Robbie Keane

[Hibs4Ever]

'I decided not to select him, that was all. He is not injured, but Ngog scored two goals for the reserves the other day, so he was a good option.’

But yet when Robbie scores 2 goals in a league game against Stoke he got dropped for the next game

[elroy]

Totally agree that Benitez is a useless man manager - anyone remember when he took off Gerrard against Everton (whatever your feelings on Gerrard, you don't take off your captain, best player at the time and local legend in a derby). Keane has also been treated like sh!t.

'I decided not to select him, that was all. He is not injured, but Ngog scored two goals for the reserves the other day, so he was a good option.’

- If this is all it takes to get above Robbie Keane in the pecking order, then Rafa is showing (again) that he knows nothing about strikers. A blind man could see Torres was a bitching player, but he has no other successes in this area.

Keano - get the fudge out.

In fairness to Torres I think he wants Keane as a strike partner, he came out a week or so ago and more or less said that. Keane has not been given a chance to establish a worthwhile partnership at united, yes he's missed a few chances and hasnt set the world alight but every striker needs time to settle in at a new club and Benitez hasnt given him a chance. Look at Berbatov, he had a very mediocre first half of the season but Ferguson persisted with him and is slowly starting to get rewards.

Judging by the treatment he has got from RB, it looks to me that Keane wasnt Benitez's choice. Delighted to see the pool make a mess of things with Keane not in the team. Think there is a good chance Rafa wont be at anfield by the start of next season.

At least Robbie will be over as fresh as daisy for the Georgia game, hopefully will bang in a few goals.

[dr_peepee]

He really needs the international break right now.. Also the sooner the better the Window closes too. Put to bed any questions about leaving in the imediate future. There's still alot of games to be played and say what you will Liverpool are hardly top heavy with fowards so he'll get his chance again.

In Keanes defense, he's not being utilised in a way that suits him. In Rafa's defense, for 20m you should be getting a more versatile player, plus you can't argue with some of his performances thus far either... Rafa's man managment leaves alot to be desired. However Keane is not the first player to be treated like this by a manager, and it will be a measure of the player and the man, how he deals with this.

Crouch and arguably even Alonso And Gerard have been shabbily treated by Benitez in the past. It's how you respond. Imagine how Tevez (at the start) and Mascherano felt under Curbishly at West Ham given their profiles.

As a captain of his country he should to get through this with some dignity, even if he ends up Leaving Anfeild later on (though not this Window). The ball's firmly in his court in how he deals with this. Assuming the "storm out" is true that is...

[Dr. Ogba]

He really needs the international break right now..

exactly, would love to see him bang in a few against Georgia and really stick it to Benitez

[elroy]

Crouch and arguably even Alonso And Gerard have been shabbily treated by Benitez in the past. It's how you respond.

Very true re Alonso at least, imo Keane is a better all round striker than Crouch. Alonso was very close to the exit door last season and funny how he arguably is liverpool's most influential player this year after Gerrard.

[HammerNThongs]

exactly, would love to see him bang in a few against Georgia and really stick it to Benitez

I would just be happy to see him bang in a few goals against Georgia. He needs a really good performance for himself as well I think. Either a good all round performance or a couple of high quality goals.

[DeLorean]

He really needs the international break right now..

It's not actually an international break though. Our match with Georgia is thrown on the Wednesday with no break in Premier Lge matches. Expect injuries.

On the Keane situation....Benitez wanted 18m for Garreth Barry in the summer and the board wouldn't give it to him saying that they would give him €20m for Keane. In a sense this makes it the boards signing and I wonder is Rafa just trying to stick it to them now. I do honestly believe he is that thick minded and the only surprsing thing for me is that Alonso is playing week-in week-out, seeing as he tried to shaft him in the summer.

[shakermaker1982]

I can see him rotting away in the scouse reserves just as we approach three critical qualifiers. Rust never sleeps. I just hope another PL team comes in for him, whether Liverpool can recoup a good portion of the 20 million fee is another matter.

[back of the net]

He really needs the international break right now.. Also the sooner the better the Window closes too. Put to bed any questions about leaving in the imediate future. There's still alot of games to be played and say what you will Liverpool are hardly top heavy with fowards so he'll get his chance again.

In Keanes defense, he's not being utilised in a way that suits him. In Rafa's defense, for 20m you should be getting a more versatile player, plus you can't argue with some of his performances thus far either... Rafa's man managment leaves alot to be desired. However Keane is not the first player to be treated like this by a manager, and it will be a measure of the player and the man, how he deals with this.

Crouch and arguably even Alonso And Gerard have been shabbily treated by Benitez in the past. It's how you respond. Imagine how Tevez (at the start) and Mascherano felt under Curbishly at West Ham given their profiles.

As a captain of his country he should to get through this with some dignity, even if he ends up Leaving Anfeild later on (though not this Window). The ball's firmly in his court in how he deals with this. Assuming the "storm out" is true that is...

good thought out post Dr.

[Wolfie]

At least Robbie will be over as fresh as daisy for the Georgia game, hopefully will bang in a few goals.

We could possibly reap some benefit alright, if Keane keeps the chin up - a determined Keane with a point to prove is not a bad scenario for us.

[seanfhear]

If Liverpool are relying on Kyut and the very often injured Torres then they sure better hope that nothing happens to Gerard. Torres is a great player but he is so often injured or recovering from injuries that I would be really worried if my team was relying on him. Kyut has a great attitude and a good team player but he will just never get enough goals.
If I was the chairman that gave Benitez the money to buy Keane then I would expect him to get more out of the player.
I still believe that Benitez is more suited to a medium/big club but just does not have that xtra factor needed to manage a great club like Liverpool. If Benitez does move on in the summer it will be interesting to see if the Barcelona's or Real Madrids think that he can handle clubs in their league.

