Patrick Vieira has launched an astonishing attack on Ruud van Nistelrooy in his new autobiography, as revealed by the News of the World, where he calls the Manchester United striker a cheat and a coward.

Take it away Paddy: "Everyone thinks he is a nice guy but, in fact, he's a son of a bitch. He has a history of incidents that all too often have gone unnoticed."

Keep reading, it only gets better: "He has punched Freddie Ljungberg and elbowed Lauren. At Arsenal, we hated him and had real reason to do so.

I can't stand the sight of Van Nistelrooy. He's a great player and has proved himself time and time again, but everything about him annoys me. He's always complaining and whingeing.

There are some players I respect, despite the fact they'll stick the boot in, because I can sense there is no malice.

They are not hiding what they are doing. Paul Scholes gives as good as he gets, won't complain, won't moan and roll around on the ground. He gives, he takes.

Van Nistelrooy, on the other hand, is deceitful as well as being a nasty piece of work.

In September 2003, I was sent off at Old Trafford after a second yellow card as a result of an incident with him.

I got shafted. Just thinking about it makes my blood boil.

He tried to stamp on me and then he made more of the challenge than he should have done. I am not blaming the referee. He got shafted, too.

I never intended to touch Van Nistelrooy and did not deserve a red card. The way he laid it on annoyed me even more.

After the game, I was standing with a friend in the tunnel when Van Nistelrooy walked past. We looked at each other. He tried to talk to me and I told him that it was finished and I had nothing more to say.

But he persisted. So I asked if I had touched him. He simply replied: "You have no class." That was the icing on the cake. He was trying to convince himself that he had not cheated, which just showed he did not have a clear conscience.

I said: "Watch it, or I'm going to land one on you."

We were on the verge of fisticuffs but Mikael Silvestre, Fabien Barthez and Robert Pires got there just in time and intervened. This altercation confirmed my view that not only is Van Nistelrooy a cheat, he lacks courage.

The Dutchman missed a penalty in that match and Ray Parlour, Lauren and Martin Keown jumped on him. Arsenal were criticised for this and it is true that it does not make pretty viewing.

Injustice was a feeling we experienced all too often when we faced them. Even the last two matches I had against United give rise to bad memories. There was a notorious game in November 2004 - we were unbeaten in 49 matches and were well and truly robbed of the 50th.

I still find it hard to believe. If we had conducted ourselves like United we would have been down to eight men.

Rio Ferdinand fouled Freddie and should have been sent off, but did not even receive a yellow card. Wayne Rooney dived and cheated blatantly to win their penalty. I had not forgotten any of this when the return match came round in February.

Every time we played United, Gary Neville acted tough. We were always on the receiving end and his behaviour towards Jose in October had been unacceptable.

So that night I said to him: "Every time you foul the guys, I'm going to be watching you. If you do it, I'm going to sort you out.'

Yes, it was intimidation - but I hadn't planned to say it. Roy Keane got involved, which did not surprise me. He is their captain, so his job is to defend their players.

He told me to leave Neville alone and that if I had a problem, I should talk to him. I didn't have a problem with him. Keane was the toughest midfielder I did battle with in England.

When you compare his courage and behaviour on the pitch with Van Nistelrooy and Neville, it's like night and day."