To start with, I would like to apologise to Robbie Keane for perhaps implying that he had not earned his place in the Spurs starting line up this season, he certainly has now!
The song may say 'two out of three ain't bad' but four out of five is infinitely better.
Keane's hat-trick and one for the road show at White Hart Lane last weekend proved his importance to the team. His link up play with Jermain Jenas was intelligent and ultimately fruitful. Jenas is another player who some Spurs fans will just never warm to, he is not as proflific as he was in his first couple of seasons with the club but he is a creative player and is capable of making things happen. He was also the scorer of Spurs second goal on Saturday and the architect of one of Keane's goals.
But back to the strikers. It would seem that whoever Harry Redknapp gives the nod to up front, he can reasonably expect goals.
Jermain Defoe, who started the campaign looking like the complete striker is now struggling to find the target as Crouch and Keane try to out do each other with hat-tricks to impress their boss.
This is a fantastic position to be in for Harry Redknapp - which of my hat-trick scoring strikers do I start each game with?
It is Jermain Defoe plus one, although even that is not certain with 'Arry. Nor should it, competition for places is healthy and keeps players performing at the highest level.
So far this season Spurs have scored the same number of league goals as Manchester United, seventeen.
Five of those goals have come from Robbie Keane, five from Jermain Defoe, two from Lennon and one each from Crouch, Ekotto, Bassong, Jenas and Palacios.
Goals from all over the pitch is a nice idea if you can make it work but you also need your strikers to be scoring in numbers. At present, Spurs have the best of both worlds.
I also suggested that the bookies were being too harsh on Burnley by predicting at 5-0 scoreline...
Basically, I was proved very wrong on both accounts.
I still feel that Burnley's home form may be enough to keep them in the Premier League this season, but if they don't learn how to defend properly it is going to be a long hard slog and they will be hanging on by their fingernails come May.
That does not take anything away from Spurs who were ruthlessly professional.
First published on www.ComeOnSpurs.com on 30/9/2009
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