'I would put it down to two – Mr. Keane or Mr. Robson' - Denis Irwin chats Roy Keane, Cork, World Cup 1994 and Manchester United 

Manchester United and Republic of Ireland legend Denis Irwin has detailed his journey from growing up on the southside of Cork city to becoming known as one of, if not the greatest, full-backs in the club's history.

Described as, pound for pound, his greatest-ever signing by former boss Alex Ferguson, Irwin joined United in 1990 having originally left his home in Leeside to join Leeds United as a teenager. Irwin enjoyed a four year-spell at Oldham Athletic in between his time in Yorkshire and Manchester.

His friendship with fellow Cork native Roy Keane - who Irwin regards alongside Bryan Robson as the greatest player he's ever played with - would blossom as roommates three years after his arrival at United, when Keane signed from Nottingham Forest in 1993.

"Well we were different ages, weren't we?" Irwin said to Keane on The Overlap's Stick to Football podcast. "You first came in, in '93... we just roomed together, that's what you did in those days, you had a bit of fun because there was no phones."

Turns out Ferguson had brought Irwin back early after summer international duty to be a part of the first pre-season trip that included Keane, an international teammate of his. Their similar background was the catalyst for such a move from the boss.

"I wasn't supposed to go, but he (Ferguson) said we were after signing Roy... I don't think we played in the first game (in South Africa)."

Asked by fellow United stalwart Gary Neville if it was a babysitting job from day one, Irwin joked: "It was for the next six or seven years I was," before Keane added: "Yeah well I tolerated him, no, we had been together with Ireland, and it was great. Going to a new club and Denis was there to help me settle in, it was fantastic, couldn't have picked a better roommate really."

Looking back on his time alongside Keane, he valued his fellow Cork man as one of his best ever teammates: “My favourite teammate – He’s [Roy Keane], from Cork, he looks after me. We had a great time together. I had twelve years there [at Manchester United] – I’d like to think I got on with everybody. I wasn’t one of them that upset anybody.

“Roy was brilliant, he really was. ‘Robbo’ [Bryan Robson] was brilliant and was great for the young lads.

“The best player I ever played with, I would put it down to two – Mr. [Roy] Keane or Mr. [Bryan] Robson. Very similar – I like those tough, aggressive players – they’d be at my side all day long and don’t get me wrong, I’ve got a fair choice.

“[Peter] Schmeichel was a great goalkeeper, ‘Scholesy’ [Paul Scholes] was an unbelievable footballer, ‘Giggsy’ [Ryan Giggs] – the longevity of what he achieved. ‘Robbo’ was brilliant for four years – I know I caught the end of his career, but you could see why he was Mr. Manchester United in the 80s.

“I used to watch him box-to-box, but he was a typical box-to-box player back in the day. A bit like Roy [Keane] and then ended up being a holding midfield player. A leader, captain, encouraging people, giving people a clip round the ear. Sorry Gary [Neville]!” The time they spent in the Irish jersey together was headlined by the one-nil win over Italy at the World Cup in 1994 - a fixture the now-59-year-old holds very close to his heart.

Beating Italy in New Jersey was incredible. Definitely the biggest Irish result in history – it still probably is. Everybody expected [Italy to win] – New York is full of Italians – but there was 65% Irish in there [the stadium]. We were the only British Isles team there as well. The heat [was hard], but the way we played, we were very well organised.

“In that heat, we needed to keep the ball, and we just didn’t. We had a great team then – [the manager] Jack [Charlton] – wanted the ball far forward as possible away from our goal. It worked with Ireland because we had never qualified for a tournament until he came in ‘88. Some really good players there.

“We used to go out and have a couple of games of golf and Jack wouldn’t even know about that. We’d been gone for six hours and have a game – but that’s what you did back in those days just to pass time a little bit. We had a great spirit – it carried us over the line quite a lot.”

The link with Keane originated with their shared Cork childhood, a childhood Irwin values highly given the sporting landscape in the county.

"I grew up in Cork, mainly as a gaelic footballer and a hurler," he said. "Cork was a great place to grow up in the '70s because we had Cork Celtic and Cork Hibs back in the day, two soccer teams. I wanted to be a hurler, and the Cork hurling team were top dogs at the time. I played for Ireland under-15s in the European Championships in France and got beat in the final by West Germany - shows you how long ago that is.

"I got scouted down in Merthyr Tydfil playing for Ireland under-16s and then went on trial at Leeds."

Three years at Leeds followed for Irwin - Ireland's joint most successful footballer in history, alongside Ronnie Whelan and Keane, having won 19 trophies in his career. Onto Oldham and onto a storied career at Old Trafford.

He established himself as one of the most consistent performers in a team that won seven Premier League titles and the Champions League from 1990 to 2002, before finishing his career at Wolves, The success Irwin, Keane and Co. enjoyed at United is not the norm theses days for a struggling United side.

Irwin maintains that their terrible run of form is not Ruben Amorim's fault. Since taking over as manager in November, Amorim has only managed to win three of his 11 Premier League games.

"I’ve said before, it’s down to the players. The manager can organise [the players], he likes a 3-4-3, but it’s literally down to the players," he said. "You wouldn’t say [Manchester] United’s recruitment over the last ten years has been great either – that’s the biggest problem.

"It’s been a difficult ten years [post-Alex Ferguson]. Everyone kind of knew it was going to be a difficult period after Sir Alex left.

"They’ve had a lot of experienced managers – Ole [Gunnar Solskjaer] as well – that have looked like they’re going to do something, but that light has just closed.

"They’ve won cups, like Liverpool did in their quiet period, but not been anywhere near the league in the last ten years. It’s going to take time."