Andy Townsend's boot room: Spurs owe their start to Palacios the Tank

29 August 2009 00:16
Tottenham have always been a team who are pleasing on the eye but the difference this season is that they are playing winning football. Wilson Palacios is the man they have to thank. The midfielder has settled in really well since his move from Wigan in January and is an exciting prospect. Spurs have good technical players and are exciting to watch, but now they are powerful too. The balance is much better. Didier Zokora, whose place Palacios has taken, never had enough quality on the ball when he was in the middle but the Honduran does and he has strength and tenacity to go with it. 'The Tank's' influence is clear and Tom Huddlestone looks much more mobile alongside him. It is easy to see why Spurs are top of the Barclays Premier League already and Birmingham shouldn't have enough to knock them off today. Alex McLeish's side will need to make St Andrew's their fortress this season and could struggle away from home, particularly at White Hart Lane if Tottenham are in full flight. A one-goal lead is never enough for Harry Redknapp's team; they always go looking for more and, with their attacking options, who can blame them? Spurs have Peter Crouch and Roman Pavlyuchenko in reserve, Aaron Lennon is getting to the byline and contributing to the goals tally and Jermain Defoe's form is the icing on the cake. He is just electric at the moment. His movement is great and he is a natural finisher. Every time he gets past the last man you are in no doubt he will score. Defoe used to be the club's fourth-choice striker but now he is the No 1 and it shows. The other forwards there will have their work cut out to displace him. However, this early in the campaign there are still some niggling doubts about them. Goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes has improved but he is still capable of going from the sublime to the ridiculous and while Vedran Corluka is an exciting talent going forward, he is suspect defensively. Tottenham need to maintain the momentum they are building. The test will be how they react after disappointments. That will show if all the talk of breaking into the top four is well founded; if they can compete with Liverpool and Arsenal in the long term. Chelsea will probably prove beyond Spurs because they are just too strong. That goes double for Burnley, who might get chances at Stamford Bridge today but can forget about another United-style shock. I fancy Chelsea to win the Premier League or the Champions League, with all their experience. They know how to win matches and to grind out the points. Liverpool, by contrast, just haven't looked right so far and Rafael Benitez's zonal marking system is in for a stern test at Bolton. As for Arsenal, their impressive start might take its first hit this evening at Old Trafford. I still have doubts about their lack of experience; whether players such as Alex Song and Denilson can handle things against the very best and their relative lack of firepower. Manchester United might have had a few fitness problems in defence but I suspect Arsene Wenger, privately, thinks this is a season too soon for his team to win the League and we will get an idea why this evening.

Source: Daily_Mail