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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Jake Polden

How Paul Scholes responded to Roy Keane leaving him out of his dream Man Utd XI

Roy Keane isn't one to shy away from controversy.

And it's safe to say he made a pretty controversial decision to snub Paul Scholes from his dream Manchester United XI, when asked to name the best of the best he played alongside for the Red Devils.

All the way back in 2013, Keane named the following side in a documentary for ITV: Peter Schmeichel; Paul Parker, Jaap Stam, Gary Pallister, Denis Irwin; Paul Ince, Roy Keane, David Beckham, Eric Cantona, Cristiano Ronaldo, Ruud van Nistelrooy.

Keane was joined on the show by his long-time rival, Arsenal legend Patrick Vieira, who instantly pointed out the elephant in the room.

Roy Keane celebrates with Paul Scholes back in 2003 (Action Images)

"Scholes, no doubt about it, I think Scholes, for me, was the best English player and one of the best United players that I played against. He can do everything," said Vieira.

To which Keane replied: "Having a great career doesn't mean you are a great player - there's a big difference. I'm not saying Giggsy wasn't (great), but do I leave out Ronaldo, one of the world's great players? Do I leave Becks out?"

"You don't win titles by having choirboys in your dressing room.

"Did Beckham challenge the manager? And it doesn't mean you are challenging the manager if you marry a certain woman - far from it."

Scholes and Keane formed a formidable midfield (Reuters)

Years later Scholes was asked to comment on the Irishman controversially leaving him out of his dream XI on Manchester United's official podcast.

And in typically modest fashion, Scholes replied: "When people name teams, it's a matter of opinion. Me and [David] Maysy could sit here all day and pick 10 different teams, the amount of brilliant players that played here, so I wasn't bothered by it. I'm still not bothered by it."

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