"You want to know about Robbie Keane? Well, I'll tell you this, there have been a lot of clubs looking for him. The other day, for example, Reggina inquired after him only to be told that Inter will not release him."
The speaker is Inter Milan club spokesman Sandro Sabatini, talking to The Irish Times yesterday. Yesterday, as Inter were again licking the bitter wounds of defeat, following their 1-0 home loss to little Lecce, an inquiry about Irishman Keane seemed timely.
On Sunday, despite playing against a Lecce side reduced to 10 men for almost an hour, Inter crumbled to their third defeat in six league games (the other losses were against Reggina and Udinese). That defeat followed on a difficult UEFA Cup qualification against Dutch side Vitesse Arnhem last Thursday and also on a less-than-impressive 2-2 away draw with Verona 10 days ago, in a match where the opposition was again reduced to 10 men, this time for the entire second half.
Against Lecce, Inter's most experienced player, Euro 2000 and France '98 World Cup-winner Laurent Blanc, missed a penalty. His well-placed shot was steered around the post by Lecce's hero of the hour, goalkeeper Antonio Chimenti, who went on to give a man-of-the-match performance.
Even Blanc, it would seem, is not immune to the current Inter malaise, a problem which the Frenchman himself says goes all the way back to Inter's Champions League elimination by modest Swedish side Helsingborgs in August. "Since that elimination, we haven't had the necessary peace of mind," Blanc says.
Even if Inter could cite a number of mitigating factors on Sunday - the heavy pitch, their tough UEFA Cup clash in Arnhem just three days earlier, poor finishing that saw them miss at least nine clear chances and, of course, Chimenti's magic afternoon - the sum of those factors does not add up to a home loss to Lecce, a side that were, surprise, surprise, registering their first ever win against Inter at the San Siro.
Inter coach Marco Tardelli criticised his players' failure to make the most of their numerical advantage by playing the ball wide to the flanks.
For the first time, Keane received a less than favourable press after a game in which he missed one of the Inter chances and in which he was replaced in the 68th minute by Andreas Pirlo: "The Irishman was a disappointment, never able to give Juarez any problems," commented Corriere Dello Sport.
"Keane runs a lot and runs hard and for this, he merits respect. Yet his failure in front of goal was tragi-comic," commented Gazzetta Dello Sport.
Rome daily La Repubblica even drew an unflattering comparison with Lecce's 25year-old Croat striker Davor Vugrinec, scorer of Lecce's winner and a player bought from Turkish side Trabonzspor this summer for just $400,000. La Repubblica pointed out that, by comparison, Keane had cost $20 million when he moved to Inter from Coventry in August.
Such critical comment does not worry Inter, who pointed out yesterday that they have turned down requests from several Italian clubs to take Keane on loan. Only in the event of Inter being eliminated from both the UEFA and Italian Cups (in which they are due to face German side Hertha Berlin and Parma, respectively, later this month), would Inter consider reducing its squad strength.
In the meantime, Inter are more than happy with Keane, whilst the player himself has settled into Milan life, living in an upmarket condominium in the San Siro zone that also houses a number of Inter players, including Brazilian Ronaldo (when not injured).
Keane's obvious ability to settle in well, his willingness to learn and his enthusiasm will help his cause at a moment when angry and not always rational fans might target him as Inter ride out another crisis. What will help Keane (and Inter) even more, though, are a couple of good wins, starting in next Saturday's home game against Perugia and going on to include the following Tuesday's UEFA Cup tie away to Hertha Berlin.
