Robbie Keane's time at Liverpool is one that the player regrets. Not necessarily the move itself, but he certainly feels that things could have worked out a lot better for him at Anfield.
He arrived on Merseyside billed as the perfect strike partner for Fernando Torres. However, it soon became clear Rafael Benitez didn't really see it that way.
Keane was forced to play wide left in pre-season, the first clue that he didn't exactly fit into the manager's plans. While he did get a run in the team after Torres picked up an injury, he was soon dropped as Benitez favoured playing Steven Gerrard just behind the Spaniard.
It seems the Irish striker never really clicked with the Liverpool manager. Benitez's meticulous nature wasn't one that was all that well suited to Keane's style of play, as this story proves.
Keane appeared on 'Gary Neville's Soccerbox' when he described a meeting he had with the boss after a game against West Brom. It was a match in which he Liverpool won, he scored two goals, and earned man-of-the-match honours. Benitez still wasn't happy
Here's how Keane describes what happened:
Rafa wasn't one to put his arm around you and go 'you were brilliant today'.
Rather than that, we played West Brom and I scored two and we won. Two goals made from my movement in behind.
Then he pulls me into the office and goes 'I know all of the papers said you played well and got man-of-the-match, but I don't think you did'.
I asked for what reason, and he said 'I don't think your movement was that good'. I told him that the two goals were from my movement, and he told me to go watch a video.
I left his office and went to the video man's little room. He's going through the clips telling me what I should be doing.
I said to him 'show me my two goals, don't be showing me stupid little clips that you can just pull out of any game'.
He showed me the goals, I asked him where they were from, and he said 'movement'. I said 'thank you', got up and walked off.
Keane was left out of the squad for the following game. It was then that he knew he had no future at Liverpool under Benitez.
He would leave in the January transfer window, scoring five goals in 19 appearances.
