How do you separate Robson and Keane?

jdmufc

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inspired by my "if you could bring one player back" thread

what exactly separates Robson from Keane,how do you decide who was the best between the two of them.

both of them driven by a pure desire to win,both could take a match by the scruff of the neck,both could turn a match on their own,both inspired those around them.

how the hell do you separate them??
 
You don't.

This has been done so many times and you'll get a pretty much even split I'm sure. Both incredible players.
 
The fact Robbo did it with a much poorer team around him, scored more goals, drunk more beer and shagged more women.
 
On a serious note though, it's almost impossible because of the vastly different standards of teams they played in during their primes.

Keane was able to take an incredibly good bunch of players and captain them to unprecedented glory.

Robson was able to drag a bunch of generally fairly mediocre players up to a decent standard and make them compete for trophies.

Who's to say how succesful each would have been in the other's boots? Maybe Keane would have become frustrated by crap players and turned into a negative influence, like happened a little at the end of this time with us. Maybe Robson would have faded in influence, no longer being the main man, and without needing to single handedly drag the team to victory would have looked a lot more work-a-day.

That isn't to put either of them down, they are the two greatest midfielders and tehtwo greatest captains I've ever seen play. Just impossible to judge who was "better".
 
Why do we need too? Both were beyond crucial to the club in 2 different times. Just a shame they were not closer in age. Imagine having both in their prime at the same time
 
Randall Flagg said:
Why do we need too? Both were beyond crucial to the club in 2 different times. Just a shame they were not closer in age. Imagine having both in their prime at the same time
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Two similar to play together? Certainly hard to pick a midifeld if it was Robson who was younger... drop Scholes?

Admittedly, it wouldn't have been hard to fit Keane into our team in the 80s...
 
YouTube compilations are hardly the most refined material for research but they show that Robson scored quite a surprising range of goals. 30 yard free kicks, 20 yarders with the weaker foot, opportunist finishes...
 
You don't. Although whenever someone mentions Keane in their XI and not Robson someone always charges in with "Oh but Robson was twice the player"
 
Lynk said:
You don't. Although whenever someone mentions Keane in their XI and not Robson someone always charges in with "Oh but Robson was twice the player"
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Regardless of which player an individual thinks was better between the two. It's a insult to say one of the other is twice the player in my opinion.
 
did Robsons like for a drink hinder his career in terms of fitness and injuries,cos i saw him absolutely wankered a few times after games back in the 80´s and i´ve often wondered if it affected his body cos he did get injured a lot,or was it just his style of play that got him injured a lot?
 
I miss having a Keane or Robson in the team. For me having a player like that in the centre of the park has been a characteristic of Utd for most of my life.
 
You can't really use the fact Robson played with an inferior team to the ones Keane played with, because there's no way of knowing how Keane would have done in those circumstances, the fact we won the Champions League final without him speaks volumes of the quality he captained.

Goal scoring is the only real area to separate them as Robbo was well ahead as an attacking force from midfield, he was also less volatile.

Eyepopper said:
I miss having a Keane or Robson in the team. For me having a player like that in the centre of the park has been a characteristic of Utd for most of my life.
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I think this where part of the frustration with the current midfield situation comes from, when you have been used to the very best it's hard to accept less.
 
Devil may care said:
You can't really use the fact Robson played with an inferior team to the ones Keane played with, because there's no way of knowing how Keane would have done in those circumstances, the fact we won the Champions League final without him speaks volumes of the quality he captained.
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you did watch that game right? We didnt exaclty start playing until injury time. Bayern should have been out of sight.

We missed Keane and Scholes big time
 
Randall Flagg said:
you did watch that game right? We didnt exaclty start playing until injury time. Bayern should have been out of sight.

We missed Keane and Scholes big time
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We won, that showed everything you needed to know about what that team was capable of when it came to fighting back without their leader, I never said that he wasn't missed, I was emphasising the quality and fight of the players around him.
 
jdmufc said:
inspired by my "if you could bring one player back" thread

what exactly separates Robson from Keane,how do you decide who was the best between the two of them.

both of them driven by a pure desire to win,both could take a match by the scruff of the neck,both could turn a match on their own,both inspired those around them.

how the hell do you separate them??
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One played his best football for United, the other played his best football for his country.

Did Robson really inspire those around him? The squad had plenty of technical ability in his time yet serious challenges for the title were few and far between. Having attended the vast majority of the matches at Old Trafford during the Atkinson era, it was ridiculous that the team didn't pick up more points. The best player at the club during the Atkinson era was McGrath by an absolute mile.
 
sully07 said:
The fact Robbo did it with a much poorer team around him, scored more goals, drunk more beer and shagged more women.
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That pretty much settles the argument for me. Also, Robbo is a much nicer guy & has stayed a massive lover & fan of the club. Keano seems to hate all things United sometimes when he talks - chip on his shoulder, even tho the club stood beside him during the Saipan carry-on!

Both legends for the club of course, but Robbo for me was the better servant & you'd be least likely to get your head punched in for disagreeing with him!

