Galaxy’s Robbie Keane eagerly awaits reunion with Giovani dos Santos
Giovani dos Santos of Mexico celebrates scoring his team’s first goal during the 2014 FIFA World Cup’s Round of 16 match against the Netherlands.
Robbie Keane was a prime player during the eight seasons he was with Tottenham of the England Premier League. Giovani Dos Santos was little more than an afterthought.
As a result, the teammates played together just a handful of times in Dos Santos’ four seasons with Tottenham.
But the chemistry they showed in practice left an impression on at least one former teammate, who believes the reunion of Keane and Dos Santos with the Galaxy will wreak havoc on MLS opponents.
“Having played with Robbie for many years — and I played against him as well — the great thing about him is he didn’t rely on his pace. He was very well-rounded,” former Tottenham defender and captain Ledley King said. “Gio, he’s got his prime years ahead of him. Very gifted football player.
“This is a team that can pose real problems.”
King’s prediction won’t be fully tested until Dos Santos, the Galaxy’s latest high-profile signing, arrives from Mexico in the coming days. And it may not happen even then because Dos Santos is still dealing with an upper-leg injury that caused him to miss Mexico’s final three games in the recent CONCACAF Gold Cup.
Keane can hardly wait. His recommendation played a big part in the Galaxy’s push to sign Dos Santos to a 4 1/2-year designated player contract this month, a deal believed to have cost the team a franchise-record $34 million.
“Robbie Keane’s opinion of the player was important because he obviously spent some time with him,” said Bruce Arena, the Galaxy’s coach and general manager. “Whenever you have that kind of inside information, it’s invaluable.”
The Galaxy is already adjusting to its recent acquisition of former Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard. After being shut out four times in the first 10 weeks of the MLS season, the Galaxy has scored 20 times in its last six league games — with Keane’s seven goals and three assists accounting for half those scores.
Keane, the league’s reigning MVP, has taken more than 25% of his team’s shots over the last season and a half, but now he will have to share the ball with two other players who are also accomplished scorers. And that’s not always been an easy thing for Keane, who famously stepped in front of David Beckham and took a stoppage-time penalty kick in the 2012 MLS Cup final, robbing Beckham of a chance at one last goal in his final game with the Galaxy.
“Everybody wants to play with top players and it will make every one of them better,” said technical director Jovan Kirovski, a former U.S. national team forward who played a major role in landing Dos Santos for the Galaxy. “Everybody will benefit from having a player like Gio, having a player like Gerrard, Robbie. They’re all excited because they know that they’ll have more chances to score.”
Arena agrees.
“It’s not like basketball, where … you kind of assume during the game that this player gets X amount of shots,” he said. “It’s not like that in our sport. In fact, the more the merrier. They’ll probably create a few more chances for each other.”
Dos Santos changes the Galaxy in other ways too. While many designated players come to MLS at the end of their careers — both Keane and Gerrard are 35 — Dos Santos is just entering the prime of his career. At 26, he could be the Galaxy’s second-youngest starter.
Along with bringing energy and pace, he also is versatile. He can play on the flank or as a forward, either creating chances or finishing them himself. During eight seasons he Europe, he scored 12 goals once and finished with at least seven assists four times.
But then you don’t have to convince Keane, who is eager to prove King right.
“I’m very excited to have him,” Keane said of Dos Santos, whom he took under his wing in England. “He can play left, he can play right, he can play up front. Very, very skillful. Quick, sharp.
“He’s going to be a superstar in this league. There’s no doubt about it.”
