School's sports debate

Keane's failure at Liverpool - whose fault, Rafa's or Robbie's?

Alan Devery (14), from Gallen Community School in Offaly, says:

ROBBIE'S:IN MY opinion Robbie Keane's failure at Liverpool was partly his own fault and partly Rafa's fault because at the beginning of his short spell at Liverpool he wasn't playing well and, most of all, he just wasn't scoring enough goals.

For example, when Liverpool were playing Atletico Madrid in Madrid in the Champions League Robbie scored, but shortly afterwards he squandered another great chance by trying to back-heel the ball into the net and completely missed it.

The match ended 1-1 and afterwards the football pundits were criticising Robbie’s error.

If he had simply tapped the ball in the net, Liverpool would have probably won and Robbie would have been hailed as a top goalscorer.

Up until mid-December, Robbie was in poor form by his standards. Then Liverpool were playing Arsenal at the Emirates and Robbie scored the equaliser with a great finish and also, on St Stephen’s Day, when Liverpool were playing Bolton at home he scored twice.

This meant that he had scored three times in two games and the Kop faithful were thinking that now Robbie was getting back to top form. But while he was hitting the goals Rafa was recuperating and when he returned Robbie was almost immediately dropped to the subs bench.

I felt this must have been very disheartening and a confidence blow for Robbie as he seemed to be going through a good spell. This is why I feel Rafa had a part to play in why Robbie was a failure at Liverpool.

Who knows what might have been if Robbie was playing in the matches following the Bolton game?

Maybe he would have kept scoring and playing well, or maybe he would have gone back to his poor form in front of goal?

And so came the January transfer window. During the whole month and a day and a half of February, there was speculation over Robbie’s future, with reports of a move back to Tottenham. With the close of the window getting closer and closer, and no certainty over Keane’s future, Liverpool fans who wanted him to stay (like me) thought they could breathe a little easier.

That was until the 2nd of February, the last day of the transfer window, when reports came in that Robbie had missed training for Liverpool and had gone to London to talk to Tottenham about a possible move back to White Harte Lane.

This was completely his own choice. Of course he had Liverpool’s consent, but he had a choice to stay and fight for his place at Liverpool or go back to Tottenham. He chose to go back to Spurs. This is another major factor that, for me, points to it being Robbie’s own fault that he was a failure at Liverpool.

Both sides of this argument have pros and cons, but I have come to the conclusion that it was mainly Robbie’s fault that he was a failure at Liverpool.

Sean O’Reilly (16), from Templeogue College in Dublin, says:

RAFAS: IN MY opinion it was Rafa's fault that Robbie Keane failed at Anfield. Keane is a player of undisputed quality. Over the course of his illustrious career he has always managed to score goals. Although he has moved around a fair bit since his entry into football, you know what you are getting with a player like Keano. He is bright, never stops running and will always get you a goal out of nothing.

His ability to score and provide goals is his strength, but he is also shrewd in knowing when the ball should be played and when to move into space. More than just a goalscorer, Keano is a really big and important character to have around in the dressing room. He provides encouragement to all his team-mates and helps new foreign players settle in.

Robbie has played top flight football for most of his career and is the highest scoring Irish international player ever. He has attracted interest from the top clubs, like Inter Milan and Liverpool.

Last summer Liverpool made a bid of £20 million for the Irishman and Spurs reluctantly allowed their captain to go to the club he supported as a boy.

After an eventful season with Tottenham, in which Keane helped the lilywhites win the League Cup, it was no wonder that he was the top transfer target for the reds.

Many Liverpudlians believed that Robbie was the firepower that Liverpool needed to win the title. But very early into the season things began to turn sour for Keane. He was struggling to emulate his performances for Tottenham and he hadn’t scored.

Everyone who follows English football knows that Rafa is a no-nonsense manager who finds it necessary to rotate the squad regularly. This resulted in Keane starting fewer games as the season progressed and when he did start he was usually subbed off after the 60-minute mark.

Strikers need games to settle into their new clubs and to gain confidence. Keane obviously couldn’t do this warming the bench. Despite scoring two goals against Bolton and a screamer against Arsenal, Keane was dropped. Football pundits and players were amazed at his treatment.

Finally, to the disgust of Irish football fans, Rafa nonchalantly said during an interview that Keane wasn’t his signing. From then on Keane’s days on Merseyside were numbered. Keane left for Tottenham where I have no doubt he will find his form and score plenty of goals.

Rafa never gave Keane a chance. He was too preoccupied with arguments with Rick Parry (Liverpool chief executive). He wanted Gareth Barry first and then Keane. When this didn’t happen he became stubborn and unfortunately vented his frustration and impatience on Robbie. I’ve no doubt, after seeing Keane’s recent display against Georgia, Benitez will eventually regret selling Keane.