I’ve stuck up a lot for Robbie Keane on this blog, but I’ve an increasingly nagging feeling that he’s just never going to produce the goods in his second spell at White Hart Lane.
He looked really off the pace against Arsenal, although admittedly it didn’t help that he was being employed in a role that required him to drift off to the left of the Tottenham attack.
Keane’s looked at his best this season when playing alongside Defoe, which is something that I never thought I’d write. However, this is mainly because Keane and Crouch have looked like a less than ideal partnership when paired together.
There’s been talk of Keane being shipped out in January. I’d personally be very surprised if this happened, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Keane leaves at the end of the season, if his form doesn’t improve.
The whole situation with him hasn’t been made easier by the fact that Harry named Keane as captain and therefore to a certain extent, he seems undroppable. At other clubs it is the strikers that are rotated more often than any other position and with the four players we’ve got, we should be in a position where each striker knows that they will be on the bench if they don’t produce the goods.
If Keane were to be transferred we would be in the market for a similar type of player that could link up play between the midfield and the attack. The answer might be right under our noses.
Modric has been employed in such a role in the past and though it wasn’t particularly successful, it might prove to be more so, if the Croatian was playing behind Defoe rather than Bent or Pavlyuchenko.
Then there’s Dos Santos, who’s never had a real run in our team, but had undoubted ability. I’ve got my doubts as to whether he’s got the defensive capabilities required to play on the flanks, but a floating role behind the main strikers might suit him.
This is also true of the on-loan Adel Taarabt who is currently impressing on-loan at QPR. He is never going to be suited to playing in midfield in a 4-4-2 formation, but he can do real damage playing just off the striker.
Here’s some recent footage of Taarabt in action. He certainly looks more animated than Robbie Keane of late.
Taarabt can take free kicks!! Get him back at the Lane ASAP!!
I had read somewhere that Adel still wants to leave Tottenham once his loan spell is over. I would be very sad if that happens. The boy possesses a lot of quality but seems to be a hothead. Then again, he is just a boy.
COYS!!!