Liverpool FC Forum

by **tubby** » Fri Dec 05, 2008 9:47 pm

Leonmc0708 wrote:
Ace Ventura wrote:Well i thought it was an absolutely ridiculous substitution taking Robbie off last night for the french kid.
Rafa's fault - no doubt for me.

Keane wasnt performing too well, but if you pay 20 million for a striker in my personal opinion you should try and find solutions to get him in form, alter the system etc.

Dont drag him off for a useless looking kid when its 0-0.

Shocking it was.

KEane was inept for 70 minutes.

HE was not performing.

If it was Kuyt who played so poorly would people be moaning at Rafa ? No - they would encourage him to be taken off.

Robbie KEane seems to be the "in thing" to defend in order to persecute Rafa.

Good point!

At the end of the day stop worrying about how sad Keanes face looks. If he stops missing sitters and scores more then Rafa will give him more time of the pitch.

by **Zidane** » Fri Dec 05, 2008 10:13 pm

Kuyt has played like :censored:

for a while now, I don't even bother talking about Kuyt anymore though. I've learned that we have to just live with him being out there. Also I know Kuyt can't offer much more than what he does now, but Keane CAN in my opinion and several others on these forums so I believe he should be getting more time on the pitch until he sorts himself out out there. He comes in and tries too hard to do well because he knows if he doesn't he will be subbed/benched and it takes him out of his natural game.

Bottom line is this, it's not good for his form the way he has been treated and is continuing to be treated. Change it up Rafa, please, we are all desperate for Keane to start doing well.

by **Petar** » Sat Dec 06, 2008 12:32 am

look,he is good quality player,but he will come great when Rafa and negative tactics leave

by **NANNY RED** » Sat Dec 06, 2008 1:00 am

Petar wrote:look,he is good quality player,but he will come great when Rafa and negative tactics leave

When Rafa an his negative tactics leave , You lad are :censored:

clueless im tellin yeh

by **Emerald Red** » Sat Dec 06, 2008 1:12 am

Petar wrote:look,he is good quality player,but he will come great when Rafa and negative tactics leave

How many goals did we score last season again?

by **Emerald Red** » Sat Dec 06, 2008 1:15 am

Zidane wrote:Kuyt has played like for a while now, I don't even bother talking about Kuyt anymore though. I've learned that we have to just live with him being out there. Also I know Kuyt can't offer much more than what he does now, but Keane CAN in my opinion and several others on these forums so I believe he should be getting more time on the pitch until he sorts himself out out there. He comes in and tries too hard to do well because he knows if he doesn't he will be subbed/benched and it takes him out of his natural game.

Bottom line is this, it's not good for his form the way he has been treated and is continuing to be treated. Change it up Rafa, please, we are all desperate for Keane to start doing well.

I'd hardly say that Kuyt has been playing sh*t. He's bailed us out of a lot of situations already this season, and if anyone has been on form for us this season, it's Dirk Kuyt. If you ask me, only now is he starting to feel the effects of his work rate. He's absolutely burnt out at the minute and Rafa would do well to give the fella a rest for a few games. Last season, the Euros and the qualifiers have taken its toll.

by **Ciggy** » Sat Dec 06, 2008 1:22 am

not very good at de momment but young robbie will turn it on in style. my oirish typing accent is cr@p.

by **Emerald Red** » Sat Dec 06, 2008 1:28 am

Ciggy wrote:not very good at de momment but young robbie will turn it on in style. my oirish typing accent is cr@p.

'tis aye. Yer actin' an eejit ya are.

by **Quadrophenia** » Sat Dec 06, 2008 2:05 am

Everyone who agrees with Benitez' decision to bring Keane off for the benifit of the team, fine, that's your opinion. But surely you must then be of the same opinion playing a lad totally out of form, as much confidence as a cow who has just found out Stevie Wonder has landed milking duties and playing him in a role he can't play isn't benifiting the team.

The current situation with Keane is both his and Benitez' fault. Keane hasn't done enough in the time he's played and he's had enough minutes on the pitch to do more than he has, but Benitez' constant persistantce with this idiotic idea that 4-2-3-1 works with any other forward we have other than Torres is ruining our forwards. When was the last time one of our forwards scored for us? 8th of November against West Brom, it was Robbie Keane when played up front with Dirk Kuyt. This seemed to be the plan (in theory) for the West Ham game except Kuyt looked pretty adamant that he wasn't going to play up front.

You either put Keane up front with a strike partner or don't play him at all. No point playing him on his own for x amount of minutes just to bring him off and give his confidence another kick in the balls.

by **Ciggy** » Sat Dec 06, 2008 9:02 am

ROBBIE IN FIRING LINE
Saturday December 6,2008
By Paul Joyce

ROBBIE KEANE will be axed by Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez for the Premier League leaders’ trip to Blackburn today as he pays the price for an underwhelming start to his Anfield career.

