the history. They’re very good."
Asked where City rank compared to the 1999 Treble-winning United side he was a part of, Keane said: “They haven’t [won a Treble yet], they’re an amazing team and they’ve got an important few weeks coming up. They’re clear favourites to get it done, but they still have to go and do it. I’d obviously have preference to the team I was involved in. I thought we had brilliant players, brilliant characters, this City group has it as well of course so I think it would be a pretty decent game.
“The game has changed and I suppose they’ve probably got a bigger squad. They’ve got probably more internationals involved, when you look at the players coming off the bench.
“You talk about Jack Grealish there recently, a £100m player coming off the bench, particularly last year. But he’s matured this year, so City probably have a bit more strength in depth in terms of world-class quality, but I go back to the lads I played with and we always felt we had some brilliant characters, but then again so do CIty, so it’s maybe an unfair question to come to somebody who is involved in it.”
Richards then has his say on the subject and it commenced a back-and-forth discussion between the two Premier League title winners as they both defended the sides of the city they are most associated with.
Richards said: “They’ve done it so you’ve got to give credit to them, we’ve always got to give respect to Man United, but I think 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.
“We talk about these new terminologies, breaking the lines, and inverting full-backs.”
Keane responded to this by insisting that United 'broke the lines' too, but Richards believes Guardiola has moved the game on since United won the Treble. Keane responded with the issue that surrounds these comparisons.
He said: “This is the problem you have. People talk about playing inbetween the lines as if we didn’t. It’s bizarre, the phrases in football.”
Richards claimed that United did not play as well as this City side has done. Keane retorted: “How do you know? You weren’t watching the same game as me.”
Richards admits United were 'one of the best' and an amazing team, but Keane made the point that United perhaps had tougher challenges around them, such as Arsenal domestically and Juventus on the European stage.
It was put to Richards by Sky Sports reporter Geoff Shreeves that though City have had a different style of play under Guardiola, United 'swept all before them'. It was a point Richards agreed with but raised points about the specific tactical moves Guardiola has made in terms of where he has deployed certain players.
He said: “Yeah and I give them credit for that, I think they were outstanding, but I don’t think they entertained as good as Man City. He’s changing the game, he’s putting centre-backs into midfield, he’s putting full-backs into midfield.”
Keane raised the point that United did that too and he himself played at both full-back and centre-half. The discussion concluded with Richards believing City play more attractive football than the 1999 United side did.
He said: “Not with the same movement. You were a great team and I’m not saying the Man City team is better, I’m just saying they’re playing more attractive football.”
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