HOW ROY KEANE am I? Who is silly enough to write another article about Roy Keane? I am.
Because I know the truth. The truth is I have always enjoyed watching him playing. I have admired his ability to win games and dominate the midfield. I am a midfielder, too. They say that to become a better player I should watch the best and learn from them. Roy Keane is very inspirational. So have I followed his steps at all?
In order to find that out, I try to think about his CV and compare it to mine. I know he has played for Nottingham Forest and Manchester United. I have played for HJK, Valerenga IF and Crystal Palace. Hmmm, I think he wins this category, since I even have a team on my list that has a letter nobody really knows how to pronounce.
I guess Roy Keane has won five Premiership trophies and two FA Cups. I have once won the Finnish League plus I have four cup titles. He has won as many European Cups as I have won games in the Champions League. Furthermore, he has been chosen as the best player in the Premiership. I have once got the Nationwide man-of-the-match champagne. Later I heard it was actually Dougie Freedman, he just wasn’t available for the interview.
Roy Keane’s list of honours is long, mine is shorter, even though I also try to put down things like passing my driving test. Well, he has played for better clubs and probably has a more comfortable car. So circumstances have given him an advantage, but how about our personalities?
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This Man United skipper is known for his dedication, but his temperament has also caused him problems and he has been sent off several times. Apparently, he has sometimes had a go at his colleagues when his team needed to do something extra to win a game. I would do anything for my team but in a more silent way. Last season, at my wildest, I got a yellow card for dangerous play because I slipped just before trying to reach the ball. Plus I’d rather go home sulking than make a scene in the dressing-room. In the end we are both winners, except he might win more often.
As a person and a player he is very controversial, let alone that he has seen, experienced and said a lot. His autobiography is one of the biggest subjects of this football season. On the other hand I am not sure if anybody reads this column even this far. I am quite pale, shyish and it is not exactly the greatest story on earth to talk about a 0-0 away draw against Burnley.
He refused to play for Ireland in the World Cup. Finland has never qualified for the World Cup, and anyway I think it would be more likely that Finland would refuse to play me than the other way around. I have proudly won 39 caps, with seven goals, for Finland. That’s not too bad, even compared with Roy Keane.
I actually like Norwegian people like Haaland. Plus these things are not my cup of tea. Furthermore, I like our supporters more than they like shrimp sandwiches.
So the truth is, Roy Keane is a much better player but also a very different type of person than I am. Well, I prefer it to stay this way. And maybe after this article I have to be careful if I ever play against him. But whatever happens, I am not going to sue him, because I enjoy watching him playing.
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