Spaniard Benitez is planning to relegate his £20million summer signing to the substitutes’ bench despite the continuing absence through injury of Fernando Torres.

Dirk Kuyt is instead set to lead the attack at Ewood Park in a move that will mark a new low in Keane’s fortunes since his high-profile switch from Tottenham.

Keane has struggled to make an impact and has scored only four goals despite featuring in all but two of Liverpool’s 24 matches this season.

His treatment differs to that given to Peter Crouch during the England striker’s alarming goal drought when he first moved to Liverpool, as Benitez insisted the best way to help was to keep picking him.

But in an effort to shake up Liverpool’s performances following two successive goalless draws, Benitez intimated that Keane will be taken out of the firing line as he looks to keep his side at the Premier League’s summit.

“We cannot guarantee a position to anyone. We have to win,” said Benitez. “Robbie is working hard in training, as always, and we have to analyse everything because we have to think about him and the team.

“For me it is not a question of the price-tag of the player, he is just another player. Other teams have players costing £15m-£20m and they are on the bench every week, but people are not talking about them. We have two players in our squad of this value, yet people talk about them.

“He is in the same situation as the rest of the players. Can I guarantee the position of Agger, Hyypia, Aurelio, Dossena, Carragher? No.

“The players have to play the best that they can every week and then afterwards you decide. There are six months of the season left, so I can pick him lots of times.”

Benitez dismissed rumours that swept Merseyside yesterday that he would seek to offload Keane in January, although, ultimately, the player’s reaction to events will determine whether the situation resolves itself or deepens. Dutchman Ryan Babel is also poised for his first league start since the win over Portsmouth in October, in place of Albert Riera.

“The team has some players who are playing too many games in a row,” added Benitez.

“It is always more difficult for new players; Riera was really good when he arrived so people were expecting him to keep the level. But it is not easy.”

With Keane’s misery set to continue, Benitez also admitted there is no end in sight to his own contract negotiations. He met co-owner George Gillett on Monday, but the meeting failed to reach an agreement over the deal designed to keep him at Anfield. The two sides remain apart both over the length of a prospective contract – with Benitez thought to be seeking a new five-year deal and his American paymasters having outlined an offer that would take him to 2012 – and also the terms.

Negotiations are continuing but, having effectively rebuffed initial overtures, Benitez admitted he did not know when the issue would eventually be resolved.

Asked whether there was an end in sight to talks, he said: “No. It has to be sooner rather than later, but we have an important game tomorrow.”

Benitez was also asked if there was a stumbling block but he did not want to go public on the hitch.

“I would like to concentrate on football because they are doing their job. My advisers are talking with the club and that, to me, seems positive,” he added.

Gillett and business partner Tom Hicks remain committed to selling their stakes in Liverpool, despite public protestations to the contrary, and a number of interested buyers continue to circle the club.

http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/74475/Robbie-in-firing-line

by **dawson99** » Sat Dec 06, 2008 9:20 am

I understand Rafa taking Robbie off after 70 minutes, what I'm starting to wonder is why he plays him in the first place

by **Ciggy** » Sat Dec 06, 2008 10:55 am

It must be said our team doesnt help him either, the service to him has been quite frankly cr@p. I also think he would flourish with a target man beside him, but where does that leave Torres when he comes back ?
Loads of games coming thick and fast this month we need Keane to start getting his confidence back and finding the back of the net otherwise we will fall down the table. Not just keane either not many of our players are not scoring.

by **Number 9** » Sat Dec 06, 2008 11:18 am

The last time I said Keane would score he did,so gonna say he will hit TWO today!
Wishful thinking!!

by **Cool Hand Luke** » Sat Dec 06, 2008 11:42 am

Is not only that fact he isn't scoring, it's the fact that he is hardly touching the ball. He has been ineffective in most of the games he has played.

The other players around him have the same service but are playing better.

by **LegBarnes** » Sat Dec 06, 2008 12:43 pm

NANNY RED wrote:
Petar wrote:look,he is good quality player,but he will come great when Rafa and negative tactics leave

When Rafa an his negative tactics leave , You lad are clueless im tellin yeh

Tho i do think alot of his stuff nanny is ranting , he does point out some fair points.

I do feel rafa is very negative in the way he sets our team up this season.

its rare you see us setup with out 2 DM and I feel it does cost us alot of points.

As for robbie I don't think I ever wanted a player to hit some form , even just to justify his price tag but if he can't hit some form soon I feel he might have a very short time at our club. :Oo:

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