Robbie Keane

[noby]

'Non-existent in the first half' might be a bit harsh on him, but he was a lot more involved in the second half. He seemed to enjoy the novelty of playing a full 90 minutes, and towards the end most of the play was going through him. A goal would have been a nice way to cap it off, but besides that it's the brightest I've seen him in a while.

[irishfan86]

I think he does himself no favours with his gesticulating though, even when it's largely justified.

Yeah, that one time they zoomed in on him was like a comedy skit...I couldn't believe he was actually doing it.

All it takes is one hand up and a word at the ref, no need to act like a kid pretending to be an airplane at the playground. :confused:

[Dr. Ogba]

Yeah, that one time they zoomed in on him was like a comedy skit...I couldn't believe he was actually doing it.

All it takes is one hand up and a word at the ref, no need to act like a kid pretending to be an airplane at the playground. :confused:

wonder how his teammates react to that constant whinging? have played with a few lads like that before and, if anything, it makes me want to pass to them even less! saying that, its much easier to be petty about these sort of things when playing for a Sunday league pub team :o

[paul_oshea]

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/liverpool/article5315820.ece

its not there but i read in the paper version a piece with the title "keane edge" and it was about how outstanding he had played last night.

[ken foree]

'Non-existent in the first half' might be a bit harsh on him, but he was a lot more involved in the second half. He seemed to enjoy the novelty of playing a full 90 minutes, and towards the end most of the play was going through him.

interestiing. he looks a very fit player and has been for some time. i'm sure many of us know what it's like playing against a forward who never stops moving, during the last 15 minutes of a game it's brutal. he could be an edge in that regard for liverpool.

[Stuttgart88]

yeah, I've always felt that playing him for only 60 minutes was counter-productive. He'd almost be more useful being brought on for the last 30 than starting the first 60.

[OwlsFan]

He's optimistic about his future at Liverpool:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/l/liverpool/7774721.stm

[1676]

He's optimistic about his future at Liverpool:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/l/liverpool/7774721.stm

don't think he will be around next year unless his form improves dramatically.
benitez won't sell in jan. either..unless he has a sneaky deal lined up for a c/forward eligible for europe...
on the flip side liverpool are desperate to land the league,above all other trophies so you would never know.
keane has now had six clubs? in his career.
remember something that he said last year that he felt at home at spurs and for the first time he felt settled and happy in his club football.his huge drop in form could be down to his new surrounding's.he was top scorer at spurs for the previous season's,if i am not mistaken....has always performed for ireland...but other then his spurs career,can any one really say he was consistent after he left wolves??
coventry???
inter milan???
leeds???
and now liverpool.

[1676]

It took him 2 years to settle in spurs too, I wouldn't worry about him at Liverpool.

not quite right ciaran.left out that he was top scorer for 4 seasons there.
anyway,liverpool unlike spurs,can ill afford to have such a long "settling "in period for any player..the expectation is way higher at liverpool then spurs.and i don't mean that in any disrespectful way to spurs supporters.
always a joy to watch playing football are spurs and i'm delighted that 'arry is getting the results there...

[superfrank]

but other then his spurs career,can any one really say he was consistent after he left wolves??
coventry???
inter milan???
leeds???
and now liverpool.
So you mean to say Inter bought him from Coventry because he was incosistent???

Also, he wasn't given much of a chance at all at Inter.

[1676]

So you mean to say Inter bought him from Coventry because he was incosistent???

Also, he wasn't given much of a chance at all at Inter.

how could he be consistent at coventry,considering the length of time he was there? i think inter bought him on his inter national performances.
the reason he was not given a chance at inter was plain and simple...change of manager.
was trappatoni in charge of inter at the time????
don't get me wrong frank..if you see my next post you will see i admire keane..himself and berbatov ahd arguably the best partnership in the premier...but just think he needs more time to settle then liverpool can afford to give.
that's all

[Drumcondra 69er]

how could he be consistent at coventry,considering the length of time he was there? i think inter bought him on his inter national performances.
the reason he was not given a chance at inter was plain and simple...change of manager.
was trappatoni in charge of inter at the time????
don't get me wrong frank..if you see my next post you will see i admire keane..himself and berbatov ahd arguably the best partnership in the premier...but just think he needs more time to settle then liverpool can afford to give.
that's all

Tardelli was the manager who sold him to Leeds not Trap. He settled in at Leeds staright away as well and was very consistent initially, it was a shame he was cup tied for their CL that season due to a sub appearance for Inter in the prelim round, he could have added something. Finished up with 9 goals from 14 starts and 6 sub games. In his second season he was in and out of the team as O'Leary was trying to perm two from himself, Smith and Viduka and then Fowler and he didn't get enough gametime to build on a very promising partnership with Viduka. He was excellent for Coventry as well.

