Liverpool FC Forum

Sabre wrote:

2 days before the window closed, Rafa stated Robbie had a future at Liverpool.

The day after it closed, Rafa says Keane was not good enough???

I'm  dissapointed of this Rafa's words too, If I have to be honest.

Dundalk wrote:

Nice one

Bam wrote:

greenred wrote:Tony Cascarino

Deflecting the blame. Everyone in football does it: players on to managers, managers on to chairmen, fans on to all three. And this week we've seen a perfect example as Rafael Benitez tried to lay the blame for Robbie Keane's failure at Anfield on the forward himself. The reality is that it's the Liverpool manager who got it spectacularly wrong.

It was scandalous to hear Benitez suggest that Keane wasn't good enough for Liverpool and couldn't stand the pressure. This is an experienced player, Ireland's captain and top goalscorer, who went to Inter Milan as a kid and who was great for Spurs. It's true that Keane didn't perform but how could he when he was messed around, in and out of the team, switching positions but never in his best role, being dragged off early in games or put on the bench.

I'd like to ask Benitez how he ever saw Keane fitting into his side, what the original plan was. In hindsight he should have kept Peter Crouch. I never thought Keane could play alongside Fernando Torres, they just weren't likely to gel. My thinking when the move was first announced was that Benitez wanted to emulate the movement of Manchester United's forward line last season, where Carlos Tevez, Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney interchanged and alternated. But that wasn't the case because Keane was clearly told to stay on the left. And with Steven Gerrard bombing on to join Torres in the box, that made Keane even more redundant.

The manager's attitude seemed to be: Keane doesn't fit, so I won't try and adapt the team or be more flexible, I'll just leave him out. It's a manager's job, though, to get the best out of his players, to find a way to fit all the pieces in the puzzle – especially when they are as expensive and talented as Keane.

Benitez gave up on his £20 million man very quickly. But all players need to feel wanted. Robbie has always been confident but his self-belief will have been affected because his manager wasn't making him feel welcome. Benitez is always distant and ruthless anyway. And at times over the years he's hardly seemed enthusiastic about a player so critical as Steven Gerrard. He's been lucky Gerrard hasn't been more outspoken.

But his treatment of Keane went far beyond his normal coldness, he was practically disassociating himself from the striker from quite early in the season, blaming him for not performing. That will have been hard to take and can only have made his form worse. After only six months at the club he knew he had to leave. There was no choice: when a manager doesn't want you, it's time to go. Even with Liverpool in the title hunt and Champions League, there was no point in staying.

Will losing Robbie damage Liverpool's title hopes? They're not good enough to win it anyway. It will be costly because many Liverpool fans will not have liked the way Benitez treated Keane, and their admiration for the manager will lessen as a result. At 28, Keane still has three or four years at the top of the game and he will go on to be a good player for Spurs and score some important goals. His brief spell on Merseyside will be quickly forgotten.

But not by everyone. When the time comes for Benitez to leave Anfield and we all reflect on his reign, the way he failed to get the best out of Keane, and failed to treat him with respect, will be a big black mark against him. And perhaps it will contribute to his eventual downfall.

















Cascarino makes a couple of decent points here.I guess the main one being he has seriously divided the supporters for the first time.I really hope he knows what he`s doing.

Its typically bias to see all the Paddy's flooding the boards, jumping on the 'Keane was treated unfairy' and 'Good enough for LFC'  bandwagon.

Emerald Red wrote:

Bam wrote:

greenred wrote:Tony Cascarino

Deflecting the blame. Everyone in football does it: players on to managers, managers on to chairmen, fans on to all three. And this week we've seen a perfect example as Rafael Benitez tried to lay the blame for Robbie Keane's failure at Anfield on the forward himself. The reality is that it's the Liverpool manager who got it spectacularly wrong.

It was scandalous to hear Benitez suggest that Keane wasn't good enough for Liverpool and couldn't stand the pressure. This is an experienced player, Ireland's captain and top goalscorer, who went to Inter Milan as a kid and who was great for Spurs. It's true that Keane didn't perform but how could he when he was messed around, in and out of the team, switching positions but never in his best role, being dragged off early in games or put on the bench.

I'd like to ask Benitez how he ever saw Keane fitting into his side, what the original plan was. In hindsight he should have kept Peter Crouch. I never thought Keane could play alongside Fernando Torres, they just weren't likely to gel. My thinking when the move was first announced was that Benitez wanted to emulate the movement of Manchester United's forward line last season, where Carlos Tevez, Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney interchanged and alternated. But that wasn't the case because Keane was clearly told to stay on the left. And with Steven Gerrard bombing on to join Torres in the box, that made Keane even more redundant.

The manager's attitude seemed to be: Keane doesn't fit, so I won't try and adapt the team or be more flexible, I'll just leave him out. It's a manager's job, though, to get the best out of his players, to find a way to fit all the pieces in the puzzle – especially when they are as expensive and talented as Keane.

Benitez gave up on his £20 million man very quickly. But all players need to feel wanted. Robbie has always been confident but his self-belief will have been affected because his manager wasn't making him feel welcome. Benitez is always distant and ruthless anyway. And at times over the years he's hardly seemed enthusiastic about a player so critical as Steven Gerrard. He's been lucky Gerrard hasn't been more outspoken.

But his treatment of Keane went far beyond his normal coldness, he was practically disassociating himself from the striker from quite early in the season, blaming him for not performing. That will have been hard to take and can only have made his form worse. After only six months at the club he knew he had to leave. There was no choice: when a manager doesn't want you, it's time to go. Even with Liverpool in the title hunt and Champions League, there was no point in staying.

