Manchester United get their pre-season trip to Sweden underway this weekend when they take on rivals Leeds in Stockholm.
Leeds secured their spot back in the Premier League back in May as they wrapped up the title with a late win at Plymouth on the final day of the Championship season.
And rivalries will be renewed at the Strawberry Arena, having ironically been previously named the Friends Arena, and was where United lifted the Europa League in 2017.
It’ll be the only game they play in Sweden before jetting off to the US, where they take on West Ham, Bournemouth and Everton.
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Keane felt the wrath of Fergie's famous hair-dryer treatment
It’s a far cry from the pre-season tours of yesteryear, and where Sir Alex Ferguson and former captain Roy Keane once had a stand-up row during the club’s training camp in the Algarve back in 2005.
The row resulted in Keane being axed from the club’s pre-season tour of the Far East, with the Irish midfielder never boarding the plane.
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Keane’s absence was officially put down to a hamstring injury, but he is known to have had angry words with Ferguson on the declining standards of United’s training camp.
With Chelsea emerging as a superpower under Jose Mourinho and Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal continuing to prove a thorn in United’s side, Keane felt the trip to the Algarve was nothing more than a jolly for the players and their families.
United stars have previously felt Scot's wrath
It came as Ferguson admitted he has been using a gentler touch in order to bring out the best in his players having previously lambasted David Beckham, Ryan Giggs and Jaap Stam, to name three.
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"Football in itself presents problems every day. Some are small, some are big, some you have to deal with straight away and some you can think about. That's the nature of football,” Ferguson said.
Fergie encouraged a gentler touch
He also encouraged his protégé’s, the likes of Steve Bruce, Mark Hughes and Bryan Robson, to follow a similar lead, adding: “But I always tell them that the important thing is not to go in for confrontation.
“You are dealing with human beings and some of the time players need encouraging or protecting and sometimes they need a firm hand.
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“I tell them that you do not need to look for these things because they will come your way.”
While United gained ground on Chelsea in the 2005/06 season, the Blues having eased to the Premier League title the previous campaign having won 29 of 38 matches and losing just once, Mourinho’s side still finished top of the pile.
United ended the campaign second with 83 points, one clear of Liverpool and 16 above Arsenal, yet they were still eight points off the pace as Chelsea secured glory with 91 points.
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The following season, however, United went on to win the league as Cristiano Ronaldo played a starring role in their domestic triumph.
Topics: Football, Leeds United, Manchester United, Premier League, Roy Keane, Sir Alex Ferguson
Ben McAleer