Roy Keane is one of the greatest footballers to have ever played in the Premier League. At Manchester United, won the English top flight seven times.
While there can be no doubt about his quality, he owes a lot of his success to Sir Alex Ferguson. The iconic manager helped sustain a long period of dominance for the Red Devils, pulling the strings from the dugout at Old Trafford.
While Keane and Ferguson didn't always see eye to eye, leading to the Irishman's eventual departure in 2005, they still achieved some pretty special things together. Had the tough-tackling midfielder been born a little later, he may have ended up playing in the Premier League under a different coach.
Speaking in retirement, Keane has named the two modern managers he would have enjoyed working with, while claiming that Jose Mourinho is most certainly not one of them.
Keane A Big Fan of Pep Guardiola
"I like his style"
In 2014, Keane mentioned that he could picture himself performing well in a Pep Guardiola team. The Manchester City boss has won the same number of Premier League titles as the Irishman (six), but both perhaps could have added to their collection had they worked together.
Keane explained what he liked about the Catalan, saying:
“If I was still a player today, I’d like to think I could work with Pep Guardiola. I like his style, and his presence, and the way he conducts himself.”
It's easy to imagine Keane playing the number six role for a Guardiola side, helping win the ball back and dominate possession with his tough-tackling, high work-rate and composure on the ball.
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Keane Also Respected What Jurgen Klopp Did at Liverpool
"He seems a very honest manager"
Talking a decade later in 2024, Keane revealed that Jurgen Klopp was another Premier League manager he would have enjoyed working with. Speaking about how the former Liverpool man was unlucky not to win more league titles at Anfield, he said:
"He's also missed out and been close. This is a proper rollercoaster for him and one of his strengths is that he's an emotional guy. We see that on the sideline with him.
"He's a very honest manager and I don't think he plays too many games. He's not like this robot after games where he's almost just media-trained.
"He seems a very honest manager and I always try to picture if I was a player back in the day, I think I'd like to play for this guy."
As a passionate footballer himself, no stranger to losing his temper, Keane clearly seemed to appreciate the more human elements of Klopp's coaching style. The German only won one league title in England, but also won the Bundesliga in Germany with Borussia Dortmund.
Much like with Guardiola, it's easy to imagine Keane's influence elevating a Klopp-led team to even greater things. For Man Utd fans, the idea of one of the greatest ever players lining up for either Man City or Liverpool is not a particularly pleasant thought.