“I was just trying to be humble!” – Roy Keane almost talks himself out of City and United dream team

Patrick McCarry

“I think we’ve been bullied!”

Jill Scott and Micah Richards got some working over from Roy Keane and Gary Neville as the quartert considered and debated selections for a ‘Manchester Derby Combined XI’.

The piece, which was recorded to coincide with the FA Cup final between the two clubs, followed on from a Manchester derby quiz that showed Keane had definitely not lost his competitive spirit. City won the final, thanks to an Ilkay Gündogan double, but did not fare so well in his dream team from the Premier League era [1992 to present].

Keane and Neville pulled off a negotiating masterclass by conceding the formation – 4-3-3 instead of 4-4-2 – then proceeded to run roughshod over the former City and England stars.

All agreed on Peter Schmeichel being the goalkeeper, which was handy as he did play for both sides in his career. He went in as a United pick, though, as he won a stack of trophies with the Red Devils before moving to City in the twilight of his career.

The defence was an even split, with Keane getting Denis Irwin selected and Jaap Stam the other United pick. City had Kyle Walker and Vincent Kompany selected but the best moment came when Richards and Neville debated the right-back slot.

RICHARDS: Yeah, but you were in a great team [Gary]. I was playing with Antoine Siberski and David Sommeil.

KEANE: But they’d be saying the same about playing with you!

Roy Keane poses with a Manchester United scarf at Old Trafford after signing from Nottingham Forest ahead of the 1993/94 season. (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Allsport/Getty Images)

Roy Keane tries to be humble about midfield selections

While neither Gary Neville or Micah Richards ended up in the combined XI defence, Roy Keane was one of the first names mentioned [not by the man himself] when selecting the three-man midfield.

Keane advocated for the inclusion of Paul Scholes while all agreed that Belgian playmaker Kevin de Bruyne had to feature. That left players such as David Silva, David Beckham and Yaya Toure left out. Keane, here, sought to take the high road.

“If you wanted to change that midfield, you could take me out. Listen, whatever, and put Yaya in there. You’re trying to get Silva in, too, yeah? I’m serious. Let’s debate it.”

When Neville rode in and declared, “That midfield [De Bruyne, Keane and Scholes] is great. Don’t try to change it,” Keane joked, “I’m just trying to be humble! That’s fine!”

After losing that battle, the fight appeared to go out of Scott and Richards. The front three was all United, with both Sergio Aguero and Erling Haaland missing out. Keane said he did not recall Aguero scoring more than 20 league goals in most seasons, but said he could be proved wrong [note: Aguero had six Premier League seasons with 20 or more goals]