Are Tottenham a Rehabilitation Home for Injured Players?
Tuesday, April 1st, 2008Having just returned from Lanzarote where I watched the Tottenham games against Chelsea and Portsmouth with an Arsenal fan (who would rather watch Spurs because we entertain) I caught the Newcastle match.
Oh dear, the boys have given up, well not all of them, Woodgate, Hutton, Dawson, Bent and Keane are trying, the midfield are on holiday.
Since this game we are being linked with Michael Owen, so let’s look at this and see if it is a good idea.
His goalscoring record in today’s game is not in question, many people had dismissed him for England before his last injury, not me. Owen scores goals, full stop.
As a striker you need people to create chances, you make the runs, give them to opening to play the ball into and tuck it away. Michael Owen does this without question.
Fitness, injuries, lack of pace, are the downsides we are told. Owen has shown that he needs games after an injury to get his sharpness back, notice he has started scoring again. Jonathon Woodgate and Darren “Sicknote” Anderton suffered from injuries, people dwell on this too much, no player is always injured, he has had his share, is he therefore due a change of luck?
Has everyone forgotten a certain Alan Shearer, he kept scoring goals at Premiership level as he gradually slowed down. Michael Owen has been a world class goalscorer, Tottenham create stacks of chances, he will score goals in the Premier League given our service, but can we accomodate him?
Berbatov and Keane are the number 1 pairing, that won’t change if Berbatov stays. Our other target man Darren Bent is starting to show signs of ability, great header verses Newcastle and the cameo against Portsmouth. Life has been tough for him, just look at what Defoe is doing at Portsmouth now he is playing regularly.
Michael Owen could fulfill the Keane roll on a rotational basis, the worry is that Defoe factor. How much football would he get and would it be enough to keep him sharp?
This for me is the only question to ask ourselves and the answer to that determines wether we go after him or not.