Robbie Keane

[jmurphyc]

I know this has been mentioned before, but it's really, really starting to get to me how little credit Keane gets in the British press especially when Berbatov is often talked about as being world class. I don't really understand it either because he's not English.

[irishfan86]

Keane usually gets praise on most of the broadcasts I watch.

I agree a lot of commentators have a hard-on for Berba, but it's probably due to him being a novelty of sorts still being relatively new, whereas Robbie is an established Premier League star.

[Dr. Ogba]

I know this has been mentioned before, but it's really, really starting to get to me how little credit Keane gets in the British press especially when Berbatov is often talked about as being world class. I don't really understand it either because he's not English.


totally agree, watched a spurs game on the bbc earlier on in the year (must've been fa cup) and they were practically creaming themselves whenever Berbatov touched the ball whereas Keane was head and shoulders better than Berba that day.

what a cracker of a goal last night though, delighted to see him doing so well at the mo. Now lets take the captaincy off him and let him concentrate on doing what he does best for us...

[livehead1]

what a cracker of a goal last night though, delighted to see him doing so well at the mo. Now lets take the captaincy off him and let him concentrate on doing what he does best for us...

Why? I'd be interested to see what his performances were like in the run up to him receiving the captaincy as I don't think anything changed. He has failed to do the business on a number of ocassions for Ireland. Being captain didn't encourage him to miss that chance against Lehmann for example, but by the same token if he had scored and we won the came then possibly the same clamour to remove his captaincy would not exist.

IMO he does a good job as captain for Spurs, and whilst I would prefer to see Dunne as our next captain, Robbie wouldn't be a bad option either.

[beautifulrock]

Great goal split second to make up his mind what to do. His all round play is improving all the time. Watch Berbatov's goal and look at the way Robbie was waiting for ball to drop short, come of a post etc. This is an area of his game that seems to have improved dramatically and one of the reasons for his much improved goal scoring record.

[Dr. Ogba]

Why? I'd be interested to see what his performances were like in the run up to him receiving the captaincy as I don't think anything changed. He has failed to do the business on a number of ocassions for Ireland. Being captain didn't encourage him to miss that chance against Lehmann for example, but by the same token if he had scored and we won the came then possibly the same clamour to remove his captaincy would not exist.

IMO he does a good job as captain for Spurs, and whilst I would prefer to see Dunne as our next captain, Robbie wouldn't be a bad option either.

to be honest i think captaining spurs is a completely different proposition to captaining Ireland. In a way, I'd say that Robbie feels that he's carrying the Irish team a lot more than at Spurs and prob feels a lot more responsibility and pressure captaining Ireland at the moment. Take this away from him, give it to Dunne or Given and I think we'll see him relaxing and enjoying himself a bit more when playing for us.

[irishfan86]

I think if Trap can sort our midfield problems then we'll start to see the best of Robbie in this coming campaign.

His poor goal scoring record in recent times for me is due to his lack of service.

If we hoof it long, he's useless up there, especially without a target man.

If we keep it on the floor, or give him a target man, we'll be fine.

The emergence of Stephen Ireland and McGeady will hopefully mean that he can receive quality set-ups.

Robbie is always making good runs for us but rarely receives the ball. Andy Reid or Stephen Ireland are great at sending through balls, and if both or either of those players is in the side I can see Robbie doing better for us.

[NeilMcD]

Once again he proves his doubters wrong. What a goal and what a player. His goal scoring this season has been fantastic along with his general play. I reckon he will get player of the season at Spurs.

[eirebhoy]

His control for Berbatov's lobbed pass was excellent too but Cudicini pulled of a good save.

[Wolfie]

Just throwing this one out there - Is the Keane / Doyle partnership our best combination?

[as_i_say]

Probably the only one we have at the moment-who else is going to partner robbie if everyone is fit?

[zenokelly]

Probably the only one we have at the moment-who else is going to partner robbie if everyone is fit?

Probably, but the Keane-Morrison partnership didn't work out too badly under Kerr, but still not a massive fan of Clinto.

