The Los Angeles Galaxy's newest prized possession has arrived in California with high expectations.
After the Galaxy did not get the return on Juan Pablo Angel they thought they would, the club brought in Irish national team striker Robbie Keane to do some of the heavy lifting up front while Landon Donovan, David Beckham and Juninho help create for the front-running team in the race for the Supporters' Shield.
While not all Designated Player strikers have come into Major League Soccer and met their lofty expectations, few boast a resume such as Keane's, which includes being his country's all-time leading scorer and 123 goals in England's Premier League — good for 10th all-time.
Considering he should be in uniform for the Galaxy's match against San Jose this Saturday, it's only a matter of time until it's clear whether that success will carry over into MLS.
How do you think Keane will do with the Galaxy? Cast your vote after the jump:
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How did you vote? How do you see Keane faring with the Galaxy?
Share your thoughts below.
Keane just played a full 90 in Ireland’s 0-0 match against Croatia. Spent the summer training with Spurs. Should be good to go for what, 65-70 minutes tomorrow night.
If Keano’s worried about keeping focused on soccer, his wife can stay at my place.
Keane is gonna be on fire. He is healthy and is game fit thanks to Ireland. None of these other stars where in this position coming. Plus he is only 31! That is still well in the prime of these players, towards the end though.
And let’s be honest — David Beckham has worn the Galaxy jersey rather less often than most Chivas USA fans!
I can safely predict that Keane won’t totally suck — provided, that is, that he spends far less time focusing on European loan deals, testimonial games, famous people’s weddings, and his hair and nails than a certain other British Isles import who has occasionally played for the Galaxy when he can be bothered to show up!
As much as people want to say that foreigners are in for a shock matching up with an overly physical MLS defenders, I think it’s a bit of a non-factor…the truth of the matter is that defenders in England are faster, stronger and more physical. Goal poachers and players that make a living off movement off the ball and being pests in and around the box such as…Dirk with pool, keano and players of the like will always be able score. I look forward to keano being in the top 3 in scoring if not at the top.
Only 17 of Keane’s 123 Premiership goals came via penalty. I can’t think of a time when he was ever his team’s primary penalty taker.
He’ll kill it. He’ll take it seriously and he still has a lot to offer.
Can’t wait till next season when teams can pay for young U-20 superstars at lower prices. XD
I pick option 5: Keane scores 0 goals, but Chad Barrett scores 15 from now to end of season.
Angel at least could always be counted on to be good locker room guy. Keane, not so much …
Keane’s form with Ireland has been brilliant–something like 8 goals in his last 7 starts for them.
His form at West Ham is deceiving. Although he did miss a few sitters, his number of appearances there is deceiving. He made “13” appearances, with ten of them coming off the bench. In the 3 starts he got, he scored two goals.
Keane isn’t past it yet. He can still play at a very high level.
And as things currently stand, Ireland has a very realistic shot at qualifying for Euro 2012 (even on points with Russia and Slovakia with 4 games left to play in the group).
I think he’ll do well. He’s a little past his prime at 31, and his club form has gone down in recent years. Overall, this is a good move for him, MLS, and the Galaxy.
just hope he’s hungry to prove himself here, ready to work hard and get after it. if he is, he’ll do very well, don’t you think?
Becks will probably stay on for 1-2 more years, based on what he’s been suggesting lately. He’d be silly to try and go somewhere else and be a starter, let alone make significant $$$ there like he is/would with the Galaxy.
One thing that led Becks to do poorly that should be remembered was that he was still trying to play with England and had to travel trans-Atlantic a lot. Henry, on the other hand, made it very clear when he came to MLS he was retiring from international play. It’s fine that Keane’s still playing for Ireland, but long travel means he might be gone a lot, especially with Euro 2012 qualifiers coming up, and Euro 2012 itself next summer during MLS play.
KEANO! KEANO! KEANO!
I know that chant is usually reserved for Roy at least amongst Man Utd fans but I think Robbie will do well.
I think Becks plans on reupping with the Galaxy for at least 1 and maybe 2 more years….
What will he do for service when Becks says goodbye to LA next season? Maybe the Yankees, oops, I mean Galaxy, will go after Brad Davis.
I think he’ll do more in CCL
I want to see him do well, but when I watched him with West Ham last year he was flat out awful. His main contribution seemed to be shockingly missed sitters. His miss against Blackburn from about three yards basically sealed West Ham’s relegation and was particularly memorable.
