At their best, Roy Keane and Patrick Vieira were each inspirational midfield talismen for Manchester United and Arsenal sides who exchanged Premier League titles year after year.
Both players were fiery and extremely talented midfield generals, and were an intimidating prospect for any opponent...even an up-and-coming superstar like Steven Gerrard.
Speaking as a guest on the Rio Ferdinand Presents podcast, Gerrard admitted going head-to-head with Keane and Vieira at their peak was a massive step up in level from where he was in his young career at the time.
'If you played against Roy Keane or Patrick Vieira at that age, you had to go above and beyond to live with them'
Gerrard said: "In my early years, I was always compared to Roy Keane, your Patrick Vieiras, and I was 19, 20, 21 probably, when they were in their peak, I would say.
"I didn't really feel like a proper man at the time. I didn't feel like I was finished in terms of body development, in terms of the level I could get to or my full potential. At times I found it hard against them at my age and where I was at in my career, because they were machines.
"I'm not sure the exact ages of what they are" - for the record, Keane is nine years older than Gerrard, Vieira four - "but you knew if you played against Roy Keane or Patrick Vieira at that age, you had to go above and beyond to live with them.
"On the day, to try and get the better of them, I had to go above and beyond where I was at in my career to live with that level of player."
Asked what made them so good, Gerrard explained: "I think football's in a place where you get more praise and respect now if you're a 'moments' player. So, for example, you score a good goal or you get an assist and it's stats and it's 'he's got 10 assists and 10 goals' and blah, blah, blah.
"But if you look at the detail of a performance in and out of possession, leadership, all the components...there's not many better than Roy Keane, when I judge a midfielder.
"He was always in the right position. He was tough. He was physically top in terms of being able to get about, recovery runs. He was tough in terms of physicality. He could run past you. He could recover and get back.
"His short game was under-rated in my opinion because he could break lines with his passing. He could change the play. He could run off you. I think he had all the components. I think, obviously, he scored a lot of important goals at key times.
"That's how I judge a midfielder. I judge a midfielder on everything. A 90-minute performance over a season, over a period of time, there's not many better than Roy Keane."
Listen to the full Rio Meets Steven Gerrard interview on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
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