Do not adjust your set
It’s not often you see Roy Keane genuinely smile on camera. You get the odd smirk, yes, but not this. Never smile with the eyes, Roy. Keep the mask on.
What was the cause for Keano breaking character? He called aspects of Liverpool’s defensive performance against Arsenal last night “sloppy”. (Very, very harsh – Liverpool were tremendous in their 3-1 win.) Jurgen Klopp overheard this and went studs-up on the Sky Sports pundit, rebutting Roy’s take with a lovely mix of sarcasm and passive-aggression: “I MUST HAVE MISHEARD MR KEANE… NOTHING WAS SLOPPY!”
To the obvious delight of Jamie Carragher in the studio, presenter David Jones then gave a perfectly weighted hospital pass to Keane. In effect, Jones said: “Answer the man, Roy!” Cue the smile – you can even see wrinkles around Roy’s eyes, and the dimples in his little cheeks. He knows he’s on the end of the line, wriggling.
It was a tense moment, albeit hardly the “KLOPP DESTROYS KEANE” viral clip that some painted it as. Most of the time, pundits never have to face the consequences for their hot takes, especially not in real time, so to see Keane put in a position where he had to stand up for himself on live telly was kind of thrilling.
Although Keane and Klopp are from the same generation (Keane is 49, Klopp 53), there’s a sense that the Liverpool boss is exasperated with the younger man’s old-school view of the game – Keane doesn’t really want to understand how football has moved on, not tactically anyway; Roy’s wheelhouse is mentality, mentality, mentality. Klopp won’t lose sleep over any of this. He is always moving forward.
Watch the exchange: