Arsene Wenger has been busy with interviews in recent days as the legendary Arsenal boss promotes his new book 'My Life in Red and White'.
Ahead of his appearance on The Late Late Show on RTE on Friday, the former Gunners supremo has opened up about the famous Premier League rivalry with Manchester United during the late 90s and early to mid-2000s.
Roy Keane and Patrick Vieira's fiery clashes as the respective captains of United and Arsenal will live long in the memory - and Wenger remembers Ireland legend Keano as a player who was always 'on the fringe of violence'.
Wenger told talkSPORT: “I enjoyed the rivalry. It was a time where the Arsenal players were Arsenal players for life, the Liverpool players were Liverpool players for life, and the Man United players were Man United players for life.
“So that of course exacerbated the rivalry because it was ‘you owe me’ and you hated each other.
“On top of that you had characters – you speak of Roy Keane and Patrick Vieira; Keane was always on the fringe of violence even if he was a great player.
“The rivalry between me and Alex; I was a foreign manager coming in and disturbing his reign, and he didn’t like it.
“He hated to lose and I hated to lose, so at some stage it went overboard.
“But with time, after the competition went, the relationship became better. And today it is peaceful and friendly.”
