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Tottenham's squad is stronger than Arsenal's, says Robbie Keane
• 'The bench that we have is probably a bit stronger than theirs'
• Poll: Do you agree with Keane's assessment of the squads?
- David Hytner
- guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 28 October 2009 22.30 GMT
- Article history
Robbie Keane believes Spurs possess greater strength in depth than their north London neighbours Arsenal. Photograph: Julian Finney/Getty ImagesRobbie Keane says that Tottenham Hotspur are as strong, player for player, as their neighbours Arsenal, with perhaps greater strength in depth. The striker insists that everyone connected to his club has to believe that they are good enough to break into the Premier League's top four this season.
"If you look at the two squads, you look at us and think, 'We're definitely on a par,' but that will only be judged at the end of the season," Keane said ahead of Saturday's north London derby. "If you look at the last four or five years, for some reason Arsenal always got ahead of us slightly, but if you look now, it's certainly even. And if you look at the squads, the bench that we have is probably a little bit stronger than their bench."
The rival clubs go into the derby at the Emirates Stadium level on 19 points, albeit with Tottenham having played one game more. In the last two seasons, Arsenal finished 21 and 37 points clear of Spurs, who were undermined by managerial instability during both campaigns.
In the two before that, Arsenal finished only eight and two points ahead, the latter, in 2005-06, coming after what Keane referred to with a wry smile as "that lasagne scenario". Tottenham had initially blamed the meal before their final match against West Ham United after 10 of their players were laid low with food poisoning. The lasagne was cleared of blame, but they lost at Upton Park and Arsenal beat Wigan Athletic at home to climb above them.
"We have to believe now that we are as good as the teams that are up there," Keane said. "The mentality around here, and I don't think this is the players but I'm just saying that the feel of the club, was that they'd be happy to get fifth or seventh, make the Uefa Cup. But I think there's a different feeling now. The feeling is that we want to get into the Champions League. Certainly the players have that feeling."
Keane is driven by the desire to compete on Europe's grandest stage. To some, the tangible feel of silverware such as the Carling Cup, which Tottenham won in 2008 and almost retained last season, outweighs the benefit of finishing fourth in the Premier League, but not to Keane.
"It would be nice to get into the top four, to be honest with you," he said. "Don't get me wrong, it would be great to win the Carling Cup, but now, with the squad of players that we have, we're capable of getting to that fourth spot and that's something that we certainly have to be looking at. It's going to be difficult, with the teams that are around us, but we've got every chance.
"We're involved in the top four now and I think it's important that we stay in where we are. It would be nice if we got to Christmas and we were still around there because we would certainly have every chance then."
Keane, though, has cautioned against reading too much into this weekend's game. A veteran of the fixture since 2002, albeit with a six-month hiatus last season when he went to Liverpool, he knows its frenzied and unpredictable nature better than most. He missed last October's 4-4 draw during his ill-fated spell at Anfield, but he was involved in Arsenal's 5-4 victory at White Hart Lane in November 2004 and Tottenham's 5-1 home win in the Carling Cup semi-final second leg in January 2008, which remains their only success over Arsenal in the 21st century.
"I wasn't at the 4-4 but I remember watching it and it was a mad game," he said. "That's a typical north London derby for you and we've had a couple over the years. There was the 5-4 at White Hart Lane and some other great games.
"But this game is very hard to judge on because local derbies are a little bit different from normal games. You have to take away Saturday's game because it's a north London derby and anything can happen. I think you have to judge us over the Man Uniteds, the Liverpools and the Chelseas that we play over the course of the season."
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