GIVEN the £250m windfall that Rafael Benitez has splashed out during his reign as Liverpool boss, he undoubtedly has a mixed record when it comes to buying strikers. In fact, take away Fernando Torres and some Liverpool supporters would opt for something far more derogatory.
The Liverpool manager never fully embraced the unique possibilities of Peter Crouch, while Dirk Kuyt is more likely to play on the wing and Fernando Morientes, Craig Bellamy and Andriy Vronin have come and gone having made – give or take the odd sparkle– a somewhat subdued impression to say the least. So Robbie Keane would not have been alone in being relieved after Saturday’s match.
Benitez, who celebrated his 150th victory as Liverpool boss, has spent much of the autumn justifying the £20m he spent on Keane in the summer, a task that would have been unnecessary if the former Tottenham striker was putting the ball in the net.
He makes chances, he works hard for the team was the gist of the Spaniard's argument. But the unspoken message was clear. He just wanted the Irishman to get himself on the score sheet.
And luckily for Keane, Benitiez and thousands of doubting Liverpudlians, he bagged his first and second league goals of the season, bringing with it as much comfort to Anfield's backroom staff, you suspect, as it did the player.
"We were talking about Peter Crouch before," Benitez said, "and once he scored one goal he got a lot. Hopefully it will be the same with Robbie. We told him he is not under pressure, 'Keep calm, you are playing well', but in the end strikers always want to score goals. This afternoon was very, very important for him."
Part of Keane's problem (make that most strikers) is that he is not Torres. It’s difficult enough attempting to replicate the Spaniard’s scoring record, but a prolonged baron spell quickly erodes a striker's confidence.
You could see that with Keane on Saturday, who was too hasty with his first chance, shooting straight at Scott Carson in the 13th minute when Torres you suspect would have calmly slotted the ball in the corner.
Yet once the Irishman put Liverpool ahead with a dink over the West Bromwich Albion goalkeeper 21 minutes later, self-belief pumped through Keane's veins, injecting renewed composure when it was sorely required.
A second followed nine minutes later when he beat a fragile offside trap, rounded the over-ambitious run of Carson and converted with the precision of a striker unburdened.
And afterwards the Dubliner insisted there was never any concern about his barren spell. "I used to worry about things like that when I was younger but you tend not to when you get older," he claimed.
"My first Premier League goal for Liverpool has been a long time coming but I knew it was only a matter of time. Hopefully that is Robbie Keane back to his best”.
But like clockwork, with almost 20 minutes of the match still remaining - and with a mini-game of attack v defense to follow - Anfield had to stifle its annoyance as Keane was substituted for the 13th time this season.
Benitez’s response - he had given the forward long enough. "I was waiting for him to get the hat-trick but then I decided to change it," he said.
Yet with the return of Fernando Torres, back from a hamstring injury to replace the Irishman, it seemed things could hardly have worked out better for the Liverpool boss. But they did.
Right-back Alvaro Arbeloa showed it is not just strikers who can score breathtaking goals with a stoppage time stunner, smashed in with his left foot. The game, however, was already over way before this point.
Albion may have been their customary neat and tidy selves but once again they were raw up front, naive at the back and ultimately outclassed all over the pitch.
"If we survive this season we'll come back stronger," their manager, Tony Mowbray, said afterwards.
Sadly for most neutrals that applaud Albion's commitment to a more uplifting style of play, that "if" appears to be getting larger by the match.
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