QuoteAnything but that **** Henry standing still thinking he is God will do me.Originally Posted by ken foree
it's not a HUGE deal but i generally agree, it's almost as if these modern celebrations have TM next to them ('robbie's cartwheel is brought to you by cirque du soleil..') - guess i like seeing more.. raw emotion from players when they score
Anything but that **** Henry standing still thinking he is God will do me.
yeah, its like a total anti climax. Some arsenal fella who scores and does the freaky stare...I guess its whatever your into Henry !
Raúl does the "kiss my families ring" job then runs around then kisses the crest on the jersey. Another Mé feiner and the rest of the team cant really join in and celebrate till he has finished.
Anything but that **** Henry standing still thinking he is God will do me.
great player but seems arrogance personified (guess that's endearing if your an arsenal follower!)
Too true Duff would be entitled to do a quadrouple somersault with five
twists in comparison.
Robbie could learn a lesson from Duff in how to go round the keeper
if he watchs the first minute of the Chelsea game!!
In a similar position I bet Robbie would have shot or tried to lob
the keeper.
Never a truer word(s) written from todays Independent...
Scorning game's simplicity
Sunday November 21st 2004
THEY chanted Robbie Keane's name at Lansdowne Road on Tuesday. The striker had scored the only goal in the victory against Croatia to ensure that Ireland's year ended with another victory. One defeat in 2004 for Brian Kerr's side and that was on a summer's Saturday afternoon in London when most people, including the Irish team, had better things to be doing.
One more goal for Robbie Keane in a year when he became Ireland's greatest goalscorer, but it was also a year when his talent hardened, when it became clear that this may be as good as it gets for Robbie Keane. And a lot of the time, that isn't very good at all.
For every Paris, there are several Basles (two, at least, literally). For every Amsterdam, there are too many stepovers, a reluctance - once understandable in a player so young and so talented - to do the simple thing. On Wednesday, Keane was given a new opportunity but he responded in the same old way. Kerr told him forget about forming a partnership, use your talents however you see fit and those around you will endeavour to please you.
This may be as good as it gets for Robbie Keane. And a lot of the time, that isn't very good at all
Damien Duff did exactly that for the goal, moments after Keane had shown, as he did against the Faroe Islands last month, a startling inability to finish in a one-on-one situation. There was a time when Keane and Duff's friendship seemed to disappear when they walked onto the field for Ireland. Keane was young and in demand. Duff was young and uncertain. While Duff worked hard and grew frustrated as his talents didn't immediately take hold, Keane showed no inclination to allow anybody else to play with his ball.
Today, Keane needs Damien Duff. The Chelsea winger's moments of brilliance illuminate the international game with a regularity Keane cannot match. Duff's talent allows Keane easy finishes like Tuesday night's. Keane can do easy and he has the talent to do difficult, what he appears to have trouble comprehending is the straightforward.
There are many who have played with Robbie Keane - Tony Cascarino being the most vocal - who believe Keane is incredibly difficult to form a striking partnership with. On Tuesday night the formation Kerr adopted seemed to be, in part, ideally suited to working around this problem. Would Ireland discover that Keane had been tortured for all these years by trying, some of the time anyway, to form an understanding with another man?
Instead there was further frustration. Croatia were talked up beforehand and it was in everyone's best interests to place them among the top teams in Europe once victory had been secured, but even at their strongest, these days they are an ordinary, brutish team. That Ireland were able to experiment with a formation which seemed to baffle the players for much of the first half and still come away with a victory, albeit in a friendly, tells you much about the opponents.
Kerr's experiment was done with future games in mind. In underage tournaments, Kerr often changed his side's shape depending on opponents. He may do the same if Ireland make it to Germany. Keane, the Ireland manager believes, benefits from a strong, physical partner - even if, as was the case with Cascarino, the feeling isn't always mutual.
"I think Robbie likes a biggish partner who takes the pressure off him," Kerr claimed late on Tuesday night. "But games are different and you look to break teams down in different ways. Tonight, he was central, alone but making good runs because the other two (Duff and Stephen Eliott) had their back four stretched and were creating space for Robbie to run into."