[Kingdom]

Robbie is always making good runs for us but rarely receives the ball. Andy Reid or Stephen Ireland are great at sending through balls, and if both or either of those players is in the side I can see Robbie doing better for us.

As we saw with the peach of a goal at home to Israel or away to Wales.
Nobody doubts his ability, its just sometimes he's infuriating.

[lionelhutz]

what a goal. What a player. He's better playing on instinct - he seems to mess up when he has too much time to think... I doubted that he would fully fulfil his potential but i am glad to say he is one of my favourite players to watch. A special player and we're lucky to have him.

I agree totally with this. He's such an instinct player - as you can see with his finish last night, ball rebounded off defender and he just whipped it into the net. Beautiful strike.

When he's through on goal one on one I always worry cos I know he's thinking too much and he usually spurns the opportunity. There's no doubting his vision and touch though.

Hopefully we don't isolate him again with Ireland - I don't think we necessarily need a target man longside him. I think its a matter of fitting the style of play around our best players - who are all pretty much skillful ball players. Therefore, a free flowing passing style would suit them best. Especially if we'd a midfield of the two Reids, Ireland, McGeady, Duff and Keane up front

[Metrostars]

As irishfan says he works much better with a target man beside him. He and Berbatov are a great combination. Indeed if Liverpool went looking for a Second Striker, he would be a perfect fit to play along side Torres. As for Ireland, his best days were when Quinn was with him. I don't think Doyle or Duff can play that role, but I think Morrison is the best we have at the moment.

[geysir]

Will this do?
http://101greatgoals.magnify.net/item/V0PMVDC6GW235LZC
Much better than uTube, thanks.
Heya heya heya heya heya heya :D

[jmurphyc]

One thing which he was criticised for before was his goalscoring tally against the "big four". It's nice to see that he's improving on that this season - he's got four in ten against them, showing that he doesn't just score against **** sides. Now hopefully he gets the support from midfield to bring this form into international football once again.

[co. down green]

Robbie's post-match interview here (http://news.bbc.co.uk/player/sol/newsid_7300000/newsid_7306000/7306037.stm?bw=bb&mp=wm&news=1&bbcws=1)

[paul_oshea]

As irishfan says he works much better with a target man beside him. He and Berbatov are a great combination. Indeed if Liverpool went looking for a Second Striker, he would be a perfect fit to play along side Torres. As for Ireland, his best days were when Quinn was with him. I don't think Doyle or Duff can play that role, but I think Morrison is the best we have at the moment.

Thats a very interesting point. I like to look further into that, see what trap can do.

[tricky_colour]

I think if Trap can sort our midfield problems then we'll start to see the best of Robbie in this coming campaign.

His poor goal scoring record in recent times for me is due to his lack of service.

If we hoof it long, he's useless up there, especially without a target man.

If we keep it on the floor, or give him a target man, we'll be fine.

The emergence of Stephen Ireland and McGeady will hopefully mean that he can receive quality set-ups.

Robbie is always making good runs for us but rarely receives the ball. Andy Reid or Stephen Ireland are great at sending through balls, and if both or either of those players is in the side I can see Robbie doing better for us.

"If we hoof it long, he's useless up there."

Slightly ironic that when infact it was a long hoof up the pitch which
gave him the chance!! It fell nicely for him but he was very quick to
spot the opertunity and hit it well first time before the defence could
close him down. And when you consider he hit that with his 'wrong foot',
ie his right foot, it was a brilliant strike. One wonders what would have
happend if he had hit it with his left foot.....




Row Z no doubt ;):D

[NeilMcD]

Robbie Keane is right footed.

[tricky_colour]

Robbie Keane is right footed.


Really? I always thought he was left footed, not sure why.

[irishfan86]

"If we hoof it long, he's useless up there."

Slightly ironic that when infact it was a long hoof up the pitch which
gave him the chance!! It fell nicely for him but he was very quick to
spot the opertunity and hit it well first time before the defence could
close him down. And when you consider he hit that with his 'wrong foot',
ie his right foot, it was a brilliant strike. One wonders what would have
happend if he had hit it with his left foot.....




