Saturday, 1 November
2008
Liverpool
manager Rafael Benitez is welcoming the pressures involved
in taking his team to Tottenham as
leaders of the Barclays Premier League. But he believes former
Tottenham skipper Robbie Keane, now in Liverpool's ranks, has no
reason to feel any extra burden as he prepares to return to the
club he left for £20million in the summer.
Keane can expect a hot welcome from Tottenham fans who saw their
idol defect to the club he supported as a boy.
Benitez insists he 'enjoys the pressures of managing a team at
the top of the table' and he also hopes that Keane is treated with
respect by the Spurs supporters. He compared Keane's return to
Peter Crouch's arrival at Anfield in a Portsmouth shirt on
Wednesday, just months after his move to Fratton
Park.
Benitez said: 'Peter came back to Liverpool this week and was
given a great reception. He will always be a good player and he has
the respect of our fans. I do not believe that Robbie has anything
to prove, he has great quality. Hopefully Spurs fans will
acknowledge this and what he did for them, and that he is now with
another team.