Keane's fears for game intent on selling its soul

Delivering what effectively amounted to a state of the union address ahead of tomorrow's Premier League game against Arsenal, the game's most opinionated orator declared that the union between football and the people who sustain it is no more.

"Football has lost its soul," claimed Keane. If nothing else, the sport has certainly lost a figure who had previously been one of its most passionate defenders.

Forty-eight hours before Sunderland take on the current Premier League leaders, the Irishman had been asked to reflect on Arsene Wenger's comment that the English game was in danger of losing its identity after a glut of foreign investors had gained control of some of the country's biggest clubs.

Keane agreed. Then, in a misleadingly understated manner, he delivered as damning a critique of the modern game as it is possible to imagine. A character who has devoted his life to professional football effectively disowned the sport he has helped to shape.

The Premier League's paymasters might claim to have developed 'the greatest game in the world', but to Keane at least, that game bears little resemblance to the pursuit he once knew as football.

"Football is not the game I knew ten years ago," said the Sunderland boss. "It's grown an awful lot colder. That goes for every club. It's changing and it's sad to see. The best way to say it is that football has lost its soul, and it's definitely for the worse."

So far, so reminiscent of Wenger. But while Arsenal's manager restricted his comments to changes in the boardroom, Keane's diatribe ranged across vast swathes of the footballing landscape.

Stripped of its glamorous exterior, the Premier League appeared a heartless place indeed. And hardly anything remained untainted. Take, for example, the gulf that separates the rest of the division from the established big four.

"It's sad isn't it," railed Keane. "The big four will get bigger and they'll only go away from the other teams. That's the vicious circle that we're in. They will continue to get into Europe and that will give them big money.

"That's one definite example of where the game has lost its soul. I don't think the strength in depth in the Premier League is as good as it was even four or five years ago.

"If you were a betting man, you'd put a fortune on the top four teams being the teams we know they're going to be. The order is open to an argument, but the make-up of the teams isn't. It's a sad state of affairs to be in."

Still, if the league itself isn't competitive, at least it throws up plenty of competitive games? Keane's return to Arsenal immediately evokes memories of the titanic tussles he enjoyed with the Gunners during his time at Manchester United. The clashes in the tunnel, the tackles on the pitch. Surely rivalries like that are enough to sustain football's future?

"Football has lost its soul because you don't get rivalries like that any more," countered Keane. "It simply doesn't happen. Those rivalries have gone now and I can't see them coming back. Teams still want to beat each other, but there's nothing like the intensity that there was then.

"If I knew I was playing Arsenal on the Saturday, I would start preparing for it the previous Sunday. They were amazing games - you would give anything to be playing in one of those again - but they're not the same any more."

So, both the league and its fixtures have become less competitive. But doesn't football still create heroes for youngsters up and down the country to worship?

Not according to Keane it doesn't. Instead, and perhaps most damning of all, the Irishman has accused the sport of producing a host of averagely-talented millionaires who view football as nothing more than a means to an end.

"There are lots of players nowadays who do not love football," he explained. "They don't love the game. You're going to say 'That's amazing', but it's true. There are people playing football and it's not that important to them.

"Maybe they've had it easy and the clubs have been too quick giving out contracts. I don't begrudge any player a penny because it is a short career, but if you're getting that much money and you're not even in the team, you can take things for granted.

"And when you take things for granted, that's when you lose it. That's when you lose your love of the game. Maybe we all need to take a massive pay cut. Maybe we do."

And when they are presented with players who have little or no affinity to their club, perhaps it is no surprise that supporters begin to feel short-changed. Especially when they are asked to pay huge sums of money to watch football matches at a time that is utterly inconvenient to them.

"It's the small things that eventually make a difference," added Keane. "There are lots of little things that make up the bigger picture, and the lack of games on a Saturday (only two Premier League matches kick-off today) is a part of that.

"A lot of fans are also complaining about ticket prices and that's not a healthy situation to be in. I know Manchester United fans were complaining last week about being forced into buying tickets for the Coventry game (in the Carling Cup).

"Every club is changing and it's not necessarily for the good. The bigger clubs - Liverpool, United - all seem to be being sold out. The club I signed for (at Manchester United) was different to the club I left.

"That's why I'm not at all sorry that I don't play the game any more. I can't see it changing and it's sad." Something to reflect on as the richest football league in the world once again prepares to flaunt its self-styled importance.