Manchester United and Arsenal go head-to-head on Sunday afternoon and this classic Premier League fixture always brings back memories of Roy Keane and Patrick Vieira’s ferocious battles in midfield.Very few players stood up to Keane, United’s fearsome and formidable captain, but Vieira was one of them.The Frenchman gave as good as he got and the pair clashed on numerous occasions during the early 2000s.Nobody would ever have imagined back then that they’d end up working together as pundits years later. But that’s precisely what happened.ITV hired them both and while the term ‘friends’ might be a stretch, they certainly became good acquaintances.p1em1s45c51rhv19er1d9m18kp1q5i1b.jpgThey even recorded a fascinating documentary together in 2013 titled ‘Keane and Vieira: Best of Enemies’.And on that programme - which is still well worth a watch, by the way - Keane was asked to name an XI comprised of the best teammates he played with during his 12-year spell at Man Utd.His XI raised many eyebrows at the time.Here’s who Keane went for…Goalkeeper: Peter Schmeichel“By far the best ‘keeper. Believe it or not, we actually didn’t get on that well together - you might be surprised to hear! An absolute top, top goalkeeper.”p1em1rfc6js501bel15b4uje12e19.jpgLeft-back: Denis Irwin“Good at set-pieces, could defend, trained properly, good lad - and he’s an Irishman, which always helps!”p1em1rg9o71q47ban1kpu19qh3ojb.jpgCentre-back: Gary Pallister“Pallister for his size. Even after two minutes of a game, he looked like he’d been playing for an hour. Always looked tired.”p1em1rhkhn1clk121ob67phk1u93d.jpgCentre-back: Jaap Stam“Top centre-half. Tough guy.”p1em1rl04j1p2h1n8s5b4jnj1t8cf.jpgRight-back: Paul Parker“I played with Parks in his prime. Top, top defender.”p1em1rls5k790rdtraaq201558h.jpgLeft-wing: Cristiano Ronaldo“Ronaldo, a young player when he came to United, great attitude. Scored goals for fun.”p1em1rn9gn19inv9o9n2bjcu1j.jpgCentral midfield: Paul Ince“I played with Ince in his prime and people tend to forget how good he was.”p1em1ro4p8tq51t957c01hlb198ul.jpgCentral midfield: Roy Keane“If I’m going to leave anybody out it would probably be myself for probably Scholsey.”p1em1rp5m31iqb1rge50118d3h0sn.jpgRight-wing: David Beckham“I found it very hard to leave Becks out because of his work-rate, the amount of goals he gets, his assists, his set-play delivery.”p1em1rq4jf16eic241ec4p842i7p.jpgCentre-forward: Ruud van Nistelrooy“In terms of finishers, Ruud was the guy for that. When I saw him one-on-one with the goalkeeper, I just knew it was a goal.”p1em1rqno91oq51jli1m96v2n18ler.jpgCentre-forward: Eric Cantona“Big character. When he came, United had threatened to win the league for many, many years. They’d obviously won a few cups and Eric was just that difference. If you’re going to battle against Arsenal then you want people like Eric in your team.”p1em1rrgah1lb4nii1t2s1ck41m87t.jpgIn conclusion, Keane added: “This team, I felt like they were all very good characters. They could play when teams wanted to play, and if teams wanted to fight us they’d fight with the best of them.”p1em1rs21o1keltkmu3crfqajqv.jpgThere are obviously some notable omissions from Keane’s team.No Paul Scholes. No Ryan Giggs. No Gary Neville.Fitting them all in is impossible, of course, but Parker and Ince were two particularly unexpected inclusions.Remember: this was the same year that Keane was fuming with Sir Alex Ferguson following comments made in the iconic Man Utd manager’s autobiography.And Scholes, Giggs and Neville - members of the club’s revered ‘Class of ’92’ - all held Fergie in extremely high regard during and after their careers.p1em1s093a1mkq1pplg3f92vh4c13.jpgEven Vieira found some of Keane’s selections puzzling.Asked by the presenter how he’d change Keane’s team, the former Arsenal star said: “Scholes, no doubt about it. He was the best English player and one of the best United players that I played against. He could do everything.”p1em1s1jeg1nom14fbpa4bt1gpq15.jpgKeane was also asked why Giggs wasn’t selected.“Having a great career doesn’t mean you’re a great player,” he replied. “I think there’s a big difference. I’m not saying Giggsy wasn’t but do I leave Ronaldo out? One of the world’s greatest players. Do I leave Becks out? I just didn’t feel like I could leave Becks out.”The presenter then picked up the one common denominator: Stam, Beckham, Keane, Ince, Van Nistelrooy all took on Ferguson.Keane responded: “Yeah, you don’t win league titles by having choirboys in your dressing room and all these boys did challenge the manager in different ways.”p1em1ruqldqfq19qek5umfk1ngg11.jpgYou can watch the video here...

Months later, Keane publicly slammed the Class of ’92, insisting their influence at the club had been exaggerated.

“The Class of ’92 – all good players but their role at the club has been exaggerated,” Keane was quoted saying by the Daily Mail in October 2014.

“The Class of ’92 seems to have grown its own legs. It has become a brand. It’s as if they were a team away from a team and they are not shy of plugging in to it.”

Years later and you can still taste the salt.