Row Z no doubt ;):D

Anyone who knows anything about football knows that he got a fair slice of luck to get the ball to come to him like that perfectly.

I'm not taking anything away from the finish, it was a world class strike and there are very few players in the world that could have taken it that well.

But I am not concerned with his finishing, I am concerned with the method of our team generating chances for Robbie and our strikers.

If we're relying on luck through hoofing it up field to get bounces like that, we're going to go nowhere.

We need to bring a tactical side into things, and I've got no doubt Trap will think things through and be very methodical.

I have no problem with the long ball game, and I think Robbie can fit into a direct style of play IF we give him a man to knock the balls down to him.

For me this man has got to be Alan Lee. On his own he's nothing special, but I think if given a few games to try out, maybe in friendlies, he could work very well with Robbie.

If you remember, Robbie enjoyed some very good times with Spurs when Mido first arrived as well, and he is not a world-class player himself.

Robbie can read flick ons and has excellent control in those situations.

I like Doyle, but I don't think he is built to work with Robbie in a traditional 4-4-2.

If we need to drop Doyle to build our team around Keane, so be it.

It's important to note here that I rate Doyle miles ahead of Alan Lee when compared side by side, but if I was asked to pick a partner for Robbie I wouldn't hesitate to select Lee.

As Alf Ramsey said to Jack Charlton after being queried about his inclusion in the England squad, "my job is not to always pick the best players. It is to pick the best team."

[tricky_colour]

I think Doyle is playing more on the wing how for Reading, he certainly
has not scored many, he has got 5 which incidently is the same as Hunt's tally,
Incidently Stephen Ireland has scored 3 league goals this season.
I have not really seen much of Alan Lee playing as he is in the Championship,
I do however note Lian Lawence has scored 13, and highly likely to
win promotion to the premiership, Lee Trundle may well gain promotion, but
he has only scored 2 and rarely starts now.
It will be interesting to see what formation Trapattoni comes up with.

[Kingdom]

Whatever anyone thinks of Lee, he has scored goals at every club he's played for and hasn't been given any significant chance for Ireland. Rightly or wrongly, he's never gotten a proper chance for us.

[jmurphyc]

Whatever anyone thinks of Lee, he has scored goals at every club he's played for and hasn't been given any significant chance for Ireland. Rightly or wrongly, he's never gotten a proper chance for us.

Well, I don't know whether the situation has changed, but I read an article about him about six months ago in which he stated that he didn't want to be considered for Ireland at that moment unless he was guaranteed a starting place and just wanted to concentrate on club football. He did also say that he would reconsider his decision at the end of the season.

[inexile]

surprised no one has mentioned shane long as a prospective partner for robbie, long is a big mobile strong lad and imo would be a much better option than alan lee or morrisson

[zenokelly]

surprised no one has mentioned shane long as a prospective partner for robbie, long is a big mobile strong lad and imo would be a much better option than alan lee or morrisson

Are you serious? :eek:IMO my Granny is better built and stronger than him. Maybe I'm wrong but I certainly have seen no evidence of this. That is one reason I don't think he'll make it in the Premiership!????

[inexile]

at 21 he is quite strong for a young lad in my opinion and he will only get stronger and he certainly has a bit of pace about him

[tricky_colour]

5'10 and 11 stone 2 pounds is hardly 'big and strong' although I did think
he look bigger than that on TV, he is an inch taller than Robbie Keane
who is hardly a giant.

[Razors left peg]

I'd rather move away from the long ball game, our entire team is on the ground skillful players, most of them are short, so why would we play like that?

Perhaps Duff is the answer to playing along Keane? The problem doing this in the past was that we were dealing a great blow to our midfield by taking Duff out of it, with McGeady and Hunt not so much any more. Or indeed Ireland behind him as a support striker.

Duff has never been and never will be a striker, been tried and failed too many times in the past. I take your point about in the past that it hurt our midfield too much, but Im a big big fan still of Duffer and I just think that he just doesnt have the strikers goal scoring instint

[Dr. Ogba]

I'd rather move away from the long ball game, our entire team is on the ground skillful players, most of them are short, so why would we play like that?

