A man who knows a thing or two about scoring for Liverpool fears for the Anfield career of Ireland's captain as he struggles to hit the back of the net.
Liverpool goalscoring legend Ian Rush fears that Robbie Keane could be heading for the Anfield scrapheap, as the Irishman fails to live up to expectations at the club.
Keane set the Reds back a cool £20 million in a summer switch from Tottenham Hotspur, but has only managed two Premier League goals in almost four months of action.
Both his strikes came against bottom side West Bromwich Albion at Anfield, and the Ireland captain has only managed another two in the Champions League for a grand total of four in 19 outings.
With Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard both fit again for Rafa Benitez's side, the oft-substituted Keane may be facing the prospect of starting on the bench for tonight's clash with Marseille.
Rush believes that Keane needs to rediscover his goalscoring touch, or face being cast out by a club with high expectations.
He wrote in the Liverpool Echo: "Robbie Keane is finding out the hard way just how different it is to play for Liverpool.
"Playing up front for a club like Liverpool is totally different to playing for Tottenham, and I don’t mean any disrespect when I say that. The pressure is completely different.
"At a club like Tottenham you can get away with playing well in three of every six games. At Liverpool you have to perform five in every six. That’s the kind of pressure Robbie Keane is discovering for the first time, and he has to learn to live with it.
"The number of chances he is missing is now starting to be commented upon and that will only add to the pressure he is feeling. Some players have been unable to live with those unique pressures.
"I’m thinking of strikers like Craig Bellamy, who was a great player for Blackburn but struggled at Anfield, Fernando Morientes who couldn’t reproduce his Real Madrid form in the Premier League and Emile Heskey, who is still England’s first choice centre-forward, but couldn’t live up to what was expected of him at Anfield."
Liverpool goalscoring legend Ian Rush fears that Robbie Keane could be heading for the Anfield scrapheap, as the Irishman fails to live up to expectations at the club.
Keane set the Reds back a cool £20 million in a summer switch from Tottenham Hotspur, but has only managed two Premier League goals in almost four months of action.
Both his strikes came against bottom side West Bromwich Albion at Anfield, and the Ireland captain has only managed another two in the Champions League for a grand total of four in 19 outings.
With Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard both fit again for Rafa Benitez's side, the oft-substituted Keane may be facing the prospect of starting on the bench for tonight's clash with Marseille.
Rush believes that Keane needs to rediscover his goalscoring touch, or face being cast out by a club with high expectations.
He wrote in the Liverpool Echo: "Robbie Keane is finding out the hard way just how different it is to play for Liverpool.
"Playing up front for a club like Liverpool is totally different to playing for Tottenham, and I don’t mean any disrespect when I say that. The pressure is completely different.
"At a club like Tottenham you can get away with playing well in three of every six games. At Liverpool you have to perform five in every six. That’s the kind of pressure Robbie Keane is discovering for the first time, and he has to learn to live with it.
"The number of chances he is missing is now starting to be commented upon and that will only add to the pressure he is feeling. Some players have been unable to live with those unique pressures.
"I’m thinking of strikers like Craig Bellamy, who was a great player for Blackburn but struggled at Anfield, Fernando Morientes who couldn’t reproduce his Real Madrid form in the Premier League and Emile Heskey, who is still England’s first choice centre-forward, but couldn’t live up to what was expected of him at Anfield."
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