Premier League - Jim White: Keane's Mersey blues

Eurosport - Wed, 28 Jan 12:58:00 2009

If you are looking for the most miserable man in English football right now there can only be one candidate.

2008-2009 Liverpool Robbie Keane - 0

Just six months ago, Robbie Keane landed his dream job. A Liverpool fan from childhood in Ireland, he was thrilled when the club paid Spurs £20 million for him and handed him the number seven shirt. As he posed in the very number that had been graced by Kevin Keegan, Kenny Dalglish and Peter Beardsley, he looked like the cat who had discovered a secret route to the cream store.

The fans too were thrilled: in the era of the mercenary, when the likes of Pascal 'It's all about the money' Chimbonda change clubs with the frequency of a serial philanderer, here was someone who shared their love of the institution, someone who knew the value of the shirt. He was immediately installed as a legend in the making. But instead of the chants ringing down from the Kop, a mere 20-odd weeks later he finds himself so far off the Liverpool map he doesn't even have a post code. Spurned by Rafael Benitez, uncertain even of a place on the bench, he is in footballing purdah. It is enough to make the strongest man weep.

Being Liverpool, a club so mired in boardroom politics Machiavelli would have difficulty navigating his way through Anfield, the conspiracy theories are already spinning. Benitez's decision not to pick Keane even as a substitute for Sunday's FA Cup tie against Everton is being reported in several quarters as being part of a wider battle between manager and board. Benitez, anxious to have complete control of transfer strategy is demonstrating his power by demoting the club's costliest recent acquisition.

Personally, I don't buy that. How would such a manoeuvre strengthen his position? Why would it make the board think, 'OK, so we spent £20m on a player, the manager doesn't want him so the best thing to do is to give him total control of spending another £20m on another forward he might not like the look of'? In fact it is likely to provoke the opposite reaction, with the American owners insisting that a watch is kept over the cheque book to prevent a further £20m being squandered in this way.

It is rather more logical to see this as it is: entirely a footballing issue. Keane is not doing the business as envisaged by Benitez. His performance in the Premier League Merseyside derby was woeful, the product of a man low on confidence and form. In all objective analysis he deserved to be dropped. Some have said that the best thing to do with Keane would be to love him, to give him an extended run in the team and let him play his way back to his best.

But Benitez is no schmoozer. He is a systems analyst, not a psychiatrist. His approach to management is tactical, not inspirational. He believes in a style of play and assumes that footballers, being adults and being paid large sums of money, are capable of motivating themselves sufficiently to fit into the system. Keane isn't doing so, so is dropped. End of story.

This is by no means the first time this has happened. Since Benitez has been at Liverpool, only four players - Reina, Carragher, Gerrard and Torres - have been untouchable. Everyone else rotates around them. And he expects players to slot quickly into their place in the machine; issues of confidence and morale do not overly concern him.

It means there has been a ferociously high through-put of forwards, who tend as a breed to be more prone to dips in confidence: Crouch, Bellamy, Fowler, Morientes, Voronin, Torres, Kuyt, Babel and Keane have been signed by Benitez in his time. Only one of that list has been an unequivocal success (though in addition to Torres, Kuyt has provided good service in a modified position). Keane is but the latest to find that patience is not Benitez's greatest virtue.

That does not necessarily mean the player is on his way. When asked, Harry Redknapp may well have said he would be interested in taking him back to Spurs. But then Harry says he's interested in anything with a pulse.

Keane will be desperate to stay at Liverpool, to prove himself worthy of the shirt. But what he will have learned over the course of the last week is that Benitez will not bend the system to accommodate him. He must work out how to play himself back into the team, how to find a way to dovetail with Torres and Gerrard. It won't be easy. But the incentive is there to find a solution.

Jim White / Eurosport

Comment 65 - 84 of 104

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  1. Keep keane and sack benitez

    From Torres76, on Wed 28 Jan 2:25PM

  2. Keane gets himself in really good positions this is the­ hard part for a striker the easy part is scoring the­ reason he has missed a few sitters is confidence thats­ all, a player doesn't become a bad footballer over­ night.

