They don’t have many Roy Keane types in Sweden, apparently.
When Jesper Blomqvist made his 1998 move to Manchester United, he encountered a motivational technique that was quite new to him in the form of a shouty Irishman who took no nonsense whatsoever.
Blomqvist, who was signed by Sir Alex Ferguson as a back-up to Ryan Giggs, ended up making 38 appearances for United but his playing time with the Red Devils was limited due to injury.
The Swedish winger gave an interview to the Telegraph this week in which he discussed his time in the Premier League and of course the subject of Roy Keane came up.
Blomqvist said: “In Sweden, I was used to positive feedback but in Roy (Keane) I got something completely different. I got hammered by him when I missed a pass. He would say all kinds – I can’t even repeat it.
“In the beginning, I got really upset and I couldn’t understand what his problem was. But after a while I realised he was doing it for the best, for the team. I would never want to be without him. On the pitch, he always stood up for you when you got a bad tackle. In training he was testing us Scandinavians. If you can’t make it in training you won’t last on the pitch either.”
There are countless stories about Keane’s tough love approach during his time as captain of both United and the Republic of Ireland national team.
Kieran Richardson and Gerard Pique are just two former United players who can testify to Keane’s matchless ability to strike fear into the hearts of his teammates.
