Martin Keown has no interest in appearing on former England team-mate Gary Neville's podcast(Image: Getty Images)

I played for Arsenal and would never go on Gary Neville's Man Utd-driven podcast

14 Nov 2024, 13:45 by Harry Brent, Ben Crawford · football.london

Martin Keown says he's declined an invitation to appear on Gary Neville's Stick to Football podcast due to its excessive focus on Manchester United.

During their time as footballers, both Keown and Neville were known for their robust playing styles, often coming head-to-head when Sir Alex Ferguson's mighty United clashed with Arsene Wenger's formidable Arsenal over the Premier League crown.

Between 1994 and 2003, they met a total of 16 times, with Keown and his team-mates edging out slightly more victories overall. Their record during this period saw Arsenal clinch six wins, settle for five draws and succumb to five defeats.

One of the most fierce encounters was the infamous 0-0 draw at Old Trafford in 2003 dubbed 'the Battle of Old Trafford' during Arsenal's 'Invincibles' season, which ended with a huge on-field fracas. Now both retired and established as pundits, Keown has made it clear that he has no interest in appearing on Neville's podcast as he feels it leans far too heavily towards his ex-rival's affinity for United.

On the That Peter Crouch Podcast, when the conversation turned to the old Arsenal vs United days, Keown had a particular memory to share about Dutch star Marc Overmars making life difficult for Neville. "He [Overmars] destroyed Gary Neville, which was always a nice pleasure," Keown said. "Sorry Gary! I'm not on your podcast and I won't be either. It's too Man United-driven, sorry!"

The 58-year-old also reminisced about the impact Overmars had after he left, saying: "He did them a favour when he left - Marc Overmars - because he was incredible. He was so quick it was like, 'Where did he come from?' A great lad off the pitch as well."

While it seems Keown won’t be swapping tales with Neville anytime soon, he did reveal to Crouch who he thought was better between old rivals Roy Keane and Patrick Vieira. "It's like ranking siblings," Keown said.

"I think without Patrick… he was the link. It was like a ladder to the goal. You'd have to go into Patrick, and they talk about Roy Keane. I'd put him ahead of Roy Keane. That's a massive debate, and people can say what they want.

The guests on Stick to Football have been overwhelmingly United-related(Image: Stick to Football)

"Listen, this guy had everything. People used to look at him in the tunnel and that 97/98 group were pioneers for how we were going to play. They'd look at him in the tunnel and go 'wow, he's even bigger in real life than on the TV, we can't kick him.'

"I think he reacted too much to a lot of that and then I had to become his minder and got sent off myself against [Paulo] Di Canio. We had lots of battles to keep Patrick there.”

In addition to praising Vieira, Keown highlighted the strengths of other key players in Wenger's formidable Arsenal team. "You had Patrick in midfield and Dennis Bergkamp, then you brought in [Robert] Pires - what a talent," Keown added. "Ray Parlour was granite and interweaving in all these teams."

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