He was late, but he was all geared up to diving to his right and the ball was spinning viciously
I thought Fabianski was poor initially but the angle from behind Robbie's back showed how good it was, knee over the ball, cutting across the ball to curve it away from the keeper. Quality strike because the odds were not in his favour. If I was to be picky I'd like him to have taken it with his left!
i remember him scoring a similar one for us before in Lansdowne where he hit it beautifully while on the run and the ball was still around knee-high....can't remember for the life of me who it was against though....Originally Posted by Stuttgart88
any help?
"Well I think they'll be a little disappointed with that" - Matt Holland on TV3 after 5-2 drubbing by Cyprus
Yugoslavia I believe.
In Trap we trust
Yeah. Mark Kennedys screamer followed. A great night.
I think I should the parachute, because I'm great.
In fact, I think I should get both parachutes, in case one doesn't work.
Against Israel?
No, that one was a chip.
Wasn't it Sweden at home in Stan's first game? Robbie running onto a Hart header from inside our own half - powerful volley, kept it down well.
As far as I recall, the Yugoslavia goal was a cross that Quinn flicked on from the near side and Robbie met it on the half volley from about 8 yards, in line with the back post.
Wasn't that liam millers goal
Bring back the plank
Don't think so. Miller's was a run and shot from over 20 yards.
Robbie's was a run onto a bouncing through ball that he volleyed from about 18 yards.
have a feeling it was the Yugoslavia goal alright given that I never saw the Israel or Sweden goals live (out of the country at the time)...think i'll consult youtube when I get home from work later!
"Well I think they'll be a little disappointed with that" - Matt Holland on TV3 after 5-2 drubbing by Cyprus
Robbie’s maturing into one of the best
By John Giles
Wednesday January 23 2008
IT was a heartening sight for all Spurs and Republic of Ireland fans to see the absolute delight displayed by Robbie Keane at the end of a big night at White Hart Lane.
This is what we all wanted for Robbie. Ignore all the criticism that he has shipped down through the years, however reasonable much of it was. We all want to see him do well and it is very satisfying to see where he is now in his life and his career. Better still, it looks like he might finally have found a manager who will give him the lead he needs to be the player we all want him to be.
Football is mostly about the here and now, and Spurs' demolition of Arsenal last night has at last given Keane the chance to stake a claim to a medal. It has taken him plenty of time to get to this point and many false starts but he's now at the perfect age to offer his best on a football pitch.
UPHEAVAL
He's had an extraordinary amount of upheaval but he's now reaching his prime and I suspect we have still to see the best of him.
I've always believed that the top professional footballers are not equipped to give their best until their late 20s. By then, they are physically mature enough to perform at a level of consistency that isn't always possible when they are young and fresh to the game.
At that age, mental strength has also evolved to the point where pressure can be turned into a positive. Keane now looks like he has the whole package and this is very good news indeed for fans of club and country.
It will be interesting to see how the new Irish manager deals with Keane and the issue of the captaincy. We all know that he was scoring for fun for Spurs at a time when he couldn't buy a goal for Ireland and there's little doubt that the pressure to perform for his country has been too much for him.
I'm not sure that the issue was the fact that he held the captaincy but I do know that the one thing that is a disaster for strikers is anxiety.
A goalscorer at the height of his powers doesn't think but reacts and anxiety is one thing that will slow down reaction times significantly. It fogs the brain and kills good decision making. Keane never lacks energy playing for Ireland or Spurs and his work-rate in a green shirt has always been first-class and beyond reproach.
But his touch in front of goal left him at international level in recent years and I do feel that one of the first jobs the new man does is to sit down with Robbie and ask him what he wants. It could be that Keane doesn't want to continue as skipper. If that's the case, nobody should be making a big deal out of it.
He's clearly in a place in his life now where his day-to-day job is something that gives him great satisfaction. He's loved by Spurs fans and obviously by the rest of the squad. I would now rate him as one of the top finishers in the Premier League and I believe that has come about simply because he has had stability in his life on a range of levels for four or five years now.
Just a word of warning, though. The fact that Spurs ended a nine-year hoodoo and finally managed to beat Arsenal should not be seen as the watershed moment that will make all the difference.
Ramos shows all the right signs but he should always bear in mind that in the years Arsene Wenger has been working his magic at Arsenal, Spurs have had seven managers.
It's an observation that should be a totem for Ramos and a decent benchmark for what he wants to achieve.
