"IT can always be a little worrying for a striker when he fails to score after transferring to a new club ¿ especially if the player costs a huge amount of money like Manchester United paid for Dimitar Berbatov. And also if you are Robbie Keane and Liverpool have splashed out millions for you. People are probably more aware of strikers when they move to a new club ¿ everyone wants to know when they are going to get that first goal and when it doesn't come it can play on the player's mind since that is all everyone talks about. But a striker has to be patient and do the things that they did at their old club.

Both Berbatov and Keane, who arrived at their new clubs this season from Spurs, finally got that monkey off their backs when they scored in the Champions League this week and that will be a relief for both players. No striker wants to have the long wait that Diego Forlan had some seasons ago at Manchester United when it seemed he would never find the back of the net. We all knew that Forlan was a very good striker but he just had such bad luck in front of goal while with United. Since moving to Spain he has been on fire and that is no surprise.

Against Aalborg on Tuesday Berbatov missed a sitter early on set up by Ronaldo but he came very good with two goals to help United to a 3-0 victory. The first goal was on account of a bad mistake by an Aalborg defender but Berbatov's second was an excellent volley and no doubt he will be more relaxed now.

Keane likewise will have felt some relief after he scored a very good goal against PSV at Anfield on Wednesday in the 3-1 victory. We all know what a good striker Keane is and no doubt everyone at the club has been happy with his play so far this season but he needed that goal. Look for many more to come from both Keane and Berbatov.

***

GERRARD

It was only fitting that Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard got his 100th goal for the club with a screamer against PSV. Scoring 100 goals for one club is a lot ¿ especially for a midfielder. Gerrard has been a good player for a long time now and a good captain and he certainly does possess a powerful shot. We have witnessed many scorchers from Gerrard over the years and the one on Wednesday night from a free-kick was very powerful. No chance to stop that one. It was also special for Gerrard in that he scored it in front of the Kop.

***

FANTASTIC MATCH

Last week I said that the AC Milan v Inter Milan match would be one to watch. Well I hoped you managed to see it because it was very special with AC winning 1-0 through a superb Ronaldinho header. Many Italian games are played at a slower pace ¿ certainly slower than the fast pace of English football ¿ but this match was very high energy with some amazing skills on show. It really was a treat to watch especially when you see AC starting with Ronaldinho, Kaka and Pato up front. It was good to see Ronaldinho start to get back his form and of course Kaka is on another level.

But there were so many players out on the field putting in excellent performances.

I was impressed with Inter's strikers Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Adriano.

Ibrahimovic struck a couple of ferocious on-target shots which were saved and Adriano came on and he looked like a new man. Last year the big Brazilian was going through a number of personal problems and went back to Brazil for a while. He seems to have put those problems behind him now and is settling down to work. Also by having Mourinho as his manager will help because Mourinho will not let Adriano get away with any nonsense.

***

HULL

If you told Hull fans that by this time of the season they would have 11 points from six games and be sitting fifth in the Premiership they would not have believed you. But that is exactly where they are. They have had only one really bad game this season when they were beaten 5-0 but they have also beaten Newcastle at home and last week they did something remarkable when they beat Arsenal 2-1 at the Emirates Stadium. Who would have thought that?! Although Arsenal certainly dominated the match, both of Hull's goals were excellent ¿ the first from Geovanni and the second from Daniel Cousin who struck with a header when Arsenal defender Gallas failed to go with him to the near post.

Arsene Wenger was understandably angry with the loss but the players bounced back well with a 4-0 victory over Porto in the Champions League this week.

Now Hull travel back to London to face Spurs who were beaten by Portsmouth 2-0 last weekend and are having their worst start in over 50 years. Right now they are at the bottom of the table and could stay there if Hull keep working hard like they have since the season started.

***

SOUP ZUILL

My sympathies go out to the family of the late Soup Zuill who was one of the great historians of our time. He was a wonderful man and a true gentleman and will be missed. There are not many around like him now. Personally I will certainly miss him and I remember his kindness to me when I was just a 15 year old playing my first Cup Match. Although Soup was a St. George's supporter, he came into the dressing room during my first Cup Match in 1966 to give me encouragement and I will never forget that. Soup may be gone but he will not be forgotten.