Robbie Keane

[CraftyToePoke]

Robbie gets his second in the 78th minute. Great left foot shot to beat the keeper. The quality of this league is incredibly poor, there wasn't a player within eight or nine yards of him when he received the ball just outside the top of the box. Very poor goalkeeping too.

So was it a great left foot shot ? Or very poor goalkeeping ? Which?

[Colbert Report]

Why not both? Robbie's first touch was very poor and he did well to recover with a shot off his weak foot. The keeper was caught on his near post when he should have made the save easily.

[CraftyToePoke]

Why not both?

Controversial. I have doubts.

I think when I hear the words 'great left foot shot' I feel it reasonable to picture an effort so magnificent in its splendour that it renders the keeper temporarily redundant, a mere admirer at best in another mans moment.

What I saw just now was a reasonable, borderline weak, effort from Keane, which the keeper kindly moved out of the way of. Or at best took up starting a position so bad it appeared thus.

What I will agree with you on is the standard, awful. I believe a striker needs to be hungry and Keane, around defenders like these will be so well fed his appearances in green recently are a little easier to understand.

[Charlie Darwin]

Conversely, his form for Ireland in the early part of his Galaxy career was as good as it's been in years. London Donovan and countless players around the smaller European leagues have shown that playing at a lower standard is not necessarily an obstacle to excelling in international football. I think Keane is just undergoing a barren patch and, dare I say, on the slide physically.

[SkStu]

Can you just stop spouting so much sense Charlie?!

[Murfinator]

Keane wasn't in any form at the Euros, he saw no ball whatsoever because our full backs and midfield couldn't play the ball to him. It's silly to say he was in good or bad form there when the form of others rendered his role absolutely useless.

[tetsujin1979]

Goals online here: http://www.lagalaxy.com/video/2012/07/08/highlights-chicago-fire-vs-la-galaxy
the penalty incident is on the 2:25 mark, little controversial because it's hard to tell if the player's arm is inside the area or not
second goal on 5:55, looks like he had lost the chance, but recovered to slot the ball in at the near post
could have had a hat trick with another chance just after it in the highlights

[paul_oshea]

Conversely, his form for Ireland in the early part of his Galaxy career was as good as it's been in years. London Donovan and countless players around the smaller European leagues have shown that playing at a lower standard is not necessarily an obstacle to excelling in international football. I think Keane is just undergoing a barren patch and, dare I say, on the slide physically.

You could read it that way.

Keane left for the galaxy, giving him a new found confidence, nice lifestyle, and still fit and in shape, but because of the poor league, different nutirion, fitness regime, he lost his sharpness(as it wasn't required against poorer opposition) over time coinciding with his loss of form for Ireland. Physically he is not in shape because the league is poor and the standard in terms of fitness and looking after oneself is not the same as the PL. Landon Donovan has been playing MLS all his life, keane hasn't so adapting or the transition would be more difficult - in relation to the above.

It could easily be argued, in the same respect, that linearly, over time there is a co-relation between his sharpness, shape and fitness. I'd say it is a bit of both to be honest.

[Stuttgart88]

Keane wasn't in any form at the Euros, he saw no ball whatsoever because our full backs and midfield couldn't play the ball to him. It's silly to say he was in good or bad form there when the form of others rendered his role absolutely useless.
Agreed, the Euros were about as useful in assessing Keane's form as they were in guaging whether or not I could cut it at that standard.

[Stuttgart88]

Physically he is not in shape because the league is poor and the standard in terms of fitness and looking after oneself is not the same as the PL.

Being a distance athlete I tend to notice when guys are in shape or not. Contrary to David Kelly's observation that Keane is podgier now than as a younger player I think Keane is leaner than I've ever seen him. His cameo in the EPL during the winter didn't show any decline in form or sharpness. His first half performance away to Newcastle was as good as I've ever seen him play.

My beef with Keane these days is that it'd appear that his presence in the team necessitates 4-4-2 which exaggerates our deficiencies and leads us exposed to being overrun as Murf says above. The conclusion that people then wrongly draw is that Keane is off form.

Conventional wisdom is that Keane can't lead the line in a 4-5-1 / 4-3-3 although with better quality ball from a more fluent midfield I think this has yet to be tested. Jon Dahl Tomasson (spelling?) thrived in a similar role, flanked by two quick players. That said, I think it's time for Keane's "must pick" status to be re-assessed.

[DannyInvincible]

Contrary to David Kelly's observation that Keane is podgier now than as a younger player I think Keane is leaner than I've ever seen him.

He's definitely been carrying less body fat in latter years in comparison to his puppy fat of younger years.

[Colbert Report]

Robbie with another two goals tonight in his beer league. Highlights here:

http://www.mlssoccer.com/matchcenter/2012-07-14-por-v-la/highlights

[the bear]

Robbie with another two goals tonight in his beer league. Highlights here:

http://www.mlssoccer.com/matchcenter/2012-07-14-por-v-la/highlights

2 easy ones for Robbie. Beckhams 2 would have gone in at any level. Makes you think about the pros of aking the likes of him or Ian Harte to an international tourno.

