Keegan: Robbie on road to greatness

KEVIN KEEGAN has tipped Robbie Keane to become one of the game’s great strikers — even if he cannot call the Irishman a typical centre-forward.

Keane and fellow early 20s veteran Nicolas Anelka come face to face at Maine Road on Monday when Spurs travel to Manchester City looking to maintain their push for a European berth.

Both strikers have endured a less than stable start to their careers despite earning international recognition as teenagers and establishing themselves among the game's top predators.

While attitude problems were cited as the major factor behind Anelka's rapid movement between Arsenal, Real Madrid, PSG and Liverpool before he eventually decamped at City in the summer, Keane's individual approach is seen as the reason for his transfers from Wolves, Coventry, Inter Milan and Leeds, where he left in August for a £7m switch to Tottenham.

Finally though, both men appear to have found some stability. Anelka is currently City's top scorer with eight goals and has had Keegan purring with pride, while Keane has struck the target five times as Glenn Hoddle looks to end two decades of under-achievement at White Hart Lane.

"Robbie can go on to become one of the game's great strikers," said Keegan.

"I like him as a player always have from the day he broke onto the scene at Wolves.

"You can't really call him a centre-forward because he drifts about all over the place but you tend to forget how young he is.

"In that sense, he is just like Nicolas Anelka. In effect you have two veteran 22-23-year-old's playing against each other.

"They have been around a long time but they are still young and they will get better."

Just as Keegan was not put off a record move for Anelka during the summer, he doesn't see Keane's wanderlust as a negative either.

"He has moved around a lot but half of that has been out of his control as it can be in football sometimes," said Keegan.

"But he seems to have settled in very quickly at Spurs, which is something he didn't do in Italy and he didn't really do at Leeds. Maybe now he has found the right club."

With the usual glut of fixtures to come over the festive season, Keegan acknowledges how vital it is to hit a good run of form.

"It's a very interesting season because usually at this time of year you can predict roughly where teams are going to finish," he said.

"This year though, apart from knowing Arsenal, Manchester United, Chelsea and possibly Liverpool are going to be battling at the top, the rest is up for grabs.

"Even clubs like Aston Villa and Leeds will be looking at the fifth and sixth place positions and thinking they can get there."