Liverpool Football Club News

• Nickname:Reds
• Founded:1892
• Manager:Kenny Dalglish

• Ground:Anfield
• Capacity:45,362

Rafa explains Keane decision

03 Feb 2009 - 12:48:00

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Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez says he allowed Robbie Keane to leave the club and rejoin Spurs after a matter of months as he could not fit into the Reds' team plan.

The 28-year-old Irishman scored seven goals in 28 appearances following his arrival at Anfield last summer, but had struggled to find the form which made him a £20million transfer target for the Reds.

Benitez told the club's official website: "Sometimes good players cannot settle down in the team and when this happens, you have to consider the situation and try to react quickly.

"If it is not good for the team then it is better for everyone to make a decision. Because of the situation in the transfer market and for the opportunity for the player we had to do it now.

"I have to analyse things and try to look at the bigger picture and this means thinking of the club and the team and what is best for them.

"We still have Ryan Babel, David Ngog and Dirk Kuyt as well as Fernando Torres. It is a risk but the situation was not good and we needed to do something.

"Now I would like to wish Robbie the best because, although things did not work out, he has been working hard for us.

"He was trying to do his best and the key was that Spurs showed a lot of interest and they were pushing really hard for him.

"The player needed to play and he was not doing that as much as he would have liked with us.

"But I cannot criticise him in any way because, as I have said, he tried to do his best for us."