JUST A FEW WEEKS AGO, Patrick Vieira explained his admiration for Roy Keane thus: “He said: ‘Appeal, Patrick.’ He was trying to help me. He saw I was really upset and he kept me out of trouble. I don’t think any other Manchester United player could have done it. That’s the bond between us. It’s a bond of respect.”

Vieira, who was referring to his sending-off at Old Trafford in September, added: “We are winners. We want to win for the team.” That neatly characterises them. Players who approach each game as if it is their first, never marvelling at their achievements — Keane was the driving force behind United’s treble-winning season and Vieira is a World Cup and European Championship winner. In many ways, both reflect their managers on the pitch. So it is odd to assume that, when they have had disciplinary problems, either manager would do anything to interfere and shackle the midfield player’s destructive and passionate instincts. Quelling those traits would serve only to suppress the team’s tempo.

It is not their flair that has made them two of the best players in the Premiership, rather their towering and consistent contribution. They have an aura and a capacity to inspire with big moments in important games: a pass, a tackle, a block, a surging run and pass. They have an ability to disrupt the opposition, break up play, nick the ball, track back and so on. They dictate the tempo of a match and they can win the ball and distribute it quickly and accurately to stylish forwards. Perhaps an incisive pass, although generally they keep things simple, passing and moving into space, which is their unremitting moment of magic.

I remember Laszlo Boloni, the Nancy coach, watching some of the players performing tricks with the ball at the end of a training session. As he asked: “Can you do this one,” he passed the ball five yards with his instep and continued: “That is the hardest thing.” Everyone looked astonished. Forget the tricks, he said, keep possession. Keane and Vieira rarely give the ball away, sapping their opponents’ energy because it is more tiring to play without the ball.

When I trained with Keane, I noticed that he does not have outstanding technique nor Vieira’s silky touch, but his neat control and passing kept the team driving forward. In the dressing-room, as the Ireland captain, he would never pat a young player making his debut on the back. I considered it strange because it would have meant so much to them. I understood why when I half-overheard a conversation on the bus about how well someone played. “They are paid to play well,” Keane said. “No one is paid to play badly.”

Keane did not gee up the players in the dressing-room — he thought that the desire should bubble within them. On the field, though, he raged and ranted. Through his leadership, made every player give 20 per cent more. His vocal and cruel leadership edge appears in contrast to Vieira’s soft approach (although we do not know what happens in the Arsenal dressing-room). Both are captains, but I would argue that Keane appears the better leader, capable of inciting his players to perform. But there is no blueprint and others would argue that Vieira dominates by example and leadership is about getting a positive response. “I’m not a natural, like Tony Adams, who talked a lot. I don’t talk a lot,” Vieira once said.

If the Ireland squad doubted if the flair players would perform, no one could doubt that Keane would be consistent. He set himself and others high expectancy levels and considered poor performances to be unacceptable, given the amount players earn. It is black and white to him. That is maybe why he never reflects on past glories. He is driven by what he can win next. And if it upsets people, so be it.

As age and injuries have lessened his dynamism, he has adapted his game and lifestyle. He now limits those attacking bursts from midfield that once brought so many goals. Vieira, in contrast, has the drive, but he seems reluctant to supplement his runs with a shot. His goal return is inferior to Keane’s, but suggesting that either has a weakness would be nit-picking. In defence, both frequently head away corners — it would be reasonable to imagine both playing as a centre back.

Any comparison is slightly hampered because the game has changed since Keane began his Nottingham Forest career in 1990. Midfield players are far more athletic now, resembling long-distance runners. No one epitomises that more than Vieira, who looks so comfortable as he bounds across the pitch. For a gangly man with a loping stride, he has glossy close control and bionic legs that stretch out to pinch the ball away. As Steven Gerrard said: “Maybe the only difference is that Vieira will sometimes beat you with a dribble whereas Keane beats you by passing through you.” Small difference between two great players.

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