Roy Keane goes viral after leaving Gary Neville and Co in stitches with hilarious comparison between football stat and ‘speaking to girls in a nightclub’
Roy Keane left his Stick to Football colleagues in fits of laughter following his thoughts about the statistic ‘Expected Goals’ (xG).
Speaking on the latest episode of the show, brought to you by Disney+, the former Manchester United captain expressed why he believes that particular stat – which measures the probability that a given shot will result in a goal – is irrelevant.
Sitting alongside Gary Neville, Jamie Carragher, Jill Scott and Ian Wright, Keane started his point animatedly with: ‘Do you know what that stat is?
‘Years ago, when you’d go to a nightclub back in the day, and you’d chat to a girl all night, but you go home by yourself. What’s your xG?’
Keane’s quip left Neville, Carragher, Scott and Wright in stitches. Neville then replied self-depreciatingly: ‘Roy, I kept clean sheets!’
A smirking Roy said: ‘I’m sure you did, yeah!’
Roy Keane left his Stick to Football colleagues laughing with his views on Expected Goals (xG)
Gary Neville (left) and Jamie Carragher were in hysterics after Keane compared it to nightclubs
During the show, the quintet discussed the closing of the summer transfer window – following Tuesday’s 11pm deadline.
Among the clubs discussed was Liverpool – with Carragher believing Reds boss Andoni Iraola needs to have an awkward conversation with his vice-captain Dominik Szoboszlai and move him to right back permanently.
Szoboszlai, 25, was rewarded with a new £350,000-a-week contract this summer after being named Liverpool’s Player of the Season for his impressive performances in midfield last campaign – one of the few positives in what was otherwise a disappointing season for the Reds under Arne Slot.
Despite establishing himself as a mainstay in midfield, the Hungarian has also been called upon to deputise at right-back, doing so sporadically last season and again during the second half of Liverpool’s 2-2 draw with Nottingham Forest on Saturday.
Carragher believes Szoboszlai may be tasked with the right-back role permanently after Liverpool’s disjointed start under Iraola, who has drawn both his Premier League matches so far.
With Conor Bradley still injured and Jeremie Frimpong struggling for form, right-back has become a problem position for Liverpool since Trent Alexander-Arnold’s exit to Real Madrid last summer.
Fearing it was a ‘massive mistake’ not to bolster Liverpool’s ranks at full back in the transfer window, Carragher is confident Szoboszlai could provide a solution for Iraola.
Carragher believes Liverpool boss Andoni Iraola (right) needs to have an awkward conversation with his vice-captain Dominik Szoboszlai (left) and move him to right-back
‘The big thing he (Iraola) has got, and it happened last season and at the weekend, Szoboszlai went back to right-back. I’ve never believed Szoboszlai is a central midfield player,’ Carragher said.
‘Now, he’s signed a new contract and I can only imagine in those talks, they were desperate for him to stay, he’s almost said “I want to play midfield”. He’s moved around a bit and he started the season in central midfield. I don’t see him as that.
‘For me, in midfield he’s a Jordan Henderson. Runner, energy, with more of a goal threat. But Liverpool don’t play that way and he’s not really a No 10. His best role could actually be at right-back. He’d get plenty of the ball, he can run and almost play that Trent role from there.
‘But there’s no way he’s going to want to play there because he’s just signed a new contract for £350,000 a week. You’ve just done this big thing, he’s the vice-captain, I just think that’s a conversation Iraola is going to have to have going forward, because the midfield is not right and he’s part of that midfield not being right.’