One of Kerr's hopes for the New Year when he could achieve World Cup qualification will be to encourage Keane to play more often as he did in Paris. That night his great technical ability was focused on doing the simple things well. He was elusive and committed and world-class.
"Robbie's learning all the time," Kerr insists. "His work-rate has improved and increased dramatically. In France and Holland, we asked him to play off a little bit. Not always to be up on top of the last man because we might need him in midfield. He handled that well and worked hard at it. He's a young player with a lot of expectations. And he has his own ideas about how to play a position as well."
Keane's self-belief has allowed him to become the player he is, for good and for bad. His swagger has not diminished. In fact, on the bad days, it can appear to be all he's got - a nonchalant flick to nobody or a stepover that allows the defender to take the ball, are less than he should deliver with his talents.
On the good days, they all come off. Keane can pass the ball well and his finishing used to be extraordinary. Now, perhaps through a lack of confidence to which he would never admit, he seems to be unable to beat a 'keeper in a battle of wills.
A man who had managed Keane once confided in the predicament he felt when the decision came to select the team. Occasionally he would toy with leaving the player out. Occasionally he would drop him, but the image of Keane at his best kept nagging him. His capabilities were too tantalising and the vacant space he stared into if Keane wasn't on the pitch was too huge. So Keane played and the frustrations grew.
For the player, these limitations on a talent that announced itself so magnificently at the age of 17 must be frustrating. Keane approaches Christmas, as he has approached so many in the past, uncertain in his club position, wondering where he will next wander as he tries to fit into a pattern, to find a place in the middle ranking clubs of England.
At Tottenham Hotspur, it would appear that only failure can keep Robbie Keane in the first 11. Last weekend, before he travelled to Dublin, Keane was on the pitch as nine goals were scored at White Hart Lane.
He had endured a numbing time while Jacques Santini was in charge. The former French manager was cautious and afraid. Spurs played some times with nine defensive players. Towards the end of Santini's "memorable" time, Keane was playing in midfield.
Keane approaches Christmas, as he has approached so many in the past, uncertain in his club position
The new regime had promised to change all that. Keane started upfront alongside Jermain Defoe against Arsenal. Keane had little involvement with any of the goals and never came close to scoring. His partnership, such as it is, with Defoe looks unworkable. In a game dominated by defensive mistakes, Keane was startlingly quiet. His passing, as it is on the bad days, was always a foot or two misplaced.
Defoe, on the other hand, scored the best goal of the nine. He is Tottenham's main striker now and Martin Jol will have to keep him happy or watch him walk. Defoe may leave anyway if Spurs do not make Europe or some other unexpected progression.
The big clubs will look for him, the way they once considered Robbie Keane, and the Irishman may stay a little longer in the one place but only if his club becomes too mediocre to hold onto Defoe.
It is not where Keane expected to be. He is Ireland's record goalscorer, a remarkable achievement at the age of 24. The majority of his goals may have come against the weaker teams in world football, but he has still scored enough against the world's best to demand to be feared. As he reaches his peak, it remains to be seen if Robbie Keane can continue to strike fear based on more than just reputation.
Dion Fanning
That this may be as good as it gets for someone the same age as Richie Partridge?
What has Richie Partridge got to do with whats been written or said ?
His performances of late for both Spurs & Ireland have been poor,
but hes the best we've got at the minute.
Keanes goals to games ratio for Ireland since Kerr took over is higher than its ever been.
I can't understand why Irish writers have to follow the british approach of criticising our best players. Dion Fanning's weekly pops at Robbie Keane are getting tiresome at this stage.
The guy is in the Roy Curtis/Cathal Dervan/Paul Hyland land of sh!t journalism
Keane O'Shea Given Best Smallbone
well said Eirambler.
Robbie is one of our best players like it or not. He obviously needs to work on certain parts of his game but no player is perfect.
You said there has never been truer words spoken so you are saying that this may be as good as it gets for Keane. How can you say that about a 24 year old?
All right then, Robbie Keane is playing great at the moment!!!