Spurs have qualified for a final in fine style and that's all they have done. It's a great start for Ramos and a deserved reward for Keane that he will get a day out in Wembley.
If he's lucky, it will be the first of many big occasions and Ramos has whetted the appetite for what could be interesting days ahead for Spurs.
If we get the right manager in charge of the team and he can get the best out of Robbie then we have an excellent chance of finishing runner up to Italy IMO.
Bad miss by Robbie on Saturday when he had a chance to put Spurs 2 up.
Lawrenson nearly got a boner about Berbatov on MOTM, despite a bad miss by him too (to add to his late miss at Old Trafford).
Also, did anyone notice how Berbatov stood off Ferdinand allowing him to launch a ball unchallenged into the Spurs box, which led to the corner United scored from. It was unbelievable, only Ferdinand was in United's half and only Berbatove was up that far. He was 5 yards away, hands on hips just posing, while Ferdinand was given all the time in the world to polay the ball forward.
Yeah Stuttgart I am with you on this one, Berbatov is overated as a team player. He has a great touch and some sublime skill but I bet Keane gets the player of the year award at White Hart Lane as the supporters know who is putting it in week in week out.
In Trap we trust
Ashley Cole??
Tact is for people who are not witty enough to be sarcastic
To be brutally honest, Berbatov is too good for that Spurs team - and I say that as a life-long Spurs fan.
I honestly can't remember the last player I'd say this about (Hoddle, maybe?) but sometimes you have to overlook a player's less than committed attitude (so long as he's not actively disruptive) for what he brings to the team. And Berba is that good that the rest can only learn from him - even including Robbie, a player I admire hugely. He's also the player most likely to stick one over the opposition in the really big games (MU, Chels, the Arse)
What causes me to say this actually stems from Ferguson's relationship with Cantona years ago. It is clear that Fergie gave Cantona leeway which other players didn't get. It was the same with Bryan Robson before him, whom he kept even whilst discarding his drinking buddies, Whiteside and McGrath. I've no doubt that if anyone had dared to complain to Ferguson about preferential treatment towards either of those two, the reply would have been along the lines of: "I'll make an exception for you, when you are exceptional like him. In the meantime, you can fcuk off!"
Berbatov is already right up there in the best three out-and-out strikers in England, alongside Drogba* and Adebayor. If he was playing in a better team, I actually think he could top them.
* - There are question marks over Drogba's commitment to the team, seeing as his agent is forever agitating/threatening a move in French or Spanish papers etc, but it hasn't stopped him from starring for Chelsea.
I was more impressed with Berbatov last season than this year. Once again he had a very slow start and if it wasn't for Keane scoring consistently Jol could(would?) have been sacked sooner. Berbatov looks a class act when it suits him - if he starts performing in the months August-December God knows how much he'd be worth.
"If God had meant football to be played in the air, he'd have put grass in the sky." Brian Clough.
You'll NEVER beat the Irish.......you'll just draw with us instead!!!
There's an element of truth in that, but most player's form will fluctuate from time to time. By the end of the season, Berba will still have got his share of goals and assists.
And talking of assists, I actually think that whilst he may not be entirely committed to the club, that's not the same as saying he's not committed to his team mates. Consequently, he seems as popular as ever with them and for someone who's such a good and versatile finisher himself, he's remarkably unselfish. I don't know the stats, but he must have contributed to lots of Robbie's goals, either directly with headers and passes, or indirectly through his taking defenders away. Contrast that with the likes of Mark Viduka, Jimmy Floyd Hasslebaink or Pierre Van Hooydonk - other players with a similar playing style and reputation, but considerably more selfish.
Also, it might be his natural, gloomy-looking demeanour to a certain extent. (Chris Waddle always had a name for being lazy, but that was down to his round-shouldered stance and "dragging" running style - he was actually a real hard worker). I was at WHL when we beat the Arse and I was enormously heartened by Berba's joyful reaction after the game.
Anyhow, I'm sure it's not coincidence that Robbie Keane is playing the best football of his club career since Berba arrived at the Lane, seeing off Jermaine Defoe in the process.
far from a coincidence , robbie has always profited from having the right type of partner , kevin doyle will hopefully prove to be that man.
Was he crazy!! Yeah , in a very special way , an Irishman.
I slept, and dreamed that life was Beauty;
I woke, and found that life was Duty.
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