Was it only nine days ago that Roy Keane almost had us convinced he was mellowing out?
Sitting on the Late Late Show couch with an adorable labrador cradled on his lap and playfully advising young Manchester United and Irish rugby fan Darragh Curley to play for Munster, Roy Keane had us all fooled.
Back ensconced in the Sky Sports studio, Keane was back to his most cutting and unforgiving.
The first half of Everton’s Premier League clash with Manchester United featured one of the worst goalkeeping mistakes of the season and Jordan Pickford’s own feeble effort to save a low stinger from Bruno Fernandes.
First up, De Gea hand-wrapped a gift of an opening goal for Dominic Calvert-Lewin when he dawdled over a back-pass before clearing the ball straight into the out-stretched leg of the Toffees forward.
Why did Harry Maguire go back with that free?
Why did David De Gea just stand still for ages?
Why didn't DDG…. just, WHY, WHY, WHY?!!pic.twitter.com/v5D4iK5ibk
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) March 1, 2020
That was De Gea’s seventh error, this season, that has led directly to an opposition goal. United had kept clean sheets in six of their last seven games but this was a horrendous start for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side.
Just after the half-hour mark, however, Fernandes levelled the tie with a low drive from 30 yards out. There was some heat of the shot but Pickford will be very disappointed in how he allowed the ball to get under his dive and into the net.
"Gareth Southgate is watching, you're not impressing him."
Jordan Pickford cannot keep out a long-range strike from Bruno Fernandes…
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1-1 at the break and both Keane and former Liverpool and Rangers captain Graeme Souness engaged in a philosophical debate about modern goalkeeping and the art of doing the simple stuff well.
No, it was much more brutal and to the point.
KEANE:Â The ball is moving. Of course it’s moving… someone has kicked it! The bottom line with Pickford… I’m not joking you, I don’t need to see the stats. I know he’s not a good goalkeeper. We said it before the game, he’s not up to it. He’s not a good goalkeeper.
SOUNESS: He’s the England keeper.
KEANE:Â I don’t care. He’s not a good goalkeeper.
Roy keane not a fan of pickford then. Spot on tho isnt he pic.twitter.com/TZ1EvIB3Vo
— Lyle Lanley (@teL4__) March 1, 2020
Keane gave De Gea short shrift too, while he was at it. With a steely glare, he proclaimed:
“As a manager or player I’d kill him.
“He takes way too long. What are you doing? These are huge moments for top 4. It’s a bit of arrogance to it – ‘Look at me; give me time’. They almost think they’re out-field players.
“I would have lynched him after that. I’d have no time for that carry on.”
We all enjoy Keane at his acerbic best, especially when it is directed nowhere near us, but that lynching comment regarding De Gea was too far. We know what he meant to say but it was a poor choice of words.
Earlier this season, Keane said he had ‘question marks’ about the Spaniard. “I’ve always worried about him, the character side of things. Is he commanding? I’ve never got the impression that he’s the type of person that puts demands on people around him.”
In fairness to both Pickford and De Gea, they stepped up with incredible saves in the final minutes to ensure the game ended 1-1.
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