Will losing Robbie damage Liverpool's title hopes? They're not good enough to win it anyway. It will be costly because many Liverpool fans will not have liked the way Benitez treated Keane, and their admiration for the manager will lessen as a result. At 28, Keane still has three or four years at the top of the game and he will go on to be a good player for Spurs and score some important goals. His brief spell on Merseyside will be quickly forgotten.

But not by everyone. When the time comes for Benitez to leave Anfield and we all reflect on his reign, the way he failed to get the best out of Keane, and failed to treat him with respect, will be a big black mark against him. And perhaps it will contribute to his eventual downfall.

















Cascarino makes a couple of decent points here.I guess the main one being he has seriously divided the supporters for the first time.I really hope he knows what he`s doing.

Its typically bias to see all the Paddy's flooding the boards, jumping on the 'Keane was treated unfairy' and 'Good enough for LFC'  bandwagon.

"Paddy's"?

Should this not be regarded as a ethnic slur? To carpet people as "Paddy's" to me is offensive.

Oh, and if you've noticed, I've not made a post rushing to Keane's defense at all, so so much for your argument.

Bam wrote:

Emerald Red wrote:

Bam wrote:

greenred wrote:Tony Cascarino

Deflecting the blame. Everyone in football does it: players on to managers, managers on to chairmen, fans on to all three. And this week we've seen a perfect example as Rafael Benitez tried to lay the blame for Robbie Keane's failure at Anfield on the forward himself. The reality is that it's the Liverpool manager who got it spectacularly wrong.

It was scandalous to hear Benitez suggest that Keane wasn't good enough for Liverpool and couldn't stand the pressure. This is an experienced player, Ireland's captain and top goalscorer, who went to Inter Milan as a kid and who was great for Spurs. It's true that Keane didn't perform but how could he when he was messed around, in and out of the team, switching positions but never in his best role, being dragged off early in games or put on the bench.

I'd like to ask Benitez how he ever saw Keane fitting into his side, what the original plan was. In hindsight he should have kept Peter Crouch. I never thought Keane could play alongside Fernando Torres, they just weren't likely to gel. My thinking when the move was first announced was that Benitez wanted to emulate the movement of Manchester United's forward line last season, where Carlos Tevez, Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney interchanged and alternated. But that wasn't the case because Keane was clearly told to stay on the left. And with Steven Gerrard bombing on to join Torres in the box, that made Keane even more redundant.

The manager's attitude seemed to be: Keane doesn't fit, so I won't try and adapt the team or be more flexible, I'll just leave him out. It's a manager's job, though, to get the best out of his players, to find a way to fit all the pieces in the puzzle – especially when they are as expensive and talented as Keane.

Benitez gave up on his £20 million man very quickly. But all players need to feel wanted. Robbie has always been confident but his self-belief will have been affected because his manager wasn't making him feel welcome. Benitez is always distant and ruthless anyway. And at times over the years he's hardly seemed enthusiastic about a player so critical as Steven Gerrard. He's been lucky Gerrard hasn't been more outspoken.

But his treatment of Keane went far beyond his normal coldness, he was practically disassociating himself from the striker from quite early in the season, blaming him for not performing. That will have been hard to take and can only have made his form worse. After only six months at the club he knew he had to leave. There was no choice: when a manager doesn't want you, it's time to go. Even with Liverpool in the title hunt and Champions League, there was no point in staying.

Will losing Robbie damage Liverpool's title hopes? They're not good enough to win it anyway. It will be costly because many Liverpool fans will not have liked the way Benitez treated Keane, and their admiration for the manager will lessen as a result. At 28, Keane still has three or four years at the top of the game and he will go on to be a good player for Spurs and score some important goals. His brief spell on Merseyside will be quickly forgotten.

But not by everyone. When the time comes for Benitez to leave Anfield and we all reflect on his reign, the way he failed to get the best out of Keane, and failed to treat him with respect, will be a big black mark against him. And perhaps it will contribute to his eventual downfall.

















Cascarino makes a couple of decent points here.I guess the main one being he has seriously divided the supporters for the first time.I really hope he knows what he`s doing.

Its typically bias to see all the Paddy's flooding the boards, jumping on the 'Keane was treated unfairy' and 'Good enough for LFC'  bandwagon.

"Paddy's"?

Should this not be regarded as a ethnic slur? To carpet people as "Paddy's" to me is offensive.

Oh, and if you've noticed, I've not made a post rushing to Keane's defense at all, so so much for your argument.

Pi$$ off you fairy.

Racial slur FFS !!

Anywhere PC can be used will be used, its pathetic it really is.

Bam wrote:Sorry Murph.

Ridiculous.

bigmick wrote:I'm glad I don't find POM a racial slur, I'd be walking around feeling pretty racially slurred upon for a good portion of every day.

Exactly.

I never knew the Kiwi's (oops sorry to any NZ who find Kiwi's offensive) called us POMS Mick. I thought it was just the Aussie's, Oh well there all the same arent they 

bigmick wrote:I'm glad I don't find POM a racial slur, I'd be walking around feeling pretty racially slurred upon for a good portion of every day.

Emerald Red wrote:

Bam wrote:Sorry Murph.

Ridiculous.

How is it ridiculous? Little do you realize, some people in Ireland don't take to being called a "Paddy" too kindly. It would be like me walking up to an Arab, Indian, or someone else of an ethnic group and addressing him/her in a stereotypical manner. It's offensive. End of.