I don’t know, maybe his head just wasn’t in the right place with all of the moving around he’d done in the last couple of years and then being stuck on a pretty bad West Ham team. Hopefully he’ll feel more settled and confident in L.A.
Next year will be the big test to see if Keane is a success. He’s rested up from the summer so he’ll be rested for the post season run.
The league’s rough and tumble play won’t be much of a problem. Summer heat and the travel will be the biggest adjustments. I’ve seen my relatives from Ireland wilt in the heat here. Keane is in much better shape than they are but they aren’t playing matches in Dallas or Houston in July.
If he stays fit and applies himself, he’ll excel. His skill set is made for MLS. But if he’s constantly injured or treats this like a vacation, he’ll be a flop.
I don’t like your name in reference to your comment *shutters*
This poll is silly…is it supposed to mean from this point forward. Do we expect him to catch up to LDs 10 goals
THERE’S ONLY ONE LUKE RODGERS!!!
He could be precisely 3 goals worse the Juan Pablo Angel, but who’s counting?
Can’t wait for that first cartwheel!
It is hard to imagine that Keane won’t do well. Although he has not played a lot for Tottenham, he has continued to score a lot of goals for Ireland. At the Galaxy he has an excellent manager and several offensive players who will provide excellent service. I don’t know what kind of value for money he will provide, but it would be a big surprise if he didn’t score a lot of goals.
Unlike Beckham, who came into a club that had no idea how to work at the level he was used to – Keane’s coming into a well-organized, well-focused professional team. This isn’t 2005.
What’s even better is that he’s coming into a winning team, already in first place. The team is getting along. The years of drama stemming from Beckham’s on-again, off-again relationship with the Galaxy are kind of hard to see from all the way at the top of the table.
Keane’s going to be allowed to have fun – get in there, score some goals, do some cart-wheels. He’ll be fine!
It’s really all about the service he’ll be receiving, and I don’t think he’ll get the ball on the ground at his feet as much as he’ll need to meet the expectations of many fans.
As Beckham gets older, he slides further back to the middle and is content to whip long balls up top, thus forcing Keane to play target man with little support.
I’m sure he’ll do fine, but for the price they are paying, LA should try to figure out how to serve the ball to him on the ground around the box.
Not too much risk really. They have plenty of money and dumped off a player who he can’t really do much worse than.
The reason #2 is the right answer (good, but not as good as Landon) is because I expect Landon will continue to take penalty kicks for the Galaxy. That alone gives Donovan the edge and removes a significant source of goals for Keane throughout his career.
Unlike the other notable Euro-signings, a major point to not overlook:
He’s coming to MLS **healthy**.
Hard to say, is he going to be all alone upfront?
Off topic: When will we see the list of players called into camp for the next US friendlies? I am guessing some time between next Monday, and Wednesday. Dying to see who Klinsi brings into camp.
I don’t see any reason why he shouldn’t excel. Talented group to help get him the ball, and he’s one of those strikers who just has a nose for the goal and always finds himself in the right place.
He looked good last year bagging a goal against the Red Bulls during the Barclays Cup…
Stalker alert.
Keane has a history of being a difficult player and he’s now a difficult player on the downside of his career. His level of play has been declining pretty rapidly. This could actually blow up in Galaxy’s and Arena’s face … Bit of a high risk high payoff move.
Is Keane smuggling breakfast sausages in his shorts?
Don’t disagree with you, but….
Luke Rodgers is in 12th place.
What’s the over/under until the first big fight with Arena?
Robbie Keane is better than Luke Rodgers and his service will be better, so I expect him to put up good numbers for LA. Another solid pickup for the league.
Was he part of preseason training with a club in Europe before coming over? How fit is he right now? That dude just knows how to score goals, but needs match fitness. I have no clue where he stands with that. Won’t be shocked if he scores on his debut regardless.
Like Becks and Henry and others before him, he’ll take some time to adapt, and anything the Gals get from him this year will be a bonus. I just hope he came to play, not because his wife wanted to live in LA for her modeling career.
can’t do any worse than Juan Pablo Angel.
I think he’ll do well from the start.
It will take a while for him to adapt to the MLS style of play and become effective. On the positive side, he could not haven chosen a better group of “serving” players to set him up for success.
31 is a good age. Same age as Angel when he set the league on fire with 3 good seasons before the wheels came off. A 37 year old Henry will be painful to watch.
He’s in for a shock. Most of these aging euros don’t know what they’re getting themselves into. Very few of them are immediate successes.
He’s going to make more of an impact next year than the remainder of this year.
good