Robbie Keane Says Consistency Is Key For Spurs

Robbie Keane has been talking about Tottenham Hotspurs, amongst other things, on his column for Betway.  The former striker points out what a stop-start opening it has been to this Premier League campaign, saying consistency and going on a run is crucial now.

“I watched their first game when they absolutely battered Leicester and it could have been 4-0 or 5-0. Then you don’t score that second goal and you’re always vulnerable.”

Obviously the match ended up a 1-1 draw and with the amount of chances Spurs had, it can only be viewed as dropped points, despite it being away from home.

On the north London derby, Keano points out the lack of a cutting edge.  If only we could find a young version of Keane, his natural eye for a goal could have made all the difference.  Despite our superior possession and as Keane says, how we played better as a team, we were never a threat on the oppo’s goal.

“Where it went wrong was obviously at set pieces, and it was fairly simple. Arsenal are very, very strong in that area and Gabriel is probably one of the strongest individual players in the league in terms of attacking set pieces.”

He also says that despite James Maddison receiving a lot of criticism, it is a team game and ‘the players around him haven’t been doing that well. Son has scored a couple of goals, but for Solanke, for example, it’s taking time to get used to how Spurs play.’

And with  an eye on Europe, he stresses how important using the whole squad will be, not only in the Europa League, but also the domestic cup campaigns.

“Players need minutes – if someone who’s not playing often gets called upon, they need to be up to speed. When I was at Maccabi Tel Aviv, if we were 3-0 up I would try and bring players on who hadn’t been playing to get them prepared to come on later in the season. You’re going to need those players down the line, so it’s important that you have harmony in the dressing room.

With the new structure of the Europa League and a lot of a lot of games in quick succession in the next few weeks, Spurs will need players ready to be available because it’s unlikely they’ll have the same 11 on a consistent basis. They have a decent squad, it’s just up to the manager being brave enough to use them, and being clever enough to know when to turn to the squad players.”

Nice for a former player to be so concise and making sense isn’t it?  So many of the former players, turned pundits, seem to trot out the same-old-same-old, Keane on the other hand, says it as it is.Now our attention moves onto our visit to Old Trafford to take on Manchester United.  It will be interesting to see how Betway Premier League odds view this game, after the start both clubs have had to this season.