Robbie Keane v Villarreal (320)

HE called it the start of a new chapter – although for Robbie Keane last night it was more a case of the same old story.

The opening 45 minutes of his Liverpool career came in the searing heat of Villarreal last night. But the fact that he wasn’t exactly firing on all cyclinders should be of no concern to anyone.

Just check the record books – despite his notorious speed off the mark, Keane has always been a bit of a slow starter.

Liverpool’s new £20m man accumulated such value with the 107 goals he scored for Spurs.

But none of them came before the month of September in any of the seasons he spent there. In fact, the last time Keane scored a senior goal in August he was still playing for Leeds so it’s safe to say that July is perhaps not the best time for assessing his sharpness and touch in front of goal.

However, he is clearly not in the mood to hang around at Liverpool and nor should he be. There’s very little bedding-in time when you’ve just become your club’s second most expensive signing, and when that club is Liverpool the demands are instant.

His immediate aim, in his words, is to carry on doing what he did for Tottenham. But breaking his habit of waiting until the onset of autumn before hitting the goal trail might be a wise idea.