Darren Fletcher played with countless top players during his time at Man United.
The Scottish midfielder has revealed has revealed which of his Old Trafford team-mates had the best first touch, and it might come as a surprise. Fletcher was speaking to football journalist Graham Hunter, and reserved some special praise for Roy Keane.
“Roy Keane was one of the best passers of the ball I’ve ever seen,” Fletcher said.
“In terms of his touch and the pace in which he’d pass the ball forward and always pass it forward and broke the lines of the opposition quickly. He was the best at that. At breaking the opposition’s line and getting attacking players on to a transition.”
Keane and Fletcher played together at Old Trafford for more than three seasons, before Keane’s acrimonious exit in November 2005.
The then United captain had an infamous showdown with Alex Ferguson after Keane criticised a number of teammates, including Fletcher, in an MUTV interview. However, there’s clearly no animosity between the players now.
“His touch was immaculate,” Fletcher continued, “he had the best first touch. All these things were so underrated in his game. Everyone looked at him as this ferocious competitor and box-to-box runner and tackler. That wasn’t false, but, with the ball, he had one of the best first touches and the best pass forward into the attacking half to break the lines of the opposition that I’ve ever seen.”
Fletcher, who left United in January 2015, was also full of praise for Keane’s former midfield partner, Paul Scholes.
“Then you’ve got Paul Scholes who maybe got recognised even more for his controlling the game abilities when Roy moved on. Because Roy controlled the midfield, Scholesy was then the one who got forward and got goals and used his technique higher up the pitch.”
You can listen to the rest of Fletcher’s interview with Hunter here:
