Robbie Keane Reveals the True Reason Why His 'Disaster' Stint With Liverpool Nosedived

Things never quite worked out for former Republic of Ireland striker Robbie Keane during his time at Liverpool, and now - thanks to an interview the 37-year-old gave to Scottish writer Graham Hunter (via Pundit Arena) - the true reason to why his career nosedived on Merseyside has been revealed.

The Reds' boss at the time was Rafa Benitez, and Keane - who as it is known is a clinical centre-forward - was used in an experimental fashion by the Spanish manager, a clueless attitude which somewhat baffled the distinguished offensive veteran.

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“He wanted to change me to a left winger and I mean I am clearly not a left winger, and that is obviously clear for everyone to see." He said.

“The first 20 minutes he wanted me to play left wing and obviously I had never played it before, so it was new to me.”

But, despite being deployed in an alien role by Benitez, the Dubliner does respect him as a manager, lauding him as one of the best he had worked with in his career.

Keane proceeded to add: “Of course I respect every manager I’ve worked with. They all have their ideas, different ideas, and whether I agree with them it doesn’t matter.

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“I’m not a left-winger, as we’ve established from 20 years of playing football, but tactically he was probably one of the best I’ve worked with – he knows the game inside out.

“But he tried to turn me into something I’m not, and that was always going to be a recipe for disaster as someone used to scoring goals.”