Roy Keane was on trademark no-nonsense form ahead of Manchester United 's clash with Tottenham Hotspur after spotting defenders Harry Maguire and Raphael Varane wearing gloves during the warm-up.
The Red Devils legend was left bemused by the centre-backs' choice of accessory and lamented on Sky Sports: " Are they gloves? Are they wearing gloves? Is that what I’m seeing? Am I seeing things? That’s a great message, yeah."
Keane added after presenter Kelly Cates suggested that their hands may simply be cold: " Two big strong centre-halves, I don’t mind full-backs [wearing gloves] but your two centre-halves."
Varane was returning to the starting XI after missing last weekend's Manchester Derby humiliation at the hands of bitter rivals City due to testing positive for Covid-19.
Maguire, meanwhile, has endured a difficult period and his performance in the 4-1 defeat saw him come in for further criticism.
But both were given a boost by the brilliance of Cristiano Ronaldo after just 12 minutes, unleashing a strike from at least 20 yards out to put United 1-0 up in a crucial match for the top-four hopes.
The 37-year-old received the ball in the centre of the final third and as Spurs backed off, fired in a rocket past a helpless Hugo Lloris which broke the deadlock.
Ben Davies thought he had equalised for Antonio Conte 's side just a few minutes later, although they would in the 35th minute when Harry Kane slammed home a penalty.
But Ronaldo was back at shortly after and finished to make it 2-1, profiting from a pinpoint Jadon Sancho pass.
Keane heaped praise on the five-time Ballon d'Or winner pre-match, having controversially missed the derby through injury and deciding to head home to Portugal rather than make the trip to the Etihad.
"I' m glad he's recovered [Ronaldo] his trip in Portugal has done the trick. It's good to see him back, he's a quality player.
"Whatever has gone on in the background, whether he didn’t want to be seen in the background or whatever, but he's starting.
"His goals record is fantastic, we can talk about all the things he’s not good at like pressing, but you get the balls in the right area and Ronaldo will score.
"You seen the game down at Spurs, Ronaldo when he's on that pitch you always expect something."
On the Red Devils and Tottenham's shared fight for Champions League qualification, the United icon went on to say: " Whoever loses today's game, if they lose, it's going to be a long way back.
"The teams ahead of them can slip up but they can’t slip up that much, from a United point of view the manager says the next games is always the most important.
"Focus on getting positive results, there's an obsession with league tables, the table will take care of itself.
"[Man Utd have to] stay in the fight even if they're on the ropes, keep swinging even if they're up against it especially with Tottenham's attack."
