Robson or Keane?

redspoony

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Following on from a (good natured) argument between myself and fellow red at work today.

Who was the better player and who would you rather have in the team now? For me, Robbo wins.

Keane was an amazing player but Robbo just edges it in my eyes.
 
Robbo everytime . Carried United for years when he could quite easily have got more money abroad . The ony people who will pick Keane are the Irish and anyone who never saw Robbo in his prime
 
Robbo. right man wrong time. No one will say he was a lesser player...at least I don't think they will.

But Keane for me, because at times he seemed to make up half the side and he was the heart of the team that brought us so much success.


...and I'm not Irish ;)
 
That is a very tough one to call.

Both were totally committed in every game they played and were great in both attacking and defensive situations.

But Robbo was one of my first footballing heroes and I would have to go for him ahead of Roy. But both were great assets that I am glad to have had at the club.
 
How about Robson (1982 - 1988) playing alongside Keane (1994 - 2001)?

If you had to pick either one or t'other, then it would depend who they were playing alongside.

Thing is Robbo could do it all; tackle, pass, head, score...he was brilliant.
Keane lacked goals, and whilst people bang on about him versus Juventus, Robbo did it through the whole 1980s. Robbo versus Barca was a one man show.
 
Scoreboard Red said:
How about Robson (1982 - 1988) playing alongside Keane (1994 - 2001)?

If you had to pick either one or t'other, then it would depend who they were playing alongside.

Thing is Robbo could do it all; tackle, pass, head, score...he was brilliant.
Keane lacked goals, and whilst people bang on about him versus Juventus, Robbo did it through the whole 1980s. Robbo versus Barca was a one man show.
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I love it when you talk dirty x
 
Keane everytime for me. There is no doubt the God like Gloss that Keane had disappeared a little due to the way in which he left the club and also the honest comments he has made since have not done himself any favours with the fans. Some of his shocking tackles lost him a few fans also. If Keane had always just said what the fans wanted to hear like some lick ass players do then he would be up there with Cantona as our greatest ever player. Fergie says he was the most influential player to play under him. He was not injured half as much as Robson. Bossed games probably a little more than Robson did, was more of aleader than Robson and equally had an eye for a goal like Robson.
In saying that though you cant really say one was better than the other. Its a bit like deciding which of Giggs, Best and Ronaldo was the best winger!! Or whrther Vidic was better than Stam!! You cant have a definite answer.
A midfield of Robson and Keane with Scholes a little forward would simply rape other rival teams of today though!:devil:
 
Obviously I only started watching United in around 1996 so I didn't watch Robbo at all when he was in the team, and have only had limited glimpses of his play on replays and DVDs etc, but my dad, who's watched United from 1959, has always said that he prefers Robbo to Keano. He just says that, although they were very similar, Robbo just controlled the midfield that bit more.

Perhaps Keano was the better Captain, but has there ever been a more controlling box-to-box type midfielder at United than Robson?
 
Lets just say that United won the European cup without Keane playing in the final... there is no way the United team of Robson's era would have won such a match without Robson in the line-up, such was the influence Robbo had.

It was the biggest crime the Robson was ruled out of the 84 CWC semi vs Juventus through injury because he would have owed Platini and Co and would have cemented his place in the pantheon of great players by disposing of first Maradona, then Platini in the same competition. Alas it was not to be... but that was part of equation with Robson, he was almost a one man team, but the injuries prevented him from the glory his talents deserved.
 
Forever Red said:
Robbo everytime . Carried United for years when he could quite easily have got more money abroad . The ony people who will pick Keane are the Irish and anyone who never saw Robbo in his prime
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yep - if Keane was worth two players for United, Robbo was worth three and scored plenty into the bargain. He was even England's top scorer until Lineker came along. In short, he was our best defender, midfielder and forward in one - admittedly in a poorer team than Keane's.
 
204Red said:
Lets just say that United won the European cup without Keane playing in the final... there is no way the United team of Robson's era would have won such a match without Robson in the line-up, such was the influence Robbo had.
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You could argue that in 98 we won absolutely nothing while Keane was injured for the whole season! Then when Keane comes back in 99 we win the treble with Keanes influence that year becoming stuff of legend. If you had have asked fans in 99 about whether they preferred Robson or Keane then some opinions might have been different to now! I have no doubt that Keanes outburts and slating Fergie a few times since he quit while also saying things like he has no interest in how Man Utd are doing now has transformed many Utd fans opinion of him.
 
Robson. He was immense. As a reference the 84 Barcelona game stands out. It epitomises everything about his game. Power, leadership,tackling, passing and goals. He had everything.
 
Robson minus the injuries....put a 25 year old Robbo into our team now...the Essien ******** would grind to a halt immediately
 
Forever Red said:
Robbo everytime . Carried United for years when he could quite easily have got more money abroad . The ony people who will pick Keane are the Irish and anyone who never saw Robbo in his prime
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That would be me.

Hence no comment.

I know what Keane did for us, but if anything i've heard (from fellow reds, my dad - a Pool fan) is to go by, Robbo was one hell of a player and a even better Captain/Leader.

It would probably be like picking between Vidic/Stam in their prime or even Evra/Irwin in a way I guess. I'm just glad they both played for United and made their mark. Luckily for Keane, he was playing at a time when we had the strongest team/squad in England and arguably Europe.
 
Bryan Robson for me but that doesn't mean Keane wasn't a fantastic player for us too.

He was/is the closest thing we have had to Robbo, and that in itself is high praise. I wish Robson was 10 years younger, because he deserved to win so much more. My hero as a kid growing up.
 
Decotron said:
not part of the discussion here
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Indeed it's not, especially when you bear in mind that they both had their demons but Robbo lived in an era where it was much easier to get away with unprofessional behaviour without being subjected to forensic scrutiny by the press.

Bearing in mind the average age of caftards on here, I always find the discussion about who was the better player a bit pointless. I'm frigging ancient by caftard standards and I can't remember Robson playing with all that much clarity. Feck knows how some of the young 'uns in this thread have come up with such a definitive decision about who was better.
 
Sparky_Hughes said:
Thats not in order, just a list of United players better than Keane.
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It's difficult to define better, all are technically more gifted than Roy but not many players can match his impact on the team and will to win. He's arguably had more of a lasting impact than le King which I'm just throwing out there because of the way our current players still talk about him and the direct impact he's had on them and their careers.

For the record I'd rate Robson higher than him but only just.
 
Not really going to comment as I never saw Robson at the peak of his career. Should add though if even one person thinks he is a better player than Keane then he must have been one heck of a player.
 
I'd say Robson was better but I wouldn't argue with anyone who said Keane. One aspect of Robson's game that's often overlooked is what a good passer of the ball he was.
 
peterstorey said:
I'd say Robson was better but I wouldn't argue with anyone who said Keane. One aspect of Robson's game that's often overlooked is what a good passer of the ball he was.
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Aye, he could do the odd Scholes cross-field ball and the odd screamer into the top corner too.
 
skeeta said:
Robson was a far superior player and captain.
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Not so sure, Keane was an amazing captain. Some of his performances for Ireland on the road to the World Cup in 2002 were out of this world. The players on the pitch when Roy was on the pitch were always aware of what was expected. I reckon the only thing that's not in doubt was Robson's superior technical ability, all else would just be a matter of opinion for me.
 
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