[DeLorean]

All in all Rafa has done a rubbish job at Liverpool I think. The miracle Champions Lge win in his first season has covered up an enormous amount of frustration inflicted on Liverpool supporters in the majority of his time there. If Stevie G's late winner against Olympiakos hit the post or went narrowly wide that night at Anfield there's no way Benitez would have the backing of the local Liverpool support which he seems to have. He's an utter hypocrite as well talking about Everton's spoiling tactics when Liverpool themselves have been a very negative side since Houlier arrived and continued to be under Rafa.

[mjpcc]

We could possibly reap some benefit alright, if Keane keeps the chin up - a determined Keane with a point to prove is not a bad scenario for us.

Totally agree with you Wolfie.

Robbie has shown throughout his career that he is no quitter. He has been through tought times with Spurs and Leeds and was always prepared to tought it out and prove himself.

He will be reved up for the game against Georgia - and I believe if he leaves Liverpool now it will not be his choice. If he stays at Liverpool and is given a chance he will eventually establish himself. If he goes elsewhere then hopefully it is to a club with a manager who appreciates him.

[dr_peepee]

It's not actually an international break though. Our match with Georgia is thrown on the Wednesday with no break in Premier Lge matches. Expect injuries.

I didn't mean a break in the strictest sense. I meant some time in an environment were he's comfortable and valued more. Recharge the oul confidense. I firmly believe international football should provide an outlet for players seperate to that from Club football. It's something I feel Steven Ireland will rue in the long term.... Not being cheezy but at this point in time Robbie Keane needs a roar of support from 60 odd thousand paddies on Feb 11th........ (as well as a kick in the arse from a valued confidant for being such a li'l b1tch if the report of him storming out of Anfield is true.)

If Liverpool are relying on Kyut and the very often injured Torres then they sure better hope that nothing happens to Gerard.

Ironically, I believe that only in the absence of Gerard will Liverpool see the best of Robbie Keane. Not saying it's a seamless exchange of personnel by any stretch. Gerard is due an oul' hammer strain soon. I think Keane will come in to his own a bit then.

[DeLorean]

Ironically, I believe that only in the absence of Gerard will Liverpool see the best of Robbie Keane. Not saying it's a seamless exchange of personnel by any stretch. Gerard is due an oul' hammer strain soon. I think Keane will come in to his own a bit then.

There's no guarantees that even in Gerrards absence Keane would get a game. He was left out of plenty matches when Torres was injured when it seemed almost impossible to leave him out.

[jbyrne]

rednapp interested in robbie...

http://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2009/...anerobbie.html

[irishfan86]

rednapp interested in robbie...

http://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2009/...anerobbie.html

Wouldn't that just make Jermain Defoe's day?

Keane would be going from one rotation system to another by moving to Tottenham in my view, unless Redknapp would be willing to do the unthinkable- a Keane/Defoe combination.

If that's going to be the case, rotating at a team that can compete for trophies is probably the better option.

[Maroon 7]

If Liverpool are relying on Kyut and the very often injured Torres then they sure better hope that nothing happens to Gerard. Torres is a great player but he is so often injured or recovering from injuries that I would be really worried if my team was relying on him. Kyut has a great attitude and a good team player but he will just never get enough goals.
If I was the chairman that gave Benitez the money to buy Keane then I would expect him to get more out of the player.
I still believe that Benitez is more suited to a medium/big club but just does not have that xtra factor needed to manage a great club like Liverpool. If Benitez does move on in the summer it will be interesting to see if the Barcelona's or Real Madrids think that he can handle clubs in their league.

Benitez would have no problem getting a big job after Liverpool. He'll almost certainly get the Real Madrid job sooner or later. In his defence he has won plenty in his career. 1 Champions League, 1 UEFA Cup, 2 Spanish league titles, 1 FA Cup. He's undoubtably stubborn in his methods but it's hard to argue that he doesn't know what he's doing. The whole Keane situation is odd though. It almost looks like he wasn't a Benitez signing at all. Granted Robbie hasn't helped his own cause at times with some poor displays/bad misses but you have to feel sorry for him. Berbatov has hardly been pulling up trees at United either but Ferguson kept playing him for 90 minutes every game and he's started scoring a few vital goals for them lately.

[irishfan86]

I think Benitez is good at organizing defences, and seems to make teams fairly solid; however, I think he's totally inept when it comes to getting the best out of offensive players.

Okay, any idiot can have Gerrard and Torres bang them in for you, but a lot of offensive players have failed to impress at Liverpool under Benitez over the past few years.

[seanfhear]

Benitez would have no problem getting a big job after Liverpool. He'll almost certainly get the Real Madrid job sooner or later. In his defence he has won plenty in his career. 1 Champions League, 1 UEFA Cup, 2 Spanish league titles, 1 FA Cup. He's undoubtably stubborn in his methods but it's hard to argue that he doesn't know what he's doing. The whole Keane situation is odd though. It almost looks like he wasn't a Benitez signing at all. Granted Robbie hasn't helped his own cause at times with some poor displays/bad misses but you have to feel sorry for him. Berbatov has hardly been pulling up trees at United either but Ferguson kept playing him for 90 minutes every game and he's started scoring a few vital goals for them lately.

Can't argue with pretty much all of that but it still has to be said that he has not been sucessful or even nearly successful with Liverpool in the league.Maybe that will change this year, time will tell.
Its hard to believe that Liverpool would sign a player for what they payed for Robbie without Benitez giving his blessing.
Benitez still has to prove that he can win the league in England which is no easy task considering the financial strength of both Man utd and Chelsea(remains to be seen if this is going to continue. Has Abramovitch got bored and fed up paying for his plaything)