ROY KEANE CLAIMS MAN UTD PLAYERS 'WOULD NOT HAVE TOLERATED' TEAM-MATES NOT WANTING TO PLAY - AS HE SLAMS XABI ALONSO'S BEHAVIOUR WHILE TRYING TO FORCE ARSENAL MOVE

Spanish midfielder had deal in place with north London side in summer of 2008
He eventually played crunch match against Standard Liege and stayed at club
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Roy Keane has claimed his Manchester United teammates 'would not have tolerated' Xabi Alonso saying he did not want to play if he had been at Old Trafford.

The Liverpool midifelder reportedly did not want to be cup-tied as he tried to force through a move to Arsenal in the summer of 2008.

This meant he tried to miss the Reds' crunch match against Standard Liege, which Rafa Benitez's side needed to win to qualify for the Champions League group stage.

Alonso eventually agreed to make himself available and was selected in the team that scraped past the Belgian side with a 1-0 victory thanks to a Dirk Kuyt winner in extra-time.

Now Keane, speaking on the Stick to Football podcast brought to you by Sky Bet, claimed that players under Sir Alex Ferguson at United would not have accepted Alonso's behaviour.

He said: 'Sometimes a player wants to leave a club. But when they refuse to play and they don't want to be cup-tied, I'm surprised players don't turn on them. We wouldn't have tolerated that at United.

'I know managers can have a disagreement with the player and the player wants to leave.

'It is frustrating for a manager to see a player who's not doing what he's supposed to be doing and everyone's being mates with him.'

Alonso had an agreement in place to move to the Gunners in 2008 but the transfer fell through.

The Spaniard then had a sterling season as Liverpool were narrowly pipped to the title by United, before heading to Real Madrid in 2009.

Fellow pundit and former Reds captain Jamie Carragher expressed his frustration that Benitez, also appearing on the podcast, could not convince Alonso to stay and sign a new deal.

But the Spanish boss replied that they felt they got the right price for the star player, with the midfielder eventually leaving for £30million plus add-ons.

Alonso played 210 matches for Liverpool and scored 18 goals, including the equaliser in the Champions League final in 2005.

At Real Madrid, he added another Champions League trophy to his cabinet along with a La Liga title and two Copa del Reys.

Earlier this year, he shocked Liverpool fans by turning down the opportunity to become the next manager of the Anfield side.

He instead opted to stay at German side Bayer Leverkusen, where he went unbeaten for a record-breaking 51 matches on the way to winning the German title and German cup. Meanwhile, Dutchman Arne Slot succeeded Jurgen Klopp as Reds boss.

Roy Keane was speaking on the Stick to Football podcast, brought to you by Sky Bet

2024-08-21T09:28:23Z dg43tfdfdgfd