Roy Keane Talks Pep Guardiola, Jose Mourinho, Arsenal and More

Former Manchester United captain Roy Keane believes it is Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola who deserves to be called the Special One rather than Red Devils boss Jose Mourinho.

Mourinho famously gave himself the Special One moniker when he first took over at Chelsea in 2004.

But following City's 4-0 demolition of Borussia Monchengladbach in the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday, four days on from beating United 2-1 in the Manchester derby, Keane said on ITV's Champions League Highlights that Guardiola is more deserving of the nickname (via Alex Terrell in the Sun): "[Mourinho] reckons he’s the Special One, but I think [Guardiola] is."

City have made a perfect start to the 2016-17 season, winning four on the bounce in the Premier League and three times in the Champions League—twice against Steaua Bucharest in their qualifying play-off.

Per Bleacher Report's Sam Tighe, City look to be one of the top three teams in Europe and showed genuine class in beating United in Guardiola's first meeting with Mourinho in the Premier League on Saturday:

On the ITV show, Irishman Keane heaped further praise on Guardiola for how quickly he has made an impact on his City side after only taking up the job in the summer, and he credited his ruthlessness in getting rid of high-profile players (via MailOnline's Phil Costa):

"

I think what was important when he first went in there, the decision to get rid of two or three really important characters from Man City—[Joe] Hart, [Yaya] Toure—he made the decision, 'you're not for me'.

He says he's a challenging coach and he doesn't look like he's messing about. 

They're playing with a lot of confidence, he's rotating the squad, the players are playing with a lot of confidence after a decent start. I wouldn't like to mess with him.

"

Rarely one to dish out praise, Keane reverted to type in assessing Arsenal's Champions League display against Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday.

The Gunners escaped from the Parc des Princes with a 1-1 draw after a 77th-minute Alexis Sanchez equaliser, but were it not for goalkeeper David Ospina's excellence and PSG's profligacy in front of goal, they could have been on the end of a drubbing, per the Times' Henry Winter:

Keane said Arsenal should be happy to have claimed a draw but slammed their overall performance (via Terrell):

"

Great point for them. Same old Arsenal though, but a shocking performance. You take the point, they will get out of the group, them and PSG.

But the chances, really they should have lost the game 4 or 5-1, but it’s not their fault when PSG keep missing chances.

And with Arsenal, with the quality they have on the pitch you certainly feel they'll nick a goal, so they should be delighted with that.

"

Substitute Olivier Giroud was sent off late in the game after an altercation with PSG midfielder Marco Verratti, who was also given his marching orders.

As a result, the French striker will miss Arsenal's next Champions League game, at home to FC Basel, but the Gunners should have enough to get past the Swiss outfit regardless. 

With relative minnows Ludogorets Razgrad rounding out Group A, Arsenal should, as Keane said, advance to the last 16, and the point they earned at PSG could be vital in their bid to claim the all-important top spot.

David Ramos/Getty Images

Keane also had some strong words for former club Celtic, who were thrashed 7-0 by Barcelona at the Camp Nou on Tuesday in their first Champions League group-stage game of the season.

On Champions League Highlights, the 45-year-old insisted that the Scottish champions have the wrong attitude and needed to be aiming to do better in European competition rather than simply winning the Scottish Premiership (via Terrell):

"

I think the whole mindset has to changed, particularly away from home, you don't want to be the whipping boys of Europe. 

We're talking about Celtic, it's a huge club and they need to do a lot better. 

And even when they qualified, the celebrations for me were way over the top. I thought they'd actually won the competition. 

People were hugging each other, the manager, the coaching staff, the players and it was way over the top.

"

With Celtic also in the same group as Guardiola's City, it will be a huge challenge for them to make the last 16 of this year's Champions League.

However, earning third place ahead of Gladbach to drop into the Europa League is not out of the question.