The Galaxy keeper he looks like he's gonna burst out crying at any moment?

[geysir]

Yeah, that keeper looked to be in an emotionally fragile state :)
That's Kris Boyd, the ex Rangers striker playing for Portland?
The wall was poorly set up to defend Boyd's free kick, Portland's second goal.
Good atmosphere at the game, looks like the MLS is here to stay.

[EastTerracer]

Robbie opens the scoring in tonight's LA derby, the "SuperClasico". Assist from Beckham for Keane's 9th league goal of the season (from 16 games).

[pineapple stu]

Just back from the game. Fairly standard goal; Beckham pass splitting the defence for Keane to run on and slot home first time. In the second half, he set up Donovan for the second, hit the post and set up another really good chance. In the second half, LA Galaxy started turning the screw a bit. Caused damage much of the time he got the ball.

It may be me being cynical, but that's his sixth goal in the last six games, going back to when he returned from Euro action. I wonder is this a result (in part anyway) of playing at the higher level (Euros) for a few weeks? The MSL standard's better than some on here make out, but it's still not great (although this was an entertaining game). Both teams certainly tried to play ball, but sometimes were simply too slow in their execution and ended up going backwards when a quicker pass could have started a good attack. The keepers were both almost unable to hold on to the ball, while both sides tended at times to shoot very weakly (Donovan and Juan Pablo Angel - a Chivas sub - guilty in particular). Certainly a step down from Premiership standard anyway (not that that was really in question)

[tetsujin1979]

Highlights here: http://www.lagalaxy.com/video/2012/07/21/highlights-la-galaxy-vs-chivas-usa
Robbie's is goal is on 50 seconds
Debatable offside when he rounds the keeper on 2:05
assist on Donovan's goal at 2:25

Keane continues fantastic form as Galaxy drop Chivas (includes post match interview): http://www.lagalaxy.com/news/2012/07/keane-continues-fantastic-form-galaxy-drop-chivas

[tricky_colour]

also go and assist
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OoyVIhauYAg

must be very tough on the feet kicking that huge ball bearing around.

[tricky_colour]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGvyM98_Zgw

Comments welcome :)

[DannyInvincible]

Good for Robbie; looks to be settling into liberal LA society really well.

[Paddy Garcia]

Ball to hand surely

[the bear]

San Francisco Galaxy

[Noelys Guitar]

Not even a "Do you come here often" from Robbie.

[EastTerracer]

Bad defeat for the LA Galaxy in Seattle tonight. 4-0 the final score.

A very frustrating performance from Keane who couldn't seem to get into the game at all (although that was true of the whole team). Crowd was a very impressive 60,000.

[tricky_colour]

Robbie's first touch has always been a bit suspect ;)

[SkStu]

Keane scores goal number ten of the season. Tidy finish but had way too much time.

[EastTerracer]

Keane scores goal number ten of the season. Tidy finish but had way too much time.

Match highlights here - Robbie's goal is 2 minutes into the video

GmIFfeMAcrg

[EastTerracer]

For the insomniacs in Europe Robbie starts for the LA Galaxy away at Columbus at midnight Irish time. It's live on ESPN UK.

6/1 to score the first goal with Boylesports.

[EastTerracer]

Tap-in goal for Robbie in the 64th minute. Unfortunately for my bet it was to make it 1-1.

11th league goal of the season.

[tetsujin1979]

Goal online here: http://www.lagalaxy.com/news/2012/08/goal-keane-makes-it-1-1-columbus
A close range finish, but he almost put it over

[geysir]

90% was his movement, but it was like taking candy from babies.

[EastTerracer]

Keane scores for the third LA Galaxy game in succession after 21 minutes against Isidro Metapan (of El Salvador) in the CONCACAF Champions League. A simple header from a Beckham cross.

Metapan took the lead but it's now 2-1 to the Galaxy. Keane is captain with Landon Donovan out injured.

UPDATE: Keane ridiculously sent off after 70 minutes. He was clearly fouled but the referee booked him for diving. Keane was not happy about the decision and signaled to the bench to take him off. The ref responded by giving him a second yellow for dissent.

Suspension will only apply to Champions League and not MLS games.

[Junior]

Was Keane signalling to be taken off purely because he was annoyed at getting the Yellow or because he was injured? I hope it wasnt the former as that would be pretty lame no matter how ridiculous he thought the booking was.

[tetsujin1979]

goal is at 1:00 and sending off at 2:15 in the highlights package here: http://www.lagalaxy.com/news/2012/08/ccl-galaxy-satisfied-win-frustrated-officiating
The red card is pretty ridiculous, he's not looking at the ref when he gestures to the bench to come off.

[geysir]

You can see where contact is made with Robbie's left foot but it doesn't look near enough to fell him, though sometimes it's hard to tell with slow motion.
Bizarre game/goals/ref/for a player to be asked to replaced in that instance.