He did well last night and was right to blast Babel for not playing that one two after Keane's lay off, very slefish from Babel to shoot from there. I think he'll come good, it's unfortunate Torres has been injured, I don't buy that they won't work together given time.

[1676]

Tardelli was the manager who sold him to Leeds not Trap. He settled in at Leeds staright away as well and was very consistent initially, it was a shame he was cup tied for their CL that season due to a sub appearance for Inter in the prelim round, he could have added something. Finished up with 9 goals from 14 starts and 6 sub games. In his second season he was in and out of the team as O'Leary was trying to perm two from himself, Smith and Viduka and then Fowler and he didn't get enough gametime to build on a very promising partnership with Viduka. He was excellent for Coventry as well.

He did well last night and was right to blast Babel for not playing that one two after Keane's lay off, very slefish from Babel to shoot from there. I think he'll come good, it's unfortunate Torres has been injured, I don't buy that they won't work together given time.

was trappatoni the man who signed him though???

[colster]

was trappatoni the man who signed him though???

No Lippi did.

[John83]

That's right. Trap's spell with Inter was in the late 80s.

[DotTV]

He was class for Wolves & Coventry. Good for Leeds, great for Spurs, great for Ireland and he'l do the biz with Liverpool too. he just needs a bit of time.Once he nicks a couple of goals they'll start flowing for him.
Link up play last night was exceptional.

[irishfan86]

I think some of the praise being lavished on Keane in this thread for the game last night is a bit over the top.

It was an average performance at best by his standards, with a few glimmers of what he's capable of.

The fact that you're all getting so excited about last night is indicative of how ineffective he's been all season.

[tetsujin1979]

Tardelli was the manager who sold him to Leeds not Trap.Tardelli was the manager at the time, but like most Italian clubs, the signing and selling of players was handled by another man completely. I remember Tardelli pointing that out a press conference when he was asked about selling Robbie to Leeds

[1676]

No Lippi did.

knew he was an italian with grey hair!!!:rolleyes::D

[tricky_colour]

For what it's worth he is Liverpool's the 5th highest player in the Actim index, ahead of Stephen Gerrard, who I don't think will be leaving the club either!!

http://www.premierleague.com/page/ActimIndex/0,,12306,00.html

[ken foree]

Tardelli was the manager at the time, but like most Italian clubs, the signing and selling of players was handled by another man completely. I remember Tardelli pointing that out a press conference when he was asked about selling Robbie to Leeds

i could be wrong but i seem to recall that robbie was massimo morratti's pet buy because he loves the premier league.

[tetsujin1979]

i could be wrong but i seem to recall that robbie was massimo morratti's pet buy because he loves the premier league.
Moratti treated Inter like his own personal fiefdom, and the players like his children. Kanu referred to him as his Italian father for years.

[Crosby87]

Ahh Keane denying he is leaving in the transfer window. The kiss of death. wonder where he lands.....

[Stuttgart88]

Yesterday's Sun ran the headline "Robbie Wants to Return".

I'm not sure the other members of Take That would be keen though.

[Colbert Report]

Liverpool are drawing 2-2 with Hull right now in the 83rd minute. Benitez subbed on both Al Zhar and Babel instead of Keane. One sub left. I doubt he gets on the pitch. Not looking good for Robbie.

[Colbert Report]

Lucas comes on for Mascherano. Liverpool desperate for a goal with four minutes to play and they leave Robbie on the bench.

[NeilMcD]

Not going to get on now, cause Lucas is on now. Benitez does make some baffling decisions sometimes but then again he has a Champions league medal and I don't

[elroy]

Delighted that they didnt get a winner. What Benitez was doing bringing on the likes of lucas ahead of keane. Benitez is really doing Keane no favours, i wouldve fancied him to score against Hull today, they are the kind of team that Keane plays well against.

If this treatment keeps up, could be bad news for us in the new year.

[tricky_colour]

Or is it?

Sunderland win 4:0 but Liverpool draw as Raffle leaves £20m on the bench.
But will that £20m be there after Xmas or will some scouse tea-leaf have swiped it?

