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Rafa: “Keane settling in”

Published by Zac Lee Rigg on August 16, 2008

The bulk of Liverpool’s transfer kitty this summer has been spent on Republic of Ireland striker Robbie Keane. The 28 year old left White Hart Lane with £20.3m heading back the other way to Tottenham.

Manager Rafa Benitez sees positive signs already from his new signing, despite no goals in pre-season and the first Champion’s League qualifier.

“He is okay - training really well and hard,” he told Liverpoolfc.tv. “He will need time, as always, to get an understanding with [Fernando] Torres and get to know all of his teammates.”

Once that happens, Benitez expects Keane to add a hefty dose of potency to his attack, but refused to comment on his proposed formation.

“It depends on the games. Keane has good movement in between the lines but also up front. We can play with both up front or maybe just one.

“For a manager, when the ball is in attack, everything depends on the players you have. When you have players with quality and game intelligence like Keane and Torres it makes it easier for me, so maybe I will enjoy it.”

Liverpool have brough in another striker this transfer window, the less-known and vastly cheaper David Ngog. Plucked up on the cheap from PSG in France, Ngog shows some of the extent of the scouting network Benitez has been building in his 4 years at Anfield, and his new manager has high hopes for the Frenchman.

“Yes, we knew when we bought him that he was a good player,” Benitez said. “Watching him in every training session, you see different things. You see his quality and I think he’s also been pretty good in the games. He will be a good player for us for the rest of the season and hopefully for the future.”

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