It felt good to hear Harry Redknapp say that Tottenham Hotspur could win the league this season. The temptation for a manager with his experience is normally to issue warnings of troubles ahead. That approach is designed to tone down expectations and ensure the crowd does not become too reproachful when results go wrong, but such a tactic is not in vogue at White Hart Lane.

Redknapp can hardly feel sceptical when his side, following the 2-0 defeat of Aston Villa, have taken 25 points from their past nine fixtures in the Premier League. There is another statistic that is both valuable and heart-warming. Ledley King has almost equalled his appearance record for the whole of last season after featuring in the starting lineup on eight occasions so far. It was understandable that optimism and general good humour should overflow when Redknapp spoke after Monday's match.

As the weeks go by, however, Tottenham are bound to come under scrutiny and a meeting with them will ensure an intense reaction from opponents who now see the fixture as much more than a run-of-the-mill occasion. Redknapp's side have to live with that and the prominence, should the form continue, is a new factor that will stimulate opponents. We will see then if Tottenham have, in particular, the firepower to dishearten challengers.

The club may be far from poor, but neither is it rash enough to spend the sums required for an exceptional forward. Although Emmanuel Adebayor scored twice against Villa, those were his first goals since mid-September. Occasionally you feel that the lack of a regular finisher gnaws at Tottenham. Perhaps, indeed, effort has to go into preserving confidence in certain cases.

Joe Jordan, the Tottenham first-team coach, picked his way carefully through the issue of strikers on the eve of the match with Villa. Jermain Defoe had come off the bench to score against Fulham, but Jordan would have known that the forward would still not be promoted to the first XI on Monday. "He is as sharp and strong as I have seen him and he's waiting for his opportunity," the coach had said with pre-emptive consolation for Defoe.

Tottenham can be exciting and the sheer quality of the squad is a tribute to Redknapp's shrewdness. It is a pleasure to see a lineup that contains, say, Gareth Bale, Luka Modric and Rafael van der Vaart. Nonetheless, the club may not quite make the impact that its attractiveness deserves. In the Villa match, there was an urge to tap the scoreboard as if it were a stopped watch. Surely it couldn't still be only 2-0.

Economics do slow a club down. The difficulties of building a ground or somehow developing White Hart Lane are profound and that method of raising revenues cannot be implemented quickly. Tottenham conduct themselves responsibly and there is no expectation of a benefactor appearing to bankroll them. In any case, the forthcoming financial fair play rules are supposed to be a hindrance to such characters.

Redknapp, though, must suspect anticlimax ahead while there is too little explosiveness in front of the posts. It did not matter that the virtual obliteration of Villa on the field was not reflected fully in the result, but that leniency will undermine the prospect of a credible bid for the title if it lingers at Tottenham.

No one asks them to keep pace with Manchester City, who have racked up 42 goals in a dozen league matches. However, Manchester United, taking a more cautious approach since the 6-1 drubbing by City, have still scored 29 goals. Tottenham are on 23, albeit with a game in hand. It is a creditable enough tally, but probably a little off the pace required to hurtle them to the title.

Redknapp, at 64, is a worldly character at risk of becoming England manager, yet even he seems stirred and excited by the vitality and accomplishment he has unleashed at Tottenham. So far as the league is concerned, the side will be most likely be appreciated for the style shown while falling a little short. The crowd, for its part, can still be grateful for the pleasing football set before them.