I think most of what Fanning says is spot on. He is actually a fairly decent writer, knows what he's talking about.
I think the Irish media have been very reluctant to criticise anything thats been happening on the field since Brian Kerr took over namely the performances against Faroes and Cyprus.
On the point of our media gravitating towards the English mindset of "building them up to knock 'em down",I dont see this at all. Fanning is just expressing an opinion on something that is blindingly obvious. Its nothing personal against Robbie Keane, he is underperforming and deserves criticism.
Criticism in the right context can actually be constructive.
It seems to be the thing to do now to slag off our talented players. To say he's been poor for Ireland this year is bullsh*t. 4 qualifyers and one friendly, four goals. He misses chances, but his ability is in getting the chances. If you slagged off strikers for missing chances Henry would be a running joke, he's an average at best finisher but a world class player. Keane is a good player no matter how many chances he misses, he'll always score goals.
I'd (almost) agree with you if it was just a one off piece in today's paper. But its not. Its the latest in a series of articles Dion Fanning has written criticising Keane, stretching back for years.
It might just be that, like all of us, he wants Keane to be as good a player as he can be, but sometimes it seems as though he has a personal vendetta against the bloke.
Keane O'Shea Given Best Smallbone
Fanning is completely over the top but as a hack he has to churn out this drivel, Keane is still only 24 - the problem is in many ways he became a star at 17 and has had 5 clubs in a very short time, different coaches, different philosophies, huge expectations and no continuity. He probably just needs some extra coaching, I think when people see natural talent they just let it alone and don't fix the problems - now is the time to do that. He has up to 10 more years in top flight football if his club want to get value for money it would be in their best interest to fix the problems now, or will Spurs take the easy way out and just buy another striker? Keane can improve but he needs help.
Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
Nationalism is an infantile disease, the measles of mankind
On the bench tonight against Villa.
Lads, most of ye are missing the point. This is not a competition on who likes\dislikes Robbie Keane. I'm a massive Keane fan, but my patience is wearing thin. It is simply a case of constructive criticism. Credit where credit is due, and Robbie has gotton plenty of it in the past. But the simple fact is that he is playing badly at the moment. He is playing really poorly, and as he is our main striker, it is worrying.
Anyone has the right to criticise, as long as it is constructive, and nobody here can tell me that Robbie Keane played well on Tuesday night. He was rubbish, and apart from Paris, he has been quite poor for us for a long time now. I have no problem in saying this, as i'm not in love with Robbie Keane, nor do I think his $hit is ice-cream. I prefer to judge players performances objectively, rather than fanatically, which is how a lot of fans view players. Goals against third world nations don't paper over the cracks for me, nor does this Irish goals record. Great achievement, only 24, blah, blah, blah.......what about the ridiculously easy chances he keeps missing? What about his poor general play\link play? As someone mentioned earlier, I had no confidence in him scoring that 1-on-1 on Tues night, and that was the case for most people. Doesn't say much, does it?
IMO, Fanning was spot on in his article, like he is in the majority of his articles. Some fans just don't like to hear or read that kind of stuff, but they'll be the same fans who, should we fail to qualify, won't understand why we didn't qualify.
4tothefloor - constructive critisism is OK but its saying things like "The majority of his goals may have come against the weaker teams in world football" is silly. Why did he have to say that. Keane has scored 11 of his goals against top 15 teams [Yugoslavia, Turkey, Czech Republic (2), Holland (2), Russia, Denmark, Germany, Spain, Croatia]. Teams that weren't the worst that he scored against would be Iran, Albania (beat Greece recently) and Finland (doing well in the "group of death"). Plus, a goal in the world cup is never bad. Its not as if we play the stronger nations so much more than the weaker ones. If anything Robbie wasn't scoring enough against the weak nations before this campaign. The reason Fanning put that line in there is because he is biased (I'm not making that statement based on this article alone BTW).
If he was 28 or 29 the rest of the article would probably be true but you cannot say things like "As he reaches his peak, it remains to be seen if Robbie Keane can continue to strike fear based on more than just reputation" or "This may be as good as it gets for Robbie Keane" about a 24 year old.
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