[Serb]

Opposition seemed exceptionally poor in that video. But the sending off, Christ — between Robbie asking to be taken off because of being booked, and then the ref giving him a second yellow for... who knows? Ridiculous. Neither incident was a booking and I'd imagine on appeal, the red will be overturned.

[Charlie Darwin]

I can see why the referee would feel like he was being undermined but the sending off is a bit bizarre when a simple word in his ear would have done. Perhaps Robbie's lack of English might account for that.

[EastTerracer]

The highlights are below (probably the same clip as Tets linked to above). Goal at 1.03 and sending-off debacle at 2.15

Lrhh385uQm4

I doubt the red card will be overturned - this is CONCACAF (as run by Jack Warner over the years) rather than the MLS and the competition has a history of sub-standard refereeing.

The standard of opposition is pretty poor and the competition has not really captured the imagination (despite the re-branding as Champions League).

The original tackle itself was a foul, you can't actually see it in the replay here but, on TV last night, the defender actually stands on Keane's foot which was the main contact. The refereeing had been pretty poor throughout so I think Robbie's signal was a result of both too many poor decisions and a concern that he would be injured (he did receive treatment on the sideline earlier in the game).

[Colbert Report]

What route is he going to fly to Kazakhstan, anyone know?

[EastTerracer]

Presume he will fly to Dublin to meet up with the squad as usual :rolleyes:

However, I did look into making the trip to Astana and the JFK-Istanbul-Astana route looked the easiest. That would be very tough from LA. He's suspended for next Wednesday's CCL game so he will have a home game in LA on Saturday night and will likely be in Dublin for training on Monday 3rd September. Then the charter flight with the team will be on Wednesday. He'll be coming back via London for the Oman game.

That's about 16,700 miles according to one of the airmile websites.

[Colbert Report]

Didn't he fly from Japan one time last year? I think the Galaxy were there for some friendly match and he met up with the squad in Russia or something via the East.

[EastTerracer]

Didn't he fly from Japan one time last year? I think the Galaxy were there for some friendly match and he met up with the squad in Russia or something via the East.

That was after the Russia game in Moscow - it was quicker for him to fly back to LA via China than to go back with the rest of the squad. If he's not needed for the Oman friendly in London it probably would make sense for him to do something similar.

[EastTerracer]

LA Galaxy against FC Dallas just about to kick-off live on ESPN UK (NBC Sports for those in the US).

UPDATE: A 2-0 win for the LA Galaxy with Keane as captain in Landon Donovan's absence. A relatively quiet match for Keane who will be suspended for the midweek game and has only one home match to play next Saturday before Kazakhstan.

[EastTerracer]

Robbie Keane didn't get a chance to meet up with Andy O'Brien tonight as O'Brien was out injured for Vancouver Whitecaps. There is a strong Celtic influence on the pitch though with Keane, Barry Robson and Kenny Miller all playing (and, of course, O'Dea at Toronto another ex-Celtic player in the MLS).

0-0 after 26 minutes but I'll post updates if Robbie does anything significant.

[Acornvilla]

Robbie Keane didn't get a chance to meet up with Andy O'Brien tonight as O'Brien was out injured for Vancouver Whitecaps. There is a strong Celtic influence on the pitch though with Keane, Barry Robson and Kenny Miller all playing (and, of course, O'Dea at Toronto another ex-Celtic player in the MLS).

0-0 after 26 minutes but I'll post updates if Robbie does anything significant.

He technically just got an assist :D

Had a goal disallowed (correctly) for offside also, hes been fairly quiet.

[EastTerracer]

He technically just got an assist :D

Had a goal disallowed (correctly) for offside also, hes been fairly quiet.

I actually thought he was onside from the replay. The Canadian commentators claimed his head was ahead of the line but that shouldn't count as offside.

[Acornvilla]

I only seen a replay once and he looked 2 or so feet off from the angle I seen! You have me doubting my eyesight now, it was a very good finish in fairness to him.

[Colbert Report]

I actually thought he was onside from the replay. The Canadian commentators claimed his head was ahead of the line but that shouldn't count as offside.

Any part of the body that you can score a goal with.......

[Colbert Report]

In the Premier League the linesman isn't supposed to flag unless there is a clear gap between defender and attacker.

Anyway, I thought the commentators were trying to claim the head as a last resort because Keane looked level to me.

From fifa's website:

Nearer to the opponents' goal line means that
any part of the head, body or feet is nearer to the opponents' goal line than both the ball and the second last opponent.

[Colbert Report]

If you go on the website, they have a great flash video explaining the rule. The head most certainly does count as being offside, even if it is the only part of the body ahead of the second last defender. I'm looking at it now, they even freeze-frame it for you. I wish I knew how to take a snapshot of my screen, I'd post it on here for you.

http://www.fifa.com/lotg/football/en/flash/start.html