    From Torres76, on Wed 28 Jan 2:21PM

  3. Great article... far better than Parker's regular­ drivel. Keane playing for his boyhood team, means he­ has double the pressure on himself, besides the price­ tag.

    From Eoghan, on Wed 28 Jan 1:52PM

  4. Keane has not played well. That is a fact. His 7 goals­ have come amidst at least 14 sitters. I think that when­ Keane was purchased Rafa wanted to play 4-4-2 with­ Keane playin off Torres. Gerrard and Mascherano in the­ centre. Barry on left and Kuyt right. That whole Barry­ thing didnt work out but Riera has been very good. The­ key difference is Alonso. Benitez figured on selling­ Alonso. But due to Mascherano being out (Olympics) and­ Gerrard suffering groin injuries early Alonso had to­ play as the most experienced central midfielder.­ (Remember the first game of the season Plessis started.­ lol) What Alonso proceeded to do is play so­ exceptionally well that he couldn't be dropped. But­ Alonso is no Gerrard(attacking) or­ Mascherano(defensive)so we still need both of them­ playin in our strongest XI. He is no winger so Kuyt and­ Riera stay. So the logical position for him to take is­ Keane's who has not been playing well.

    From Kareem G, on Wed 28 Jan 1:22PM

  5. hello AR WB: I love your comment about Babel being­ 'an outstanding success'. On what criteria do­ you base that rather sad conclusion. How many goals has­ he scored this season? How many assists has he­ made?....... There you go.
    I'm not saying he is a­ terrible player but imo he has acheived nothing and­ that's coming from a big Liverpool fan.

    From marshan, on Wed 28 Jan 1:06PM

  6. I don't want to believe that Rafa Benitez is bias.­ When he bought Fernando Torres last season for 26­ million pounds, he said he expected him (Torres) to­ score at least 15 goals and once that is achieved, he­ would have met his (Rafa's) expectation. Torres­ went ahead to score 30 in all competitions without a­ single penalty kick included. This season, he acquired­ Robbie Keane for 20 million and so far he has scored 7­ goals despite not enjoying the best of support from the­ manager. There is no doubt that Gerrard is given a free­ role as a second striker and not as a midfieder that he­ is supposed to be and this has stifled the game of the­ strikers. This season, Dirk Kuyt who has enjoyed a far­ better run in the side has not scored more than 7 goals­ while Torres has only been able to score 6 goals­ himself. So, why all the pressure on Keane? As it is,­ his confidence is low and it will take sometime for him­ to regain his focus even if he is restored into the­ side. I don't want to believe that it is because­ Torres is Spanish that he was given such a lifeline­ last season to settle into his new club as the same has­ not been extended to Keane. Everybody knows how good­ Keane is and has been, if he does not click in­ Liverpool, it is not any fault of his but that of the­ manager who is not playing to his strength.

    From yomia, on Wed 28 Jan 1:00PM

  7. Playing the ball across the pitch all the time to keep­ possession has become the norm for Liverpool. I agree­ entirely that Keane should play just off Torres and see­ how it goes for 6 weeks otherwise it is all over for­ anything. Kuyt is no good there he keeps wandering off.­ You cannot keep relying on Gerrard to score. You have­ got Rieri who looks like he can cross a ball when he is­ not told to lay it back, so use him. I want to see the­ PL go to the wire or I will get bored but at the moment­ both the Pool and Chelsea are not putting it together.­ Chelsea are too old

    From taff, on Wed 28 Jan 12:53PM

  8. Benitez signed him and it's role to find the key to­ unlock Keane's talent, which he undoubtedly has.­ The fact that he has apparently been discarded with no­ future at Liverpool shows the true value of Benitez as­ manager. Fergie, Wenger and O'Neill are managers in­ the true sense. Benitez just picks 11 players and­ expects a win. As a result we get continual moaning­ about the opposition and referees when Liverpool­ don't win.

    From Graham P, on Wed 28 Jan 12:52PM

  9. Tema (comment 68). Congrats to United on a strong­ performance,but just how exactly was that a­ half-strength side?
    Rafa's strategy at times can be­ a puzzle to players and fans alike and for me he should­ play Keane and Torres every week.

