Jermain Defoe has gone through a couple of frustrating years at White Hart Lane due, largely to Harry preferring other strikers ahead of him. Throughout that period there has been talk of moves elsewhere but none of those have materialised to date.
In some ways, JD has been the architect of his misfortune – thrilling when coming off the bench and scoring as an impact sub – but frustrating when he starts a game. However, with 2012-13 rapidly approaching (see the latest Champions League qualification odds at www.freebets.org.uk) and Defoe currently our only recognised senior striker at the club, there are reports that AVB is going to trust him with the role of first choice centre forward.
Those stories emerge as the Adebayor deal continues to stall but head coach Andre Villas-Boas has hinted at a possible clean slate for Jermain.
‘Obviously there was an interest in Ade but we have a need first for Jermain to get back from his personal tragedy for the team to have further options in the striker position,’ said AVB.
‘We are still building a team. The team can improve and we are looking to improve it.
‘This is obviously not the final product and as we go through August we have to get the right perspective as to where we can improve and where we will arrive.’
With just over two weeks to the new season, can Jermain Defoe resume his main striker role effectively for the new campaign?
Defoe isn’t the answer..he is however a very good impact sub.
We need two mobile target men, a replacement for Modric, cover on the flanks and a goalie.
In an ideal world (and given our resources) I’d be happy with ant two from Adeybayor, Damaio, Rondon, Rossi, Llorente and Sturridge for the CF positions.
Remi or Sturridge would be useful as utility CF/RW players.
Moutinho is the obvious choice for CM; although Gonzalez and the Russian chap (can’t remember his name) would also be suitable.
Forget Lloris – I think Butland and Stekleenberg are better.
Alan.
Question: Who’s the only striker left?
Tottenham hotspure summer target 1.GK-LLORIS OR CESAR OR STEKENBURG OR AKINFEEV(CSKA MOSKOA) OR MIHALYLOV(FC TWENTE) OR MARC-STEGEN OR WISE(WENDER BREMAN) 2.CB-(2)-VERTOGHEN & AGGAER OR B.ALVES OR RONALDO OR SAN JOSE OR TASKI OR JEAN-YIGIK 3.-CDM- PARKER,(INJURY PRONE) SADRO , NEED-CDM-CASMIRO OR DANILIO OR KARA OR GATSOV OR KALLSTROM 4.-CM- GANSO OR DZAGDEV OR DEMBLELE OR HERNANES OR DIEGO 5.WING-HULK OR WALLCOT& VERELA(SOLD-G.SANTOS) OR VERELA & KRANSIC OR MUNIUN OR REMY 6.STRIKER-(CARROL(LOAN) & ROSSI) OR (DAMIAO & RONDON )OR (LLORIENTE & ADABAYOR)
I do not get this “impact sub” tag that Defoe has acquired. His stats from last season do fit the profile of an impact sub…. But what impact? Defoe only scores when the game is open. When it is not, he should not come on because he is ineffective. If it is an open game, the chances are that we are doing all right in the game anyway. This is why he hardly starts because games normally start off cagey and not opened up enough for him to score.
Exactmundo!
What you have failed to say is Defoe has scored when he starts comes or comes on and mostly his goals are mostly winners. He has one fault and this is something he cant do anything about his height he scored 11 goals in eleven starts 16 all together. When Defoe and ADY started they both scored but Harry’s problem was Vaart would not sit and watch and we had too many midfielder s who wanted to play hence the 4411. We need to keep Defoe because if we sign Ady or any other striker the new striker will be untried Defoe is proven proper Striker Avb will learn to rely on to win games. The alternative is he can damage our season if he moves to another Club.
Not quite… Defoe scored just 2 winners last season – both vs WBA. He extended the lead a few times besides that. But that is what I am saying. When you are up, and the opposition is trying to get one back, they open up for him. But when you are a goal down, or tied and NEED a goal, Defoe usually isn’t the man because the opposition tighten up to protect lead. Defoe is rendered useless. A true impact sub helps you crack open a tight defence when you are struggling to do so. Come on, Defoe is NOT proven either. Only ONCE has Defoe scored more than 13 league goals in a Premier league season. Not good enough at the age of 29. Jol did not play or rate him either. I DO agree that we may have to revert back to him if we do not sign 2 strikers – but I’d rather not…
With the formation they look like they are going to play he will fit perfectly as his only there to put the ball in the back of the net (watch porto) nothing else nothing more, no fancy tricks or hold up play , a defoe on form is a very dangerous player indeed but a defoe who aint scoring is a scary prospect lol
I could write a mind-numbingly long reply about Defoe but I’m sure most people just want to write up their dream purchases rather than have a Defoe debate.
Short version then:
Defoe is a player excels when operating off the shoulder of the defender. He needs quite a lot of open space to move into, so he’s best against a team who either play a high line, or a team who have been attacking a lot (presumably through sustained possession). If you can give him that space, he natual movement is in-behind the defence and running towards goal.
If you can get the ball to his feet and JD running at goal, even with a defender in his path, then you have an above average chance of him scoring. He likes to shoot early and (if he avoids kicking it the defender in front of him) he will find a spot past the goalie. Never usually good at rounding a keeper.
So, if take the conditions that favour his play and compare how Spurs have played for 2-3 seasons, you can see we hold more possession than the opposition, slowly push the ball up to the penalty box and effectively remove the space JD needs to be effective.
Defoe will not sneaking in headers at the near post, pulling off at the back post and volleying home or getting on the end of toe-poke opportunities. He takes himself out wide or deep and crowds the play while a hole sits where the attacker should be.
