Rafa: Don't repeat this to anyone, but I'm planning on building this club around Dirk KuytRobbie: Say what?
I'm seriously considering devoting my blog to the rigorous study of every single word written and spoken by Eamonn Dunphy. He's nothing if not controversial -- though some may argue that that's all he is, but I respectfully disagree -- and so it would be interesting to tackle the issues that Eamonn Dunphy sees fit for rants that more often than not break the law of non-contradiction. Example: Rant 1 - "Gerrard was found out tonight - a nothing player"; Rant 2 - "Gerrard is a top, top player."
This week in Eamonn's Daily Star column, he unabashedly declares that he'd rather have Robbie Keane in his side than Cristiano Ronaldo. Had he said this when Robbie was at the top of his game, well, it would still be absolute maddness. That's not to say I disagree mind you. I mean I would rather have Robbie Jackson on my team than Cristiano Ronaldo. But I don't argue that based on footballing reasons. I argue based on my unrivalled dislike of the Portuguese plonker. Dunphy on the other hand chose to go down the footballing route when trying to persuade his readers that Keane is better than Ronaldo, but at this point in time that's pretty much a lost cause.
He argues that Keane is a more intelligent footballer than Ronaldo, which I think is true. But then, who isn't a more intelligent footballer than Ronaldo? Put Stephen Hawking on a football pitch and I'm sure he'd have a much better footballing brain than Ronaldo. However, it wouldn't count for much in the grand scheme of things, and so it doesn't really count for Robbie, who might as well be sitting on a wheelchair for the 70 odd minutes that Rafa puts up with his headless chickenness.
Of course its not all Robbie's fault that he's doing so poorly. For starters, he's not a lone striker, and he never will be. Out of all the the qualities that make up a good lone striker, Robbie Keane possesses the following:
- none
He's slow, small, and weak. I don't think I need a fourth to show you that he's just not cut out to be a Didier Drogba type, or even a Fernando Torres type. And speaking of the overrated (yes, overrated) Torres, he is certainly not the kind of striking partner that Keane flourishes alongside. Keane needs a Niall Quinn, a Dimitar Berbatov, a Gary Doher...OK that's probably pushing it, but he needs someone who can nod the ball on, and someone with an intelligent football brain to link up with. In my opinion, Torres possesses neither of those qualities. There's a certain intelligence to his game alright, but not the kind that Keane can work efficiently with.
For me, the bottom line is that Keane and Torres will most likely never work. I may be proved wrong, but I just can't see them gelling. Can you? Robbie followed his heart by moving to Liverpool, but if he used his head he would have realised that his game just doesn't suit the "Liverpool way", and he would have either stayed at Tottenham or moved elsewhere. I certainly don't begrudge him joining the Reds, but if he finds himself struggling for form and out of favour, then at the end of the day he has nobody to blame but himself.
This week in Eamonn's Daily Star column, he unabashedly declares that he'd rather have Robbie Keane in his side than Cristiano Ronaldo. Had he said this when Robbie was at the top of his game, well, it would still be absolute maddness. That's not to say I disagree mind you. I mean I would rather have Robbie Jackson on my team than Cristiano Ronaldo. But I don't argue that based on footballing reasons. I argue based on my unrivalled dislike of the Portuguese plonker. Dunphy on the other hand chose to go down the footballing route when trying to persuade his readers that Keane is better than Ronaldo, but at this point in time that's pretty much a lost cause.
He argues that Keane is a more intelligent footballer than Ronaldo, which I think is true. But then, who isn't a more intelligent footballer than Ronaldo? Put Stephen Hawking on a football pitch and I'm sure he'd have a much better footballing brain than Ronaldo. However, it wouldn't count for much in the grand scheme of things, and so it doesn't really count for Robbie, who might as well be sitting on a wheelchair for the 70 odd minutes that Rafa puts up with his headless chickenness.
Of course its not all Robbie's fault that he's doing so poorly. For starters, he's not a lone striker, and he never will be. Out of all the the qualities that make up a good lone striker, Robbie Keane possesses the following:
- none
He's slow, small, and weak. I don't think I need a fourth to show you that he's just not cut out to be a Didier Drogba type, or even a Fernando Torres type. And speaking of the overrated (yes, overrated) Torres, he is certainly not the kind of striking partner that Keane flourishes alongside. Keane needs a Niall Quinn, a Dimitar Berbatov, a Gary Doher...OK that's probably pushing it, but he needs someone who can nod the ball on, and someone with an intelligent football brain to link up with. In my opinion, Torres possesses neither of those qualities. There's a certain intelligence to his game alright, but not the kind that Keane can work efficiently with.
For me, the bottom line is that Keane and Torres will most likely never work. I may be proved wrong, but I just can't see them gelling. Can you? Robbie followed his heart by moving to Liverpool, but if he used his head he would have realised that his game just doesn't suit the "Liverpool way", and he would have either stayed at Tottenham or moved elsewhere. I certainly don't begrudge him joining the Reds, but if he finds himself struggling for form and out of favour, then at the end of the day he has nobody to blame but himself.
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