'Roy Keane chased me around the pitch for giving the ball away with Ireland... even though we were winning 4-0!': Matt Holland lifts lid on Manchester United legend's 'demanding' captaincy style
- Matt Holland revealed how Roy Keane chased him while representing Ireland
- The pair were great captains in their day, with wildly contrasting styles
- Holland revealed that no one was more demanding on the pitch than Keane
Matt Holland has revealed how Roy Keane's standards as Ireland captain led to him being chased for giving the ball away despite winning comfortably at the time.
Holland and Keane were both respected for their role with the armband during their careers - even though their styles were vastly different.
And during one of Holland's 49 Ireland captains against Cyprus, he experienced first-hand the way Keane reacted furiously when he gave away the ball during a competitive game in 2001 - forcing goalkeeper Shay Given into an unnecessary save.
'When you talk about someone who is demanding, no one would demand more than Roy Keane,' he told talkSPORT.
'I remember a game against Cyprus and we were 4-0 up and he passed me the ball in midfield. I gave the ball away and, honestly, they went through, had a shot and Shay Given saved it.
Matt Holland has revealed how he gained personal experience of Roy Keane's captaincy skills
Holland said Keane chased him for three minutes after losing the ball during a 4-0 win in 2001
Keane (top left) and Holland (bottom 3rd from left) were captains with very different styles
'He [Keane] chased me around the pitch for about three minutes for giving the ball away! I said, 'come on Roy, we're 4-0 up! It doesn't really matter, does it?
'But he was so demanding and it did not matter the situation or the opposition. He made sure that next time he passed me the ball, I was going to keep hold of it.'
Holland played for and captained Bournemouth, Ipswich Town and Charlton Athletic.
On an international level, Holland made his Ireland debut in 1999, and was part of the squad that played the 2002 World Cup. He retired from the national team in 2006 after Ireland's failure to qualify for the next edition of the FIFA event.
Keane won seven Premier League titles with Manchester United - and four of those were while the Irishman was captain. Only Chelsea's John Terry achieved the feat more often, claiming five titles while wearing the armband at Stamford Bridge.
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