Monday, February 2, 2009

Statement

Long before Robbie Keane's official return to Spurs, he was gone. You could even see the smile on his face when he was in the stands during the Chelsea game. He must've known he was getting rid of his boyhood dream/nightmare.

Keane was never at his best at Liverpool. His partnership with Torres hardly got going and he was not able to play in his prefered position. One might argue that he was not played enough. And that he got to play only because Torres was injured for most part of the first half of the season. People might compare the Keane situation to the Berbatov situation at United. Berba took sometime to settle in but Sir Alex continued to play him and now they are gelling as a team. Perhaps Rafa should've done the same thing.

But this one goes beyond Robbie Keane. Its all about the man-Rafael Benitez. According to his comments in the recent past, it was Rick Parry and not Rafa who got Keane to Anfield. This clearly frustrated Benitez since the purchase of Keane meant a certain Gareth Barry would not be heading to Anfield.

Benitez did not play Keane and was even dropped for many crucial matches, the latest being the Chelsea game.

The reason is simple-Keane was NOT Benitez's player.

Now that its looking more and more likely that the owners are giving Benitez complete control over transfers, I think, the sale of Keane was a test of character for the American owners. More like an audition before Benitez signs his new contract.

Keane out-Round 1 belongs to Benitez. Statement made.

I guess the real Rafa-lution starts now.

5 comments:

TT said...

Rafa-lution my head :D

Keane was simply wasted at pool. thnx to the adamant rafa. one more season at pool would've destroyed keane complete. Good that he's going back to where he belongs and where he's loved.

Raghu (a.k.a Salvatore)™ said...

The only way Benitez will win a round if either he or the owners depart Liverpool.

This was a mistake, as we discussed before it happened. Let's not even get started on the money.

Medium sized fish, small pond. Lots of dollars/pounds/euros floating around, sadly.

Vivek aka Pisciotta said...

@Tej : As I said, this wasnt about Keane at all. It was all about Benitez and his control over transfers. Keane was just a guinea pig to prove that.

@Raghu : The moment Benitez started dominating the owners regarding the transfer policy, he started winning(not the games). He'll win round 2 when he signs his new contract. Now that the owners appear to have agreed to his transfer policy, I believe he has won round 1.
As far as the owners departing Liverpool, I believe this will happen sooner rather than later.
This was never about the money. Not since Barry's move to Anfield collapsed.

Raghu (a.k.a Salvatore)™ said...

money i meant - the price of keane when liverpool got him. pond = spurs. you know the fish, i think.

one will never know if he was rafa's player or not.

Why are we wasting time on this rafa when the better one should be the talk of the town?

Vivek aka Pisciotta said...

Well, agree with you on that. pond? more like a bath tub I would say.

The only thing Keane did wrong was to come to Liverpool before Barry came. Had Barry come to Anfield, none of this nonsense would've taken place.

The better Rafa needs no debating :P