Rafael Benitez believes Robbie Keane can follow the example of Peter Crouch and go on a goal-scoring spree after opening his Barclays Premier League account for Liverpool.
Keane netted twice as the Anfield outfit kept pace with Chelsea at the top of the table with a comfortable 3-0 home win over West Bromwich Albion on Saturday.
Having already scored in the Champions League this season, it had taken the striker 12 games to register in domestic competition after his near £20million move from Tottenham Hotspur during the summer.
Crouch famously suffered a similar barren league run when he arrived from Portsmouth three seasons ago before rediscovering his goal-scoring touch.
And Benitez reckons Keane is capable of now embarking on a profitable run of his own.
“Robbie was working hard and has been playing well but it is massively important for a striker to score so it’s both good news for him and for us,” said the Liverpool manager.
“I think you’ll see him get a lot more now. If the team keeps playing well and creating chances there is no reason why he won’t get a lot more. It was just a question of time.
“You could see the difference in Keane as soon as he scored the first goal. It made a massive difference to him.
“I remember talking about Peter Crouch when he first arrived and we were waiting for his first goal. Once he got off the mark, a lot more came and it will be the same with Robbie.”
Benitez added: “I spoke to Robbie before the game, he was under pressure to score but I told him that he had to stay calm because he has been playing well for the team.
“He told me that he was fine, that he had no problems, but you know a striker is always thinking about scoring goals and so it was very important for him to get his first in the league for us.
“Hopefully we will see him scoring a lot more every week now. I wanted to reassure him because it has been difficult for him.”
Keane was denied the chance of completing a hat-trick when he was replaced 18 minutes from time by Fernando Torres, who was making his comeback after missing the previous six games with a hamstring problem.
It’s the 13th time in 15 starts the Irishman has been substituted this season and Benitez said: “I also spoke to Robbie about the substitutions before the game. I said ‘I know I am changing you a lot but it is only because we need a different kind of player at certain stages of the game’.
“I didn’t want to do it again against West Bromwich because, after his two goals, I was expecting the hat-trick. But we had to win the game, that was the most important thing, and Torres had to play too.
“I’m sure he was thinking ‘Why me? Leave me on the pitch’, but I wanted to use the pace of Torres. They were playing high up the pitch.
“I didn’t get to speak to him after the game, apart from saying ‘congratulations’ when he came off, because he was getting his man-of-the-match award.
“You can have sentiment as a manager sometimes but at 2-0 you have to be careful because one goal for them and it becomes very nervous at the end.”
Keane was partnered by Dirk Kuyt on Saturday with Steven Gerrard reverting to a central midfield role.
And Benitez said: “I had been using Robbie and Stevie up front and he is different type of player to Torres.
“Torres has the pace to run behind defenders and Keane has good movement.
“For Gerrard, it was more difficult to find the pass to Robbie and more difficult for Robbie to find the run behind defenders but, with two strikers, I knew he would have more chances and it would make things easier for him.
“The only thing is you lose some of the balance of the team playing that way but we were better than them.
“Sometimes we’ll play with two strikers and other times we’ll just go with one.
“Going with two strikers helped Robbie in this game but it will be a good problem for me to have Torres fit again, Gerrard and everyone else fit.”
Alvaro Arbeloa scored his second career goal for Liverpool by sealing the victory with a well-taken strike in injury time. However, the Spanish full-back also picked up his fifth league booking of the season and will miss Saturday’s trip to Bolton.
Keane netted twice as the Anfield outfit kept pace with Chelsea at the top of the table with a comfortable 3-0 home win over West Bromwich Albion on Saturday.
Having already scored in the Champions League this season, it had taken the striker 12 games to register in domestic competition after his near £20million move from Tottenham Hotspur during the summer.
Crouch famously suffered a similar barren league run when he arrived from Portsmouth three seasons ago before rediscovering his goal-scoring touch.
And Benitez reckons Keane is capable of now embarking on a profitable run of his own.
“Robbie was working hard and has been playing well but it is massively important for a striker to score so it’s both good news for him and for us,” said the Liverpool manager.
“I think you’ll see him get a lot more now. If the team keeps playing well and creating chances there is no reason why he won’t get a lot more. It was just a question of time.
“You could see the difference in Keane as soon as he scored the first goal. It made a massive difference to him.
“I remember talking about Peter Crouch when he first arrived and we were waiting for his first goal. Once he got off the mark, a lot more came and it will be the same with Robbie.”
Benitez added: “I spoke to Robbie before the game, he was under pressure to score but I told him that he had to stay calm because he has been playing well for the team.
“He told me that he was fine, that he had no problems, but you know a striker is always thinking about scoring goals and so it was very important for him to get his first in the league for us.
“Hopefully we will see him scoring a lot more every week now. I wanted to reassure him because it has been difficult for him.”
Keane was denied the chance of completing a hat-trick when he was replaced 18 minutes from time by Fernando Torres, who was making his comeback after missing the previous six games with a hamstring problem.
It’s the 13th time in 15 starts the Irishman has been substituted this season and Benitez said: “I also spoke to Robbie about the substitutions before the game. I said ‘I know I am changing you a lot but it is only because we need a different kind of player at certain stages of the game’.
“I didn’t want to do it again against West Bromwich because, after his two goals, I was expecting the hat-trick. But we had to win the game, that was the most important thing, and Torres had to play too.
“I’m sure he was thinking ‘Why me? Leave me on the pitch’, but I wanted to use the pace of Torres. They were playing high up the pitch.
“I didn’t get to speak to him after the game, apart from saying ‘congratulations’ when he came off, because he was getting his man-of-the-match award.
“You can have sentiment as a manager sometimes but at 2-0 you have to be careful because one goal for them and it becomes very nervous at the end.”
Keane was partnered by Dirk Kuyt on Saturday with Steven Gerrard reverting to a central midfield role.
And Benitez said: “I had been using Robbie and Stevie up front and he is different type of player to Torres.
“Torres has the pace to run behind defenders and Keane has good movement.
“For Gerrard, it was more difficult to find the pass to Robbie and more difficult for Robbie to find the run behind defenders but, with two strikers, I knew he would have more chances and it would make things easier for him.
“The only thing is you lose some of the balance of the team playing that way but we were better than them.
“Sometimes we’ll play with two strikers and other times we’ll just go with one.
“Going with two strikers helped Robbie in this game but it will be a good problem for me to have Torres fit again, Gerrard and everyone else fit.”
Alvaro Arbeloa scored his second career goal for Liverpool by sealing the victory with a well-taken strike in injury time. However, the Spanish full-back also picked up his fifth league booking of the season and will miss Saturday’s trip to Bolton.
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