    From jhr881, on Wed 28 Jan 12:33PM

  10. Keane is a very good player - period! I would give him­ more time but ensure he gets service infront of goal.­ He will improve very soon. Don't write him off yet.­

    He has unlocked many defences in the past. He allows­ LFC to play with the ball on the ground. Good defences­ can easily cope with the long ball merchants but find­ it hard to deal with short passes in the area. He has­ one quality that sets him apart from other potential­ forwards - he is LFC through and through and that's­ worth something in this day and age!!! All the best.

    From N, on Wed 28 Jan 12:32PM

  11. Its a bit of both to be honest,I'm from the­ Republic of Ireland and I've seen him play for us­ and he cannot play up front on his own,he hasn't­ got the pace,Asking him to play up front is like asking­ Rooney to play on the left wing,they can't.
    Robbie­ Keane drops too far deep for my liking,it should be up­ to the likes of Gerrard and Alonso to feed him in­ forward positions instead of him dropping into midfield­ to collect teh ball,Have you ever seen Berbatov doing­ that,because he has players around him giving him the­ ball in forward areas,but Keane is more intelligent­ than Berbatov,Keane can play along the line, out wide­ in the centre,and can be a threat as long as he's­ in an attacking position not in the centre of­ midfield,amybe just maybe,when he and Torres strike up­ a partnership will this move bear fruit.Because I think­ the Keane and Torres partnership eventually could be­ awesome due to the contrasting styles of both­ players,and Being an Irishman I would love to see Keane­ do well as he did for Ireland.
    Here's a bit of­ trivia.
    In the 2002 world cup only two players scored­ past Oliver Khan,Ronaldo of Brazil and the other was­ the ''emerald isles'' Robbie Keane.

    From alanslevin8881, on Wed 28 Jan 12:16PM

  12. I'd also like to say i'm glad Mr White is back,­ even if I dont always agree with his view, it's­ always an interesting one. Good to have you back!

    From trebe, on Wed 28 Jan 12:10PM

  13. he should play keane and torres every game steve g­ coming through the middle watch out wigan back lash­ tonight

    From dean.thomas5317, on Wed 28 Jan 12:10PM

  14. KEANE WAS A WASTE OF MONEY IN THE FIRST PLACE

    From colsonpeter, on Wed 28 Jan 12:09PM

  15. I think that Keane and all other players should have to­ earn their place on a team and not just expect that it­ will be handed to them, but they should at least be­ given a chance to make their mark. Keane is a good­ player, but just needs to be given more time to fit in­ better. Look what he did for spurs, but he played for­ them for a long time. Benitez should give him a chance.­ Keane is just one of those players that takes a while,­ but in the end it is worth it.

    From eviepeoples, on Wed 28 Jan 12:07PM

  16. Soory but I think Raffas treatment of Keane is a­ disgrace so it seems rick parry decided that liverpool­ wanted keane not Raffa well i suppose he does not speak­ spanish and seemed to have a problem finding the net­ but he has scored in his last 6 games so what is Raffas­ problem ???
    Fergie seems to have got to him with his I­ shall only deal in FACTS lol so long as they are the­ twisted my way FACTS
    Raffa needs to grow up a bit

    From Alex F, on Wed 28 Jan 12:02PM

  17. A very good article. One of the best analyses of­ Benitez's Liverpool which I have seen in a­ 'coon's age. Keep it up, Jim

    From Anders, on Wed 28 Jan 12:01PM
  18. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    hehehe even United at half strength scores five. sori­ loserpool gone to the dogs. even torres is no better­ this season and only plays bcoz a fellow spaniard is­ the gaffer

    From Andrew, on Wed 28 Jan 11:57AM

  19. jim white is back!!!!!!!

    From yid of the yids, on Wed 28 Jan 11:54AM

  20. Robbie needs to change his attitude sulking when he is­ being subbed after an hour of doing nothing is not­ doing him any favours. Personnaly being Irish i was­ delighted with keane signing but he needs to change his­ attitude and get his head around the fact he is longer ­ big fish in a small pound or he wouldn't get the­ chances that he needs to prove himself at a top 4­ side!!!!

    From corkber, on Wed 28 Jan 11:52AM
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