Roy Keane. Patrick Vieira. They are two of the greatest midfielders that the Premier League has ever seen with a legendary rivalry to match.
Former star Liverpool midfielder Patrik Berger shared the pitch with these two titans of the Premier League and as part of an exclusive interview with BoyleSports, he reminisced on his battles with the two.
Berger also talked to us about his Euro 2024 predictions, golf trips with Harry Redknapp, and the one Czech youngster who could make it in the Premier League, his
Roy Keane Just Edges Patrick Vieira as the Toughest Opponent of My Career
The toughest opponent I had was Roy Keane, he was probably number one but Patrick Vieira was also up there as well. There were so many good players I played against in my career, but they were definitely up there.
You never had a split second free on the ball, you had to be quick and make your decisions quickly and move the ball when you played against them. If you waited on the ball and couldn't decide, they would come and hurt you.
If you tried to be clever or overthink it just would not end well! They were physically so strong and could both play two games per day and made it look easy.
They were also really good footballers who could score goals, make goals and were basically the whole package.
Roy Keane Was ‘Pretty Horrible to Play Against’
As a player, he was one of the best players that ever played in that position. All the success Manchester United had goes down to him, because he was the leader and he was so tough to play against. He never backed down, pretty horrible to play against actually, but what a player and what a leader.
He's right up there as one of the best to ever play for Manchester United I think.
Roy Keane A Better Pundit Than Manager
I love him as a pundit and I love to watch and listen to him because he always says things that make me laugh, but he is always on point and not afraid to criticise. A lot of pundits are afraid to criticise the teams they played for, but Roy Keane is not like that.
I like him as a pundit, and I think it would be better if he stays there and leaves the management side of things to someone else. I don't think he will be as good a manager as he would be a pundit.
*Roy Keane is 8/1 to be the next Republic of Ireland Manager per the latest football odds at BoyleSports.
Euro 2024 Preview
I Hope Cristiano Ronaldo Starts Against Czech Republic at Euro 2024
His age is still a factor, even if he is one of the very best footballers of all time. But, he is 39.
I actually thought that he shouldn't have been starting at the World Cup just over 18 months ago. I thought he would have been better off coming from the bench for the last 20 or 25 minutes. He will always create chances, it doesn't matter if it is in 90 minutes or the last 25.
It would have been better for the whole team in Qatar, but with his ego and stuff like that it makes it hard to drop him. If he starts against the Czech Republic at Euro 2024, I would be happy.
I think they have such a great team Portugal and can win the entire tournament, even without Ronaldo in the starting XI. They have a much bigger chance if he doesn't play every single game from the start.
If he's on the bench, I would be more concerned. I think if they had done that in Qatar they could have got as far as the final.
My 3 Favourites To Win Euro 2024
I like England's chances, they always have great individuals but they have historically struggled to play cohesively as a team. That's where Gareth has done really well, in terms of picking players on name value and more on the strength of his squad.
It doesn't matter if you play for Manchester United or Liverpool, if you don't fit his style then you are not going to be playing. So England have a chance with the quality they have.
For me, France are a very good side who have played together for a large amount of time. So it is between England, Portugal and France to win it.
*England are the 3/1 favourites to win Euro 2024 per the latest football betting at BoyleSports.
Czech Team of Euro ‘96 Wanted to Play England in the Final at the Old Wembley
We really wanted to play England in the final at the old Wembley, not because we thought we had a better chance of winning or that it would be easy, but just because we were a young side and it would have meant so much.
The doors to European football opened to most of us as a result of getting to that final, so just reaching that stage was like winning in itself.
The One Czech Youngster Who Could Make It in the Premier League
At the moment, I would say Adam Hlozek is the brightest superstar we have in the Czech Republic. You only get players coming through to be stars from the Czech Republic if they come from Sparta Prague or Slavia Prague because they are the two best teams in the Czech Republic.
At the moment, Hlozek is probably the brightest star, but he is fighting for a place in the best team in the Bundesliga so we haven't seen all of his potential at the moment. If he can break into the team at Bayer Leverkusen we could see more of him.
But, at the moment, there is no chance anyone coming through could play in the Premier League.
Harry Redknapp Is a Legend – Golf Was a Core Component of Portsmouth Pre-Season Camps
Harry is still a legend, a great man and a great human being. He's very old school and he gave me two great years at Portsmouth. They got promoted and they signed myself, Teddy Sheringham and some other great players as well.
When I first signed, every single Premier League club was flying out to somewhere in Europe for pre-season and we had to go to Southampton Athletic Club because we didn't have a training ground. After that, we then went to Nigel Mansell's place which also conveniently had a golf course as well.
The day before we left, all of the lads asked me if I was playing golf and if I would be bringing my clubs. I thought it was a joke for a pre-season training camp, usually you train twice a day and then you rest when you can. I thought they were taking the mickey!
But I put the clubs in my car and then I wanted to see if the other lads were bringing their clubs as well. Lo and behold, the next morning all of the boys brought their clubs into the makeshift training ground and put them onto the bus headed for the golf club.
We got to the hotel and asked for the programme for the week, when Harry said, 'I have to go to the clubhouse first, and decide lads. If we can get a tee time in the morning, we train in the afternoon!’
Everything was all about the golf and the only rule was that we had to go round the course on carts so we didn't do too much walking to tire us out. I couldn't believe it; at Dortmund and Liverpool we would never have been allowed to play golf during preseason! Harry was a very rewarding manager, he would give us days off if we played well because he wanted his best players to be fit for the weekend.
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