Keane reveals he would tell Maguire and De Gea to 'prove me wrong' if he was Man United interim boss

Roy Keane has revealed he would have challenged David De Gea and Harry Maguire to 'prove me wrong' if he had taken over as Manchester United interim manager.

Speaking to Micah Richards in an amusing discussion for SkyBet's 'Driving Home for Christmas' series, Keane quizzed his fellow Sky Sports pundit on why he thought it would be funny for him to have replaced Ole Gunnar Solskjaer on an interim basis.

When Richards said it was due to the stinging criticism he has levelled at Maguire and De Gea in the past, Keane opened up on how he would have handled them in person.

'Alright - so the first thing, you'd walk into the club pull them two and say 'I've been really critical – prove me wrong'. And that's the end of the conversation. If they get upset, no problem, players are upset all the time.

'And it's not about the players liking the manager. The most important thing is, you hope, that the players respect the manager.'

Richards then presses Keane on why he's not being considered for roles like the one that came up at United.

'Well obviously I'm not going to get the United job,' he retorts. 'They can't afford me!'

One of Keane's most notorious remarks about Maguire and De Gea came in an analysis of United's 1-1 draw with Tottenham in June 2020, reacting to a goal scored by Steven Bergwijn.

'I'm shocked at that goal,' the former United captain said on Sky Sports. 'I've watched a lot of football over the years, but to give that away, I'm fuming.

'I can't believe [Luke] Shaw heads the ball up and then runs forward, I'm staggered at Maguire, staggered that an international player can get done like this, and I'm sick to death of this goalkeeper.

'This is an established international goalkeeper. I'm flabbergasted. There's got to be something going on at half-time. If I was Ole, make some changes, get some lads off the pitch, some of them are going through the motions at the moment.

'Spurs have been okay, they've been compact. But Maguire and De Gea, I wouldn't let them on the bus after the match, let them get a taxi back to Manchester.'

Keane does have experience as a Premier League manager, taking charge at Sunderland for 53 matches in England's top tier from 2007 until 2009.

As it was, Ralf Rangnick took over temporary charge of United. They are set to return to action after a Covid-19 enforced absence on Dec 27 against Newcastle.