Keane vs Van Dijk 'arrogant' saga decided after Liverpool and Man Utd fallout

22 December 2023 , 11:36

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Keane vs Van Dijk 'arrogant' saga decided after Liverpool and Man Utd fallout

Few feelings are worse in football than facing your fierce rivals and not getting the result you felt you deserved, so it was no surprise to see Roy Keane and Virgil van Dijk at odds over Manchester United's recent draw at Liverpool.

United headed to Anfield in poor form amid an injury crisis, with Jurgen Klopp's Reds top of the table. Many fans and pundits expected another drubbing like last season's 7-0 humiliation of United, but Erik ten Hag's men left Merseyside with a creditable point despite Diogo Dalot's controversial late red card.

Liverpool had the lion's share of the chances - 34 shots to six - though Andre Onana was not forced to make any spectacular saves, while United also created a couple of dangerous chances on the break. A visibly frustrated Van Dijk suggested after the final whistle that "there was only one team trying to win the game" - a claim which left Keane staggered before accusing the Liverpool captain of "obviously some arrogance coming out of him dissing United". Former United skipper Keane added: "He needs to be reminded himself, he's playing for a team that's only won one title in 30-odd years."

Keane's sharp rebuke of Van Dijk sparked debate among both fanbases and pundits alike, and it has now emerged that the majority of Mirror readers agree with Keane that Van Dijk was being arrogant. Of the 685 readers who answered our poll on the situation, 462 (67 per cent) felt Van Dijk was being arrogant in his analysis of United, while 223 (33%) felt the Dutch star was correct and only Liverpool wanted to win the game.

Following Keane's initial rebuke, Van Dijk quickly hit back, stating: "I like Roy Keane, if he said that then it’s fine. He’s Manchester United through and through and I understand he could react like that. But I felt what I said and there is absolutely no arrogance in that."

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Meanwhile, Keane stuck to his guns, telling the Stick to Football podcast: "He [Van Dijk] is entitled to his opinion as well, he’s entitled to maybe get something wrong. I’ve said things after games when I was at United and thought that it was a bit over the top, but that was generally against my own team. I don’t think ever in my career I criticised a team for the way they played, because every team must find [something] different. You have to admire that’s part of the game as well."

Tom Doyle