[tricky_colour]

Sunderland win 4:0

[third policeman]

If Benitez is trying to destroy Robbie's confidence and morale he is doing a brilliant job. The third substitution was the final insult. Nobody other than Benitez in Anflield would have seriously entertained the belief that Lucas was going to help Liverpool get a winner. Playing one up front in these circumstances was "tactically inept" (No Neil Mc D, I am not going to apologise for what you regard as arrogance, but what every Liverpool fan regards as bloody obvious), but what makes it worse was that Kuyt was totally ineffective and unable to stay on his feet. If Keane has started and played that badly he would have been off before the hour. Benitez is going to lose Loverpool the title because of his stubborn inflexibility and his apparent unwillingness to consistently select his best technical players and show confidence in them.

[tricky_colour]

Andy Reid scored got a high rating.
None of the other Irish there started.

[NeilMcD]

If Benitez is trying to destroy Robbie's confidence and morale he is doing a brilliant job. The third substitution was the final insult. Nobody other than Benitez in Anflield would have seriously entertained the belief that Lucas was going to help Liverpool get a winner. Playing one up front in these circumstances was "tactically inept" (No Neil Mc D, I am not going to apologise for what you regard as arrogance, but what every Liverpool fan regards as bloody obvious), but what makes it worse was that Kuyt was totally ineffective and unable to stay on his feet. If Keane has started and played that badly he would have been off before the hour. Benitez is going to lose Loverpool the title because of his stubborn inflexibility and his apparent unwillingness to consistently select his best technical players and show confidence in them.

If you know more about football than Benitez why are you posting on an internet forum for free and he is picking up a nice wage packet. I find his decisions baffling but I would not dare suggest he is wrong or that I know more about football than him

[osarusan]

If you know more about football than Benitez why are you posting on an internet forum for free and he is picking up a nice wage packet. I find his decisions baffling but I would not dare suggest he is wrong or that I know more about football than him

But by that rationale, you would never be able to criticize any professional in sport.

Benitez may know a lot about football, and may be succesful at what he does, but that doesn't mean he can't make mistakes.

[third policeman]

If you know more about football than Benitez why are you posting on an internet forum for free and he is picking up a nice wage packet. I find his decisions baffling but I would not dare suggest he is wrong or that I know more about football than him


It's objective facts (ie results) not my opinion that determine whether Benitez's tactics are right or wrong in given games. And the facts say that he has failed to get results (and therefore deploy appropriate tactics) against Stoke, West Ham, Fulham and Hull. In all of these games he has failed to make use of his obviously better players to beat technically inferior teams. I dont need "to know more about football than Benitez" to make this observation.

[brianw82]

The only reason these results are not piling pressure on Benitez right now is because everyone else is doing their best to screw up too. Watch Man U power through in the 2nd half of the season, where they play the stronger teams at home and the weaker ones away.
Benitez does not seem to count on anything going wrong. He picks a team with Dirk Kuyt as single striker, banks on not conceding and thinks 'we'll win 1-0'. How often does that happen? No team with Dirk Kuyt as main striker is going to win the league, it's a simple fact. If he was any other striker he'd be subbed, but coz he's Benitez's favourite, he's always left on.

[NeilMcD]

It's objective facts (ie results) not my opinion that determine whether Benitez's tactics are right or wrong in given games. And the facts say that he has failed to get results (and therefore deploy appropriate tactics) against Stoke, West Ham, Fulham and Hull. In all of these games he has failed to make use of his obviously better players to beat technically inferior teams. I dont need "to know more about football than Benitez" to make this observation.

If you wanna go on results surely a look at the table would tell you something also. Or is to be top of the table not good enough for your high standards.

[third policeman]

If you wanna go on results surely a look at the table would tell you something also. Or is to be top of the table not good enough for your high standards.

Both my comments about Benitez's tectical ineptitude (to which you objected) were made in reference to specific games that Liverpool failed to win. So to answer your question, those results and performances "weren't good enough," and as others (including Benitez amazingly) have commented Liverpool are highly unlikely to maintain their top of the league position unless they improve their current performance level. Like a lot of LFC fans I happen to think that dropping Kuyt and playing Keane and Babel more regularly is one obvious way in which Liverpool can improve. Keane and Babel are players capable of doing something extraordinary and exceptional. Between them they offer pace, guile, technique and vision, the qualities that can ultimately break down well organised but mediocre opposition.

