Keano Beano & The Super-Subs

By: Nick Gani

A few musings on last night’s round of games. First of all, nothing extraordinary about Chelsea’s win over Coventry City in the FA Cup 6th round. Everything about the game, down to the score (2-0 to Chelsea), and Drogba scoring, was predictable.

The only Premiership game last nite was Sunderland vs Tottenham Hotspur. What a remarkable comeback by Spurs after being 0-1 down for a huge part of the game! Sure, they probably didn’t deserve the result, and Sunderland was probably guilty of not killing off the game earlier, but it was an amazing strike from a player who must be dizzy from his own ups and downs this season.

It makes you wonder, how a player of Keane’s calibre and talent flopped with Liverpool, but upon returning to his former club, he’s back on top form again. Goals in consecutive games and downright an important one in last night’s game. A last minute (normal time) goal gives Spurs a valuable point in their fight to avoid the drop in what have been a hugely disappointing season for them (they were, after all, predicted to be the team to break the Big Four monopoly this season). In my opinion, Rafa Benitez was probably a little bit too quick to offload Keane. But now, we are left to wonder, would Keane have turned out to be an important player for Liverpool, had he been given more time to settle in? (Remember how Drogba sucked in his first season at Chelsea, but returned with a bang the following season and have been an important player for them ever since?) After all, we did see a few glimpses of his talent during his short time with the Reds. Goals against Arsenal at the Emirates immediately come to mind.

Fulham vs Manchester United. One of the reasons for Man U’s success in winning the league and the Champions League last season was the triple attack of Ronaldo, Roonie and Tevez. However, with the arrival of Berbatov this season, Tevez has unfortunately been relegated to the sub’s bench. I pity Tevez, really. He could walk into the first eleven of any big clubs in the world, and based on last night’s performance, Tevez really deserves to play more often. Even with Ronaldo rested and therefore missing from the game, Tevez’s link up play and understanding with Rooney was apparent. Imagine what it would have been like if Man U’s triumvirate were to start together.

Sure, I can understand Fergie’s reasoning. Ideally, you would like to have excellent cover in every position. And with Fergie’s attacking philosophy which employs two strikers, that means you need to have four quality strikers in the team (Rooney, Berbatov, Tevez, Wellbeck, and ocassionaly, Ronaldo or Giggs would play upfront too). I remember a time, specifically the treble-winning year of 1999, when Man U had Andy Cole and Dwight Yorke starting, and Solskjaer and Sheringham coming off the bench. Now that’s what I call a quality bench! At that time, there were no problems whatsoever, selection-wise and in dealing with the player’s ego and desire to play in every game. Solskjaer was contented enough to play the supersub role, and Sheringham was already
at the beginning of the end of his career. With interest from Real Madrid and other big clubs, I wonder how long would Tevez remain a Man U player.