Guardiola is the Special One, not Mourinho – Keane echoes Iheanacho stance

Before the Manchester derby Nigeria’s Kelechi Iheanacho labelled City boss Pep Guardiola the special oneand it seems he is not the only one who thinks so as former Man Utd captain and Legend Roy Keane tag the former Barca, Bayern boss the real ‘special one’ not Mourinho.

Mourinho famously declared “I think I’m a special one” upon his appointment by Chelsea in 2004, but he suffered his first defeat as United boss last Saturday when City triumphed 2-1 in the Premier League.

And Keane, who expects City to sustain their impressive form throughout the campaign, has been more impressed by Guardiola than the man in charge at Old Trafford.

“Two coaches in Manchester. Mourinho reckons he’s the Special One, to me this guy [Guardiola] is,” he said, speaking as a pundit on ITV.

“We’ve seen City have good starts before and they take their foot off the gas a little bit, but I don’t think it will happen under this guy.”

Keane admires the bold approach taken by Guardiola towards his playing squad, with the former Bayern Munich boss having made it clear than fan favourites Yaya Toure and Joe Hart were not part of his plans.

“He said he’s a challenging coach – it doesn’t look like he messes about,” Keane added. “I wouldn’t like to mess with him.”