Perhaps Duff is the answer to playing along Keane? The problem doing this in the past was that we were dealing a great blow to our midfield by taking Duff out of it, with McGeady and Hunt not so much any more. Or indeed Ireland behind him as a support striker.

You, my good sir, have a very short memory... has been tried and has not worked so why would you think that Duff, who is a shadow of the player he was in '02, would be the solution to partnering Robbie? If you're talking about putting a midfielder pushing up I'd sooner have Ireland playing just behind him...

[irishfan86]

5'10 and 11 stone 2 pounds is hardly 'big and strong' although I did think
he look bigger than that on TV, he is an inch taller than Robbie Keane
who is hardly a giant.

Well, weight and strength are not always the same.

When you look at him he doesn't look that strong, but if you watch any of Reading's games, he's throwing what he does have about, and looks a wiry lad.

He's got aggression and is strong for his age.

Again, not what I think we need up front if we're to get the best of Robbie.

I want to see Alan Lee given at least one full 90 minute run out alongside Robbie.

At this stage I'd even settle with a 45 minute run out.

Honestly don't think Lee will get that though.

[NeilMcD]

Keane nearly did it again with the creeping up behind the keeper. Playing well again.

[Razors left peg]

Robbie Keane is a super player, shows it week in week out in the Premiership.The stick he gets from Irish fans goes over the top too often. I honestly believe his biggest problem when playing for us is that he tries too hard. In the last few years I dont think we have had a strong enough manager tell Robbie to concentrate on the last third of the pitch and not to be back in his own half looking for the ball.Im very excited at the prospect of Robbie working with Trapattoni and hopefully seeing his premiership form transfered to international football.

[shakermaker1982]

I'm no fan of Spurs but I could watch Keane and Berbatov every day of the week. Best partnership in the PL IMO. If Spurs get a new GK, a world class CB to play alongside Woodgate and a new MF then they might be going places!!!

[back of the net]

this story seems to be gathering momentum - RUMOURS has it Benitez is very eager to land Robbie keane

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2008/jun/30/premierleague.liverpool

If this move were to happen - what would ye make of it?
Good for the republic of ireland? good for keane and his development?

or

should he stay at spurs where he seems settled and adored by the spurs faithful?

In terms of the irish team and the affect his Proposed move could have on the ireland captain - what do ye think?

[Wolfie]

"........now hopes similar tactics will lure the 27-year-old Keane to Liverpool, the club he supported as a boy and who can offer Champions League footbal"

What's quoted above could be significant and be enough to interest Keane.

He's well settled in London though and Arsenal are rumoured to be interested also.............................

[Morbo]

Not sure if it would be good for Ireland or not, he would get some CL football which is a plus but would he be a starter or just be a rotation player? Also Liverpool have a reputation for having a ****ty attitude towards internationals and you could see Keane pulling out of more games or even retiring from international prematurely like Finnan

[cavan_fan]

I read off the paper Liverpool were looking to offer Tottenham 25m and Peter Crouch for him. I reckon they'd something that big to land him, Spurs will not want to lose Keane at any cost.

He'd be a first start no doubt for Liverpool, he'd fit in quite well behind Torres. If anything he'd have it easier at Liverpool. Bent is a more capable striker than the current crop of crap that is Liverpool Strikers bar Torres (Kuyt, Voronin, Crouch)

Really. Bent is better than Kuyt? I know they are not exactly comparable but Kuyt is a strong part of a good Dutch team, Bent cannot get close to an English team light on strikers. Ironically Crouch is one of the people keeping him out. And finally, Voronin has not set the world alight at Liverpool (mostly not enough starts) but he has in the past shown himself to be a strong striker. I think I'd have all 3 ahead of Bent who is the latest in a long line of one season wonders in England (Beattie, Andy Johnson and sadly Kevin Doyle included).

By the way the more realistic story is £20m including Crouch, I guess that Crouch plus 10 million-ish and this seems expensive to me. If I took my Ireland hat off I wonder if Keane is just another 7 out of ten player for Liverpool?

