Alfie Haaland’s View on Roy Keane Horror Tackle During Man Utd v Man City

Roy Keane may have found himself in a slightly uncomfortable position in his role as a pundit at times following Erling Haaland’s move to Manchester City. The Manchester United legend famously injured Haaland’s father, Alfie, with a challenge that’s widely regarded as one of the worst in Premier League history.

Keane exacted brutal revenge on Haaland, four years after an incident in September 1997 when the pair clashed at Elland Road. Keane injured his anterior cruciate ligament after tripping up following a coming together with Haaland, who’d only just joined Leeds from Nottingham Forest, and missed most of the 1997-98 campaign as a result.

Haaland was seen shouting something at Keane while the United skipper was on the floor – and the Irishman never forgot or forgave the Norwegian midfielder. In April 2001, Keane received a £5,000 fine and a three-match ban for an appalling tackle on Haaland, who was playing for Man City by this point.

“I’d waited long enough. I f***** hit him hard. The ball was there (I think). Take that you c***,” Keane recalled in his 2002 autobiography, per The Guardian. “And don’t ever stand over me again sneering about fake injuries. And tell your pal [David] Wetherall there’s some for him as well. I didn’t wait for Mr Elleray to show the red card. I turned and walked to the dressing room.”

Keane subsequently received a further five-game ban, plus a £150,000 fine, from the Football Association for that brutally honest admission. Only former Chelsea captain John Terry has ever been hit with a bigger FA fine.

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Alfie Haaland’s view on Keane incidents

Norwegian insists Keane’s tackle effectivey ended his career

But how does Alfie Haaland view the incident when looking back? An interview from when Erling was still at Molde, working under Keane’s former United teammate Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, emerged – and it shows Alfie reflecting about the infamous clash that eventually led to the end of his professional career.

Going back to the initial incident at Elland Road, Haaland said: “He tried to tackle me and I got the free-kick. He was lying on the ground and I just told him to ‘get up’ as you normally do with players – nothing more than that. I wasn’t trying to intend anything against him, but obviously he took that very hard.”

And about that ill-fated day at Old Trafford in 2001, Haaland added:

He continued: “Is that a coincidence, or isn’t it? If you’re in the ground and someone hits you in the right leg, you can still twist your other leg. It can get injured and that’s probably what happened.

“I haven’t played a full 90 minutes after that incident, that’s the hard fact. And people can judge whatever they want. Obviously I found out afterwards that it was with intent and he was seeking revenge and all these things. I think that’s a bit sad. Sad for football and it was not good for me either at the time.” Watch the clip in full below:

Haaland decided not to take legal action

Keane was not taken to court over the incident

Speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live in 2014, per Goal, Haaland admitted the idea that Keane wanting revenge concerned him, but he didn’t blame the Irishman for kicking him during matches and wasn’t interested in taking him to court. He said: “I don’t blame him for kicking me in other games or that particular game. What I was concerned and worried about is that he said, in his first book, that he wanted to take revenge. And I don’t think that’s part and parcel of football.”

He added: “I don’t blame him. I never actually said he finished my career. It was my last full game in England, so maybe he had something to do with it.”

Alife Haaland’s son, Erling, is one of the world’s best strikers

Erling Haaland has flourished at Man City

Keane, who currently works as a pundit for Sky Sports, has been providing analysis on Haaland’s superstar son Erling since August 2022. Following in his father’s footsteps, Erling Haaland clearly has the potential to become one of the greatest forwards of all time.

Manchester United legend Wayne Rooney even described the Norwegian as the world’s greatest player in April 2023, claiming the Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo era was officially over. “Erling Haaland is the best footballer in the world right now,” Rooney wrote in a column for The Times. “Lionel Messi is the greatest but, at this moment, nobody is playing better than a striker who — even though I broke records in that position myself — takes my breath away with the levels he’s reaching.”

Haaland broke the record for most goals scored in a single Premier League season (36) during a debut campaign at Man City that saw him inspire Pep Guardiola’s side to an historic treble. Having already more than justified his original £52 million transfer fee, Haaland has his sights firmly set on breaking more records and lifting more silverware at the Etihad Stadium.