KEANE: We’re not making any special plan for Bale
Republic of Ireland v Wales latest:
Roy Keane has revealed he won’t bother trying to come up with a specific plan to stop Gareth Bale in Wales’ crunch World Cup qualifier against Republic of Ireland on Friday night.
Martin O’Neill ordered his players to study video footage of the Real Madrid star ahead of the crunch meeting at the Aviva Stadium.
But Republic of Ireland assistant manager Keane has said he has no intention of conjuring up a specific ploy to nullify the talent of the 27-year-old in Dublin.
“What you find is that players and coaches have tried to come up with a plan [to stop him] before,” said Keane. “But top players figure it out and affect the game anyway, Bale has done that for a number of years on the big occasions.
“I can’t say we have any particular plan. We will respect all the Welsh players because they have that foundation for him to go and express himself, that’s why he has a big impact on all their results, be it with goals or assists, the stats will tell you that.
“But your eyes don’t lie when you see good players, he’s a brilliant player. He’s been doing it right there at the highest level in the last few years.” Chris Coleman’s men trail Group D leaders Republic of Ireland by four points ahead of the crunch meeting in the Irish capital.
Bale is the group’s top scorer having netted four goals so far in qualifying, adding strikes against Serbia and Georgia to his brace in the 4-0 demolition job of Moldova.
And Keane has revealed that he has long been an admirer of the Wales talisman, adding that he was hugely impressed with Bale when he first emerged onto the scene with Southampton.
“I’ve always liked him,” added the former Manchester United man.
“Even when I was manager of Sunderland he came up with Southampton and was the best player on the park. He equalised in injury-time and was excellent from left-back.
“He’s a talented boy who has fulfilled his potential and probably more. I like watching him play. He’s a big player.
“Our lads should look forward to the challenge – you should want to play against and play with the best. We have that chance on Friday because Bale is up there with the best players in the world.”