[geysir]

By those figures, Liverpool could trade in Crouch, Kuyt and Voronin to Spurs and still have to fork out cash to sign Robbie to a contract.
It's nice that our main striker is so appreciated :)

Sounds about the exact perfect time for Robbie to go about the challenge of becoming a top ranked striker in Europe and Liverpool looks a good place to do it.
He won´t have that opportunity with Spurs in his football lifetime.

[beepbeep]

25 mill plus Crouch???? is someone having a laugh. no way he is worth that.

[drummerboy]

Grossly over exagerated figure. Can't see Robbie leaving Spurs any time soon unless Ramos doesn't fancy him.

[SunderlandBohs]

"........now hopes similar tactics will lure the 27-year-old Keane to Liverpool, the club he supported as a boy and who can offer Champions League footbal"

What's quoted above could be significant and be enough to interest Keane.

He's well settled in London though and Arsenal are rumoured to be interested also.............................
I thought he was a Leeds fan?! He should stay put. If he goes, he'll get the odd game. Just look at Torres at the start of last season! I hope he says put. He's to good to be played in a squad rotation system. I would argue, on his day, he'd be one of the top 5 centre-forwards in the the prem playing for the home nations.

[Morbo]

25 mill plus Crouch???? is someone having a laugh. no way he is worth that.
Yeah thats insane, Portsmouth had a 9mill bid turned down for Crouch so that makes Keane worth at leath 34mill? yeah right, I'd say he is worth about 10, 15 tops

[geysir]

Yez should read the transfer rumour report.
The Guardian report says Crouch is valued between £10m and £12m and that Liverpool are prepared to make a first offer of £20m for Robbie.
Crouch plus cash.

[elroy]

I would argue, on his day, he'd be one of the top 5 centre-forwards in the the prem playing for the home nations.

i would argue only Rooney and Owen are ahead of him if we're talking about 'home' nation strikers. In fairness to him, whatever team he has played with (ignoring Inter) he has scored goals, he has been quite consistent for spurs despite the fact that the hasnt had the best service there in the world. He has a tendency to miss one or two chances that he should put away. But without doubt hes our best striker (and probably best ever). Despite what some here might think has a great attitude to the game as well imo.

Would pool be a good move for him, im not sure, although the more Irish players playing for the top four the better. I just dont trust Benitez, although Torres would be the only real competition for him so chances are he'd play most games. Needs a Quinn/Berbatov like player alongside him and Im not certain Torres is that???

[Jayk69]

Im going to annoy a few people but i think that keane is without a doubt one of the most overrated strikers in the prem. It crates on my nut when everyone goes around thinkin that the sun shines out of his hole!!! I will admit that he can finish his dinner, but only on a good day. I dont like the way he plays his ball and he gets by on his quick feet. I dont like him as you can gather and he defo wont fit in at liverpool and he'll be shown up as a player and left on the sidelines.

[Dr. Ogba]

Im going to annoy a few people but i think that keane is without a doubt one of the most overrated strikers in the prem. It crates on my nut when everyone goes around thinkin that the sun shines out of his hole!!! I will admit that he can finish his dinner, but only on a good day. I dont like the way he plays his ball and he gets by on his quick feet. I dont like him as you can gather and he defo wont fit in at liverpool and he'll be shown up as a player and left on the sidelines.

I don't think he's the best finisher in the world but as an all-round forward player I don't think you can argue with his record over the past few years in what has been an average spurs team.

And the above bit in bold made me chuckle, partly because I have no idea what it means!

[dr_peepee]

If there's any truth in this Keane won't turn it down. You don't turn down Liverpool to stay at Spurs. It's simple as that...

It's a strange rumour? First instinct is that if Liverpool want to catch United & Chelsea they would want to sign a better striker than Robbie Keane. But who's better, and a viable option to sign for Liverpool at this point?? And does it signal an intent to Rafa to shift focus to the premiership by signing a proven 20 goal (in all comps) striker....

I hope it is true. I think he's found his level at Spurs but I also think he would be mad to turn it down if it is true...