“A fierce tirade.”
Even the most ardent Manchester United supporter, or Roy Keane, would find it difficult to criticise the current Liverpool team.
Jurgen Klopp’s side have won the Premier League, Champions League and Club World Cup over the last 18 months. And have smashed a series of records on their road to glory.
It has been a long and tough road back to the top for the Reds, so supporters of the club are rightly revelling in being the kingpins of English football once again.
Liverpool and Man United in the 1990s
It wasn’t always like this, however, as all Liverpool fans know too well. Manchester United were top dogs back in the 1990s. Liverpool, meanwhile, struggled to regain their position on top of the perch. And Roy Keane was there to remind them of their troubles.
According to former Man United winger Lee Sharpe, he and his teammates bumped into some Liverpool players on a night out in Cheshire back in the mid-1990s.
As per the Athletic, Sharpe claims Keane “launched into a fierce tirade” about the Liverpool players.
Keane is said to have gone through each man and let them know exactly what he thought of them.
Phil Babb, his Republic of Ireland teammate, was one of the Liverpool players present.
“There was steam practically coming out of his ears.”
“You, (Phil) Babb, f**k off back to Coventry. (Jamie) Redknapp, what the f**k have you ever done in the game? You, (John) Scales, you’re f**king rubbish, with your England B cap,” Keane said, according to Sharpe.
John Scales, the former Liverpool defender confirms that the story is true. “We were out and, surprise surprise, we bumped into Roy,” Scales said.
“We were immediately thinking, ‘OK, here we go…’ Sure enough, Roy unleashed this tirade. There was steam practically coming out of his ears.”
The Liverpool team of that era had talented players such as Robbie Fowler, Steve McManaman, Jason McAteer, David James, Jamie Redknapp and Stan Collymore.
Some have argued, however, that their ‘Spice Boys’ persona and their fondness for a celebrity lifestyle cost them the chance to challenge United and win major trophies.
“Our patterns of behaviour weren’t very different to theirs.”
However, Scales believes that the ‘Spice Boys’ label is unfair on that Liverpool team. Man United, their more successful rivals, lived a similar lifestyle, he says.
“The thing is if we’re talking about lifestyle — nightclubs, dating celebrities, whatever — our patterns of behaviour weren’t very different to theirs,” Scales says.
“Yes, we went out but I don’t think we were doing anything that other teams, United included, weren’t doing that time. We would see their players when we were out.”
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(Originally published on June 27, 2020).
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