The Keane-Vieira Rivalry- An Unmatched Premier League Rivalry

The round leather game, ever since its inception, has never been shy of legendary rivalries that has spiced the thrill of the game much to the excitement of the spectators. While some of the rivalries have involved players who never went toe to toe on the field of battle (The Maradona-Pele rivalry), others have been produced by players who had a proclivity to produce a spectacle whenever they met on the field of play. Within today’s dispensation of course, what easily comes to mind would be the Messi-Ronaldo comparison, a raging war between two all time greats which has greatly divided the opinions of football enthusiasts all over the globe like never before.

But the Ronaldo-Messi rivalry, with all it’s thrills and excitement, pales in comparison to a rivalry which ignited the English Premier League landscape in the late 1990s and the early 2000s, the Keane-Vieira rivalry.

Widely regarded as the two greatest captains in the history of the Premier League, tough-as-nail Irish midfielder, and the charismatic French midfield General, Patrick Vieira, lit up the Premier League with a rivalry which is yet to be rivalled ever since the two midfielders left England’s premium football league.

Under the captaincy of Frenchman, Eric Cantona, United had established total dominance of the Premier League from the early to the mid 1990s, winning 4 league titles between 1993 to 1997. With Cantona’s sudden retirement in 1997, Sir Alex Ferguson decided to award the captaincy to his fierce looking Irishman, Roy Keane.

The previous summer, Arsenal had signed a young French midfielder who had struggled to make an impression in the Serie A with AC Milan. But Arsene Wenger, who always had a knack for discovering prodigious talents event when such diamonds were oddly rough, decided to take a chance on Vieira.

In England, Vieira hit the ground running and dazzled with his tremendous athleticism and passing ability, with Arsenal supporters claiming he was the playmaker they’d been missing since 1991 title winner Paul Davis. This would eventually set the tone for a rivalry which degenerated to feisty proportions on its worst days.

READ ALSO: “#OleOut”, Fans Call For Sack Of Manchester United Gaffer

By the late 90s, under the direction of new gaffer, Arsene Wenger, Arsenal had mounted a serious challenge to United’s dominance of the league, recording some big wins against their arch-rivals, with the rivalry between Keane and Vieira in the middle of the park constituting the running theme of these epic battles. United on their part, would also draw a pound of flesh of their own, notably in the semi-final of the 1999 FA Cup where Keane was sent off for two bookings and Vieira guilty of passing the ball straight to Ryan Giggs on route to his Mazy dribble, finish and chest-haired celebration.

United went on to create history by winning the treble. The following season, United would maintain their spot at the top. It was at this stage that the Keane and Vieira battles began to heat up. Keane scored twice at Highbury as United beat the hosts 3-1 in a game in which the two repeatedly clashed. Again United would go on to win the title, and Keane was voted PFA Player of the Year. As Keane later remarked, preparing to face Vieira was different. “A week before my body would be aching because I knew I’d have to go to battle. I didn’t think he was as tough as me.” After shock interest for Vieira from United in 2001, he stayed in North London and the season culminated in them winning back the league crown at Old Trafford, a game Vieira named as his best in an Arsenal shirt. They completed the double against Chelsea at the Millennium Stadium in his finest season to date.

Just as Arsenal looked set to dominate, they surrendered a big lead in the 2002/2003 season as United regained the title. Vieira missed much of the run in through injury, while a rejuvenated Keane lifted his seventh and final league in a red shirt. Early in the following season, the two sides were embroiled in a heated clash remembered as “the Battle of Old Trafford”. Ruud van Nistelrooy crashed a penalty off the bar in injury time with the chance to win the game and was angrily confronted by Arsenal players accusing him of getting Vieira sent off. The draw from the jaws of defeat would spur Arsenal on and they created history by going the season unbeaten on their way to another title.

Upon retirement, the two midfield generals who were regarded as the “worst of enemies” had a chance to sit by the fireplace and ruminate over their playing days. Keane admitted that his intensity during those epic games was borne out of a necessity for him to assert himself against the big Frenchman to preserve his and United’s pedigree at the top echelon. In his chat with Vieira, Keane admitted that

“When I first came through, obviously I was up against Paul Gascoine, Bryan Robson, Gary Speed, and then you would come along and I’m thinking, this new young kid on the block, it’s almost like my job is to try to keep you down there. That was an important role for me, I did feel that you’d wanna get the edge over me because I needed to dominate even the players at Man United (my own midfielders), so if you were beating me in all these rivalries in the middle of the park, that would have cost me long term so I had to try and keep you quiet”.

In his reaction, Vieira also admitted that taking Roy out of the equation was always a fundamental element in beating United, which is why he fought hard to stay on top in those feisty encounters.

“When you look at what was your strength and what was my strength, I think it was kind of similar, if one of us took advantage of the other, we may have more chance to win the game. I knew that before the game. If i was on top of you, we may have more chance of winning the game because I know how you were important”.

It was a beautiful sight to see two former bitter rivals sit down by the fireplace to recount the years, perhaps not nearly as beautiful as the spectacles of the rivalry itself, one which was characterised by heart, emotion and sheer passion for the game.