Thursday, January 22, 2009

Liverpool Legend Rush: Benitez Must Pick Keane

The Liverpool striking legend feels that Liverpool's manager has the key to turning round the performances of the enigmatic Irishman.

Robbie Keane is a shadow of the player he was at Tottenham Hotpsur. Since moving north to Anfield for around £20 million in the summer, the Irishman has shown merely brief flashes of the verve and attacking flair, as well as goalscoring, that he showed during his highly entertaining spell with Spurs.

Keane came into the Liverpool side for Monday night's Merseyside derby with Everton, and turned in yet another disappointing performance in a season of them that has left Reds fans scratching their heads in bafflement at the player's poor form.

Now former Liverpool centre-forward Ian Rush, a man whom one would expect to know a little bit about what makes goalscorers tick, thinks that Keane needs some security, and that Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez is the man to help provide it.

"Robbie Keane didn’t have the best of games against Everton and I’m sure he will know that himself because he has always been an honest player," Rush writes in today's Liverpool Echo.

"He didn’t get any chances, didn’t create anything of note and by and large struggled to impose himself on the game.

"It could have all been so different had Fernando Torres played the ball square to Keane for a tap-in when through on goal but you wouldn’t get too many centre forwards doing that in that position so Torres can’t be criticised for taking a shot.

But other than that it’s hard to think of another moment when Keane looked like a chance was about to come his way."

And the former Welsh international feels that the only way Keane will begin to settle in properly is when Benitez gives him a run in the side and makes him feel wanted and comfortable.

Rush adds: "If he is going to get back to the level we all know he can reach then Rafa Benitez is going to have to take Keane to one side and tell him he will be in his starting line up for the next four or five games."

Meanwhile, Rush also thinks that the FA Cup tie with Everton on Sunday now assumes greater significance for Liverpool after Monday's disappointing league draw with the Toffees.

"Getting through to the next round of the cup would be great, especially if it comes at the expense of your local rivals. But for me the most important thing is to use the game as a springboard for the rest of the season," said Rush.

Liverpool now find themselves trailing Manchester United in the league, as Rafa Benitez's attempt to avail the world of some "facts" the other week begins to look increasingly ill-advised.

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