Young'ish United fans will probably say Keano (post Robbo era), and the 30+ year old fans will most likely say Robbo!
 
I saw both play. Robson wins (via a photo finish) for his extra goal scoring ability as well as excelling whilst playing in a lesser team.
 
Robson--Keane
---Charlton---

Might have been a fairly good midfield. Also, add Scholes or Edwards in either position incase one gets injured.

However - obviously, only ever having seen Keane play out of those two, it'd be unfair for me to really comment, what I will say is, is that the praise Robson gets from those that seen him play tends to be slightly more enthusiastic than say for Keane.

Perhaps its because Keane is still fresh in the memory.

One thing is for sure - either of them would walk into our midfield at the moment and vastly improve it. I'm not sure this even degrades any of our current crop, considering the immense talent both players obviously had.
 
Scholesgoals said:
robson was the bigger goal threat?

345 (74)


to keanes


323 (33)
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but keane has more trophies

and alot of the success he enjoyed was down to him being the driver.

Its a very hard comparison to make but I think Keane just shades it. He didnt need to score so many goals as he was surrounded by people who scored more.
 
Whilst Robbo is my all time fav and I will naturally be biased towards him,
there's no doubt these two could have graced the same midfield together
without compromising the structure of a team.

I am just grateful I witnessed the pair of them serve the Reds with
such dedication and distinction.......and they would be winners in the bar too !
 
United all time Hardest 11.

----------P.S----------
Brown-Stam-Vidic-Irwin
----Robson--Keane----
-------Edwards--------
Valencia-------Cantona
--------Rooney--------

Would beat Arsenal 500nil.
 
Eyepopper said:
I miss having a Keane or Robson in the team. For me having a player like that in the centre of the park has been a characteristic of Utd for most of my life.
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snap

this is the only team i have watched without that player. ince bridged the gap between the too as was pretty awsome for us too.

we simply have nothing like keane and robson at the minute (please please nobody offer fletcher as a comparison).

but to be i dont think there is anybody out there who is that sort of player.

the game is always changing in style of play and formations but those two would do the business in any team in any formation and in any time period.
 
VoetbalWizard said:
hughes is harder than rooney.
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Never struck me as the hard type, but then again I don't really remember him as a player. I put Edwards in because he was well known as a strong character and fighter!

Probably could argue the case for Stiles being involved in that set-up and Paddy Crerrand.
 
one thing i will say is that keanes unfortunate willingness to have an opinion on everything united or otherwise and general cnut like attitude since he left the club has tarnished his greatness a little for me.

admittedley a lot of what keane has said negativeley about united has been true but robbo has never muttered a bad word about united.

i know it shouldnt make a difference to what they did on the field but it does matter to fans. fans take to the likes of evra, hernandez and rafa da silva (examples in todays squad) not just because of their performances but because they say the right thing, punch the right groundsman and what to fight the right ugly argie. it helps fans relate to them and whilst keane did that on the field and dont think anybody can argue that his interviews etc since leaving have portrayed him as a bit of a twat
 
AdZzUtd said:
Never struck me as the hard type, but then again I don't really remember him as a player. I put Edwards in because he was well known as a strong character and fighter!

Probably could argue the case for Stiles being involved in that set-up and Paddy Crerrand.
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hughes would be the captain of any hard team. always remember him kick chris kamara up the arse in a cup game, kamara turned round to have a go at who ever it was, saw that it was sparky and looked almost appollogetic
 
I don't think we want to seperate them. People say Robson scored more goals but Keane was beside Giggs, Becks and more importantly Scholes who chipped in. I don't think, if you are Keane you will break a neck to score or be overly encouraged to when you are beside Scholes. Scholes was the one we looked too.
 
AdZzUtd said:
United all time Hardest 11.

----------P.S----------
Brown-Stam-Vidic-Irwin
----Robson--Keane----
-------Edwards--------
Valencia-------Cantona
--------Rooney--------

Would beat Arsenal 500nil.
Click to expand...

:D You've obviously not seen Nobbby Styles, Tommy Taylor or Foulkes in action

but back to the comparison ??? between Robbo and Keane - no comparison

Robbo was
the better player
the better Captain
the better goalscorer
the better man
 
topper said:
:D You've obviously not seen Nobbby Styles, Tommy Taylor or Foulkes in action

but back to the comparison ??? between Robbo and Keane - no comparison

Robbo was
the better player
the better Captain
the better goalscorer
the better man
Click to expand...

I agree. I think the only thing Keane wins is the less injury prone. In fact the points tally always went down whenever Robson was out for a while.
 
Choosing who from Charlton, Robson, Keane or Scholes should make your midfield pairing in an 'All Time United XI' is almost irrelevant. All of them will deliver and whoever you pick, the next guy will come along and disagree. There is no right answer, that's how good they all have been.

Robson - Keane in particular divides opinion, but nobody disagrees that they were both not exceptional players and World Class.
 
sully07 said:
The fact Robbo did it with a much poorer team around him, scored more goals, drunk more beer and shagged more women.
Click to expand...

He undoubtedly did, although Keane was a right piss artist in his earlier days, it should be said.
 
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