Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Mark Lawrenson: Liverpool Still Needed Replacement For Misfiring Robbie Keane

I wrote here several times that I thought that Liverpool selling Robbie Keane in January would be the best thing.

But I meant for the player and the club.

And while Keane will no doubt be relieved to be back where he is loved and where the pressure is off, I don’t really see the benefit for Liverpool.

Because if you’re going to get rid of someone, you have to replace him.

This might sound wise after the event but I looked at Jo scoring two goals for Everton in their win over Bolton on Saturday and thought ‘well, why couldn’t Liverpool have taken a chance on him?’

Or at least a similar type of loan signing.

Okay, so he’s not played for ages and had looked a bit out of place at Manchester City – but that’s only the same situation Robbie Fowler was in three years ago.

But that didn’t matter because he was only brought in to boost the forward line for the final few months of the season.

I just think any striker would have done in these circumstances, where numbers are so low that David Ngog is starting on his own up front and even Andriy Voronin fancies it again.

Nothing against Ngog, but he’s untried and unknown. And that’s not ideal when you’re going for the league.

Keane didn’t have to be replaced by another £20million superstar, just a competent striker who can help take the burden off Fernando Torres.

Because the situation now is, we’re praying for Torres not to get injured between now and the end of the season.

He showed how vital he is with the winner at Portsmouth on Saturday. Take him out and you’re looking over at Manchester United. You’re looking for players to be able to provide you with what Rooney, Ronaldo, Tevez and Berbatov do for them.

And then you realise how much Liverpool really do need Torres to keep on competing with them for this title.

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