So, if AVB intends to surrender possession (not usually part of his 4-3-3 plan) or he intends to play deep and hit on the break (not usual with AVBs preferred high-line) then Defoe may find some success. However, if we play anything like we have for the last 2 seasons, Defoe’s style will not work unless he is introduced (as a sub) when the game becomes stretched!
Long way of saying we need someone to lead the line at the top of the front 3.
Line up 4-3-3- (GK)AKINFEEV –DEFENDER-WALKER-VERTOGHEN-KABOUL-BAE(SUB.1) CM-SANDRO-VDV(SUB.2)–GANSO (sub3) ATTAK-HULK–DAMIAO(sub3)–BALE SUB- GOMES, LENNON(HULK-TO-MIDFIELD IN ATTAK POSITION & LENNON TO RW), G.SANTOS (sUB.1 BALE-TO-LB & WING G.SANTOS), DAWSON, RONDON(SUB3 OR), HUDDLESTONE (SUB3)OR SIGURDSON (SUB3)
Im happy we’re talking about strikers and not goal keepers , we can concede goals and win a game by outscoring the opposition but you cant win a game if you can’t score goals so its obvious we desperately not a or some strikers very quickly , i think we are running out of time i dont know what is happening at spurs but we sure have got our priorities wrong this happens every season , lets get a big name prolific scoring striker or else teams like arsenal will be outscoring us , i am a Cancer sufferer and i would love to see the day we win the league title ive supported Spurs for over 30 years , Please Daniel Levy spend the money.
To call Jermain an impact sub, for me, is a complete disservice to the players talent. More of a confidence player than the clinical goal machine he is often billed as being, Defoe IS capable of holding down a first-team spot for spurs, providing he is given the service. If AVB does go down this route, it is very likely that we will see our wingers switch wings, as there is no point swinging in too many crosses for a player of Defoe skill-set.
The biggest question for me is: Who will compete with Defoe for a starting place?
Reports are hinting that AVB may just sign ONE striker, thus entrusting Harry Kane as the third and final senior option.
For me, this would be a huge mistake, as while Kane is a decent player youngster, that is all he is …..decent.
If AVB and Levy are genuinely serious about competing at the top of the EPL, then it’s imperative that spurs have at least 3 top class front-men. And where Harry Kane fits into that,well,…. he doesn’t. I would attempt to loan him out to another team,with lower ambitions, in the same league to see how well he copes but lets not kid ourselves, the lads NEVER gonna be a 20+goal a season man, in Englands top flight.
I think a big and a little-un from the list below would leave us all feeling a little more optimistic about the upcoming season.
Big Guys
Adebayor
Rondon
Mandzukic
LLorente
Carroll
Berbatov
Damiao
Babacar
Negredo
Little-uns
Rossi
Jose Callejon
Remy
Pato
Wellington
Doumbia
Vagner Love
Adrian
Simples!!!
Chance would be a fine thing.
Defoe will score us goals, no doubt about that but he needs a world class player alongside him and Adebayor isn’t for me.
However, Fernando Llorente is ! So im very excited about us in talks with him at the moment, top 4 finish might just happen if we can sign him.
Cash in on Defoe before he is too old. A selfish payer with no guile or ability to hold the ball and play for the team. He is at best an out and out bish bang poacher. Allen from Swansea would be my number one target to replace Modric. Allen is always involved in a game with a great work ethic and football intelligence! Worth £15 m
Agree about Defoe. We should be looking to cash in whilst we still can. It’s a sad indictment on our transfer policy that he is currently our #1 striker.
I dont understand the Defoe bashing – He is always the most likely player to score if he is on the pitch. He wants to play for Spurs and is loyal to Spurs which is more than can be said for most. He lives to shoot at goal
which is far more than can be said for Adebayor who stands out on the left wing getting in Bales way.
The only thing is he needs to play off a big man so he is better suited to playing 442 but i dont see why we should hold that against him
Look at the stats mate. Defoe is NOT likely to score when you NEED him to. He may extend a lead, or grab a late consolation – but he is NOT the one to make the difference.
And I am not bashing Defoe. He is merely 7th-10th place EPL level. Not top 5 level. He is still a talented player. But we have moved passed him.
I have sympathy for Defoe. The guy clearly loves the club and his run of family bereavements in the last few years has been tragic, but we should have sold him before now. At one stage we could have gotten a tidy sum for him, but realistically we won’t get more than around £6million for him now I’d guess. He is a prime example of a purple patch player; when he is in the zone for a couple of weeks he looks like a world beater but then he will score two in as many months. He cannot lead the line, and is not creative enough to be a particularly good second striker. He has earned his reputation from those periods in a season when he does look terrific but they were never that frequent. If it wasn’t for our dearth of strikers this season I think AVB would have been looking to sell.
Defoe needs to add a bit more to his game. Whether that means coming in from the wing and doing something different or making different runs, I am not sure. He does often appear 1 dimensional and that means that decent defenders can get the better of him, and it feels that sometimes we are down to 10 men when he is playing.
100% accurate.
i think defoe should be given a chance, he is spurs 100%
I agree with a number of the above comments. I have a lot of time for Defoe and hope we keep rather than sell him but he has never been a game changer when coming off the bench.
Signing at least 1 but preferably 2 strikers is more of a priority than signing a keeper. I think Brad still has 1 good season left in him and if we are going to adopt a high defensive line than that would suit our crazy Octopus!
I’ve mentioned this before but if we’re going to play a
4-2-3-1, we need to strengthen the “3” as currently we only have Bale, Sig, VDV, and Lennon that fit. I’d like us to go for Dembele & Sturridge.
We also need to offload the following; Bassong, Jenas, Bentley, & Dos Santos.