Jermaine Defoe demonstrated once more in the UEFA Cup tie against Famagusta on Thursday in Cyprus why he does not merit a regular starting place in the Tottenham Hotspur team. Previously in the home leg at White Hart Lane Defoe came on as a substitute against an already well beaten Famagusta and scored two well taken goals. This time however he was given a starting place for the return leg. His big chance to stake his claim and he squandered several hat fulls of chances…no, not just chances they were presents, gift wrapped with little pink bows on them. It was once again left to Robbie Keane to come on and demonstrate within 3 minutes why he is keeping Defoe on the bench and (once again) spare Spurs and Martin Jol’s blushes.
Before writing I decided to watch the Spurs DVD “Goals Galore” 2006/7 Season. It became blindingly clear that despite scoring several excellent and timely goals, he consistently failed to deliver on a regular basis. Put simply, he misses too much! It reminds me of Andrew Cole when he was playing for Manchester Utd and couldn’t get a (regular) game for England for the same reason. While watching the DVD I realized that Keane is a completely different class, not just his finishing which is second to none but his all round play, his vision, passing and movement leave Defoe quite firmly on the bench.
Now it’s tough on Defoe you might think but if he wants to be a “big time” striker at a top club he is going to have to increase his strike rate significantly or he will be on the bench wherever he plays.
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5 comments:
Thanks for the link. Duly reciprocated. And more to the point, what a brilliant name.
Couldn't agree more
he was unlucky to hit the post. maybe he needs a decent run in the side to get his form back, but keano's doin the biz right now so he's gonna have to sit. what's the matter with bent tho?
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It's good to see that most agree that Defoe is not the top-class player that some very misguided and odd people think. Jol has got a lot wrong this season but Defoe has had his chance and has continually missed chances, aside from against distinctly avrage European outfit. The problem is his all round game is not good enough, whereas Keane and Berbatov have that in their locker, bringing others into the game and providing assists. Defoe rarely passes and almost never passes well (aside from an assist a few years ago against a relegated Birmingham side, that was laughably produced as evidence of his non-assist making). If you're going to be selfish you have a better strike rate.
Mc Sassy,
I'm not one of the 'most'? who dinnah rate Defoe although I wouldn't know how high to rate him at all. I've always had the feeling that given the right service, pairing, manager or whatever, he could well be a bit of a goal machine. More of a suspicion than a belief I grant you but I'm hoping one day will prove me right Juande.
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