ANALYSIS:The Dubliner knows the Liverpool way and has the potential to form a great understanding with his new team-mates, writes Mark Lawrenson.

THE SIGNIFICANCE of the decision to hand Robbie Keane the number seven jersey at Liverpool will not be lost on the player or the supporters. A handful of players have arrived at Anfield billed as the new (Kenny ) Dalglish, a label foisted on them by the media.

No player needs that sort of pressure and I'm sure Keane will be quick to distance himself from any comparisons. He is not the new Dalglish, but what Rafa Benitez has bought is a quality, mature professional, with a proven record in the Premiership, who could potentially add a different dimension to his new club's attacking gambits.

The key for Keane will be to try and get into the teens in terms of goals next season. During his career he's occasionally gone 10 or 12 games without scoring and there's no way he'll want to suffer a streak like that at a new club.

In his six years at Tottenham he matured as a player, and last season was probably his most effective, thanks in no small part to Dimitar Berbatov.

He'll be hoping to replicate that sort of understanding with Fernando Torres.

Keane is a clever footballer who is at his most threatening in and around the 18-yard box; quick feet and good instincts make him a very dangerous proposition for the opposition. Playing alongside the likes of Javier Mascherano, Steven Gerrard and Torres will appeal to him and he should profit from their undoubted quality.

Gerrard has been Mr Liverpool for the past eight years, a wonderful player with great vision and drive, but until the arrival of Torres didn't really have an outlet for his excellent passing game. Keane's arrival will give Gerrard another target and I wouldn't be surprised if they developed a good understanding.

Benitez came to the conclusion his strike force lacked balance. He sold Peter Crouch and - based on the end of last season - regards Dirk Kuyt as a right-sided player.

Keane's arrival is likely to permit the Liverpool manager to adopt the 4-2-3-1 system he preferred at Valencia and occasionally rolled out at Anfield.

It should see Keane play at the tip of a midfield three, just behind Torres. The Irishman can play up front on his own but is limited in what he could achieve.

He's most influential playing through the middle corridor of the pitch; basically the width of the 18-yard box.

Torres can create goals for himself, as he demonstrated last season, and on paper would appear a perfect foil for Keane, the latter a clever footballer who knows what he can do and, perhaps more importantly, what he can't.

Last season Manchester United piled players forward in a very attack-orientated strategy, one that received its reward with the Premiership and Champions League titles.

The penny appears to have dropped with Benitez that Liverpool drew far too many matches, because they were a little bit too defensive in approach - hence the signing of Keane.

It's not necessarily about being cavalier, but the manager has to trust in players like Mascherano and Gerrard to fulfil their duties, defensively and in attack, and still include a player like Keane who is clever enough in the final third of the pitch to prise open the opposition.

It won't harm Keane that he was a boyhood fan of the club. He'll have a good appreciation of the history, the tradition in terms of players and style of football, and will be able to identify with the aspirations of the supporters.

I've no doubt when he walks out for his first training session he'll feel quite comfortable in the new environment.

There is no doubt that signing a quality player does have a positive knock-on effect in the dressingroom. It's not as if Benitez is taking a chance on a player who might not cope with the rough and tumble of the Premiership; Keane has already proven his ability to thrive in that environment.

Keane can make a difference to Liverpool but he must get his scoring boots on quickly and chip in about 15 goals. No one will care about the money if he manages to fulfil that remit.