Stapleton: Robbie can be Ireland’s Solskjaer

Frank Stapleton believes Robbie Keane can still contribute to Ireland’s World Cup campaign, even if Giovanni Trapattoni decides the LA Galaxy man is no longer an automatic starter in the team.

Former Manchester United and Arsenal legend Stapleton, who was also a renowned goalscorer for his county, says adapting to different requirements is something all top players need to be able to handle as they begin to close in on the final stages of their career.

“It comes to us all,” he says, “but at the same time I think that Robbie would still be delighted to be part of it. And he is realistic enough to know that he won’t be always starting and that he may be thrown in in games to try and turn things round if there is a problem. I think you have to come to terms with that. It is not easy but you have got to be realistic in the modern game.

“It’s down to him staying fit. He knows how competitive it is at international level. He may not be getting that level of fitness at club level but at some point you can switch on to that.

“It doesn’t mean that you will be as sharp but we still shouldn’t dismiss what Robbie has to offer because he has experience and he did so much during his career, for Ireland mainly.”

Stapleton, who is nowadays part of the Irish management’s scouting network, believes that even if Keane is not on the pitch from the start, Ireland’s record-breaking goalscorer can still make a big difference coming off the bench.

“Managers tend to look for that when you are chasing matches, where you can come on and be quite fresh for the last 20 minutes,” he said. “As long as you have been tuned into the game, you can make an impact, like [Ole Gunnar] Solskjaer used to do at United.”

Speaking in Dublin to help promote ESPN’s Premier League coverage, Stapleton said he doesn’t know precisely how Trapattoni plans to use Keane for the remainder of the World Cup qualifying campaign but he is certain that the manager will want to keep him in the mix.

“Transition is the word but how do you find a replacement? How do you find someone who is going to give you goals to win matches.

“At the moment, we need one or two of the other lads who are coming through to all of a sudden have a spurt and start scoring at that level.

“I know people might ask, ‘should Robbie be starting?’ I don’t know whether the manager is going to start him or not and certainly this game against Poland [at the Aviva on February 6] is the chance to give somebody else the chance.

“Robbie can give his thoughts on who you are playing and he has value even on the bench.”