[Maroon 7]

Keane and Babel are players capable of doing something extraordinary and exceptional. Between them they offer pace, guile, technique and vision, the qualities that can ultimately break down well organised but mediocre opposition.

As a Liverpool fan neither of them have offered much of the above this season. They have shown flashes of it but nothing consistant when they've had a chance. Keane seems to still paying the price for missing good chances earlier in the season. Babel often impresses when he comes on as a sub but then when he's given a chance to start a game he often plays like a drain.

Kuyt for all his limitations has actually given more but Benitez seems to have a blind spot regarding him in that if he's having a stinker (like yesterday) he never replaces him while Keane gets hauled off no matter how he's performing.

[third policeman]

As a Liverpool fan neither of them have offered much of the above this season. They have shown flashes of it but nothing consistant when they've had a chance. Keane seems to still paying the price for missing good chances earlier in the season. Babel often impresses when he comes on as a sub but then when he's given a chance to start a game he often plays like a drain.

Kuyt for all his limitations has actually given more but Benitez seems to have a blind spot regarding him in that if he's having a stinker (like yesterday) he never replaces him while Keane gets hauled off no matter how he's performing.

Take your point about Keane and Babel not showing consistent form, but i would argue that niether have been given a chance to play in their preferred position or in a system that is likely to get the best out of them.

Assuming that we had a fully fit squad I think that Gerrard, Keane and Babel are the perfect three to play behind Torres. I would even be inclined to play Robbie in the centre of that three and Gerrard and Babel either side, but it should be a fluid system utilising the pace, technical ability and vision of Liverpool's four best attacking players. Sorry if this is degenerating into an LFC thread, but if Liverpool cannot get the best out of Keane, then he is unlikely to perform well for Ireland if he is short of confidence and match fitness.

[tricky_colour]

Fact is Liverpool have had their best season for decades(?) with
Robbie. I normally look at 4th or 5th place in the table when looking for
Liverpool.

[passinginterest]

Kuyt for all his limitations has actually given more but Benitez seems to have a blind spot regarding him in that if he's having a stinker (like yesterday) he never replaces him while Keane gets hauled off no matter how he's performing.

Just had a look at the short highlights on MOTD2 and Kuyt had assists for both goals.

Benitez seems to have totally lost faith in Keane, it's a pity for the national team, but hopefully he'll get another chance soon and get on a bit of a scoring run. Isn't he traditionally much better in the second half of the season anyway?

[irishfan86]

Normally I'm very critical of Kuyt, but he's been one of Liverpool's best players this season.

He's consistently scoring or setting goals up every game, and the pressure is on with Torres out.

Keane has been given plenty of match time this season and hasn't finished some sitters.

I agree that he hasn't been utilized in a way that would get the best out of him, but at the end of the day your tactical instructions aren't to blame if you can't score a tap in.

[osarusan]

And the facts say that he has failed to get results (and therefore deploy appropriate tactics) against Stoke, West Ham, Fulham and Hull.

I can see some of the points you are trying to make in your posts, but I'd disagree with the above opinion - I don't think a failure to get a result means that inappropriate tactics were necessarily the reason for that failure.

[RivaldoBabb]

I have watched just about all Liverpools games this season and Keane has had plenty of chances to impress but has been awfull. Earlier in the season he was missing sitters but more worryingly when he has played of late he hasnt even had many chances, he seems nervous to make his usual runs and I believe the other Liverpool players have lost confidence in him, they seem to pass to other players when Robbie is in a better position.

Not looking good for him, sometimes its best to keep your dream of playing for your favourite club as a dream.

[OwlsFan]

I reckon he will go back to Spurs.

[shakermaker1982]

I reckon he will go back to Spurs.

Spurs can do a deal with Liverpool because they are still waiting on a huge lump sum payment. Spurs can just say to them that they can cancel that little arrangement (I've heard it's at least 10 million) and just have Robbie back. Liverpool as a result have only wasted 10 million.....Still a big loss but Benitez clearly doesn't rate him.

[Dodge]

So, getting back to a discussion we had earlier. Has Robbie Keane's move helped Ireland?

[Condex]

Keane is an overrated player who never produces in the big matches..

Hes worth at most 6/7m...

[ken foree]

i'd really like him to stick it out. benitez is playing the "if it isn't broken, don't fix it" card and is really benefitting from the other top clubs' inconsistency. i think chelsea will win it but getting o.t. here. if he does move i guess i'd rather see keane move to villa but only if doyle goes there too :D