Some praise for Defoe.

[Boss]

Jermain Defoe

"he's abit thick"

"always offside"

"was finished as a player two years ago"

Just some of the comments labelled at Defoe, yet this isn't a dig at anyone for slating the wee guy, as he is one of them players that many have thought "maybe his time is up, lets get rid", yet time and time again, the guy delivers.

Defoe is a top quality squad player, that is trying to change his game (even at his age) to fit in with the system and stay at spurs, he clearly loves it at the club.

One aspect that has been picked up on, is the manner in which he scores goals, as in the timing, yet a player like Defoe thrives in the later stages of games, and while he may score the 3rd in a 2-0 win, that goal has helped sealed the win.

I think overall, Defoe is underrated as a player, as before the season kicked off, who was guilty of thinking " we only have Defoe as our main striker, we're in the crap"....all of us! yet who has been our best player this season, has to be the wee man, so hats off to the guy for proving us wrong and showing he has a future with the club.

 

[Spurlock]

I've had a pop at Defoe many a time for his shoot on sight policy for many a year Boss. I don't think I will change that opinion of him and even today I had a few moans when he did the same thing. I just think our umpteen shots on goal every match of which we are usually 40/50% off target would have a better return if now and again a simple 'look up' and pass was made.

However, I've always liked JD for the simple fact that he just wants to play football and that for Spurs. When on song, he is a unstoppable on target and packs some venom in his shots. Confidence is a massive part of a strikers game.....he seems to be buzzing and it's obvious he is wanting to repay AVB's confidence in him, he is playing with a smile. Defoe has had alot of personal tragedy and no doubt that has affected his game, I don't blame him. Props to AVB for not dropping Defoe and basically telling him that he thinks he's a player with a major role to play.

So hats off to Defoe for his good start to the season.

If and when he does go off the boil we have the mighty Ade to come in.....either way COYS.

 

[totsfan]

who said he can't play the lone striker,done well in the last few games for us and England.I've alway's liked Jermain,and i was glad we kept him,there's alway's room for improvement though,and now he must learn to look up before just shooting at goal,in case there is someone in a better position.

 

[LockStock]

........ now he must learn to look up before just shooting at goal,in case there is someone in a better position.

This is the only criticism I have for the guy, and he demonstrated this flaw again yesterday to Gylfi's frustration.

He should, however, be praised for doing is own work to get into shape after injury, on top of regular training, and if he had managed to score that goal?

Here's hoping for more of the same from him.

 

[notsosmartspur]

Annoying! I echo Spurlocks post really, he'll never be a complete lone striker simply with his height restricting the type of delivery into him, high balls have to be just over the top, so he can turn CB's with his pace, otherwise he's always outjumped, but he's ticking more boxes in the role than he used to, so I have to applaud him for some obvious effort. His selfishnes you can look at 2 ways, missing and ignoring better placed teammates happens in every game to every other team aswell. However, if your striker is scoring, and we are are winning, the moaning has to stop, the criticism in essence is aimed at not winning every game like this 5/6/7-1, which is quite unrealistic.

 

[Dier Hard]

Had a cracking game, one of the best performances I've seen from JD in a while. Admittedly I'd still say Ade is the better player but on this form, we'd be ridiculously stupid to drop him. When he's like this, they're really aren't many better to finish off the chances.

 

[Roo]

V Good game from Defoe yesterday, he looked very lively. - but just remember that reading were very poor at the back yesterday. We all know Defoe is capable of scoring goals, but he could have had about 4 or 5 yesterday.

Although Defoe is criticised for being greedy, I did notice him dropping back quite a bit yesterday, collecting the ball, turning and running forwards before making a pass. - this is clearly something that's been worked on in training and worked well IMO, as it helped us drive forwards into readings final 3rd.

Thought Sandro/Dembele/Sig worked really well yesterday. sorry to be harsh on Jake, but we were a different midfield yesterday.

 

[The Mighty Thor]

I know what you're saying Boss but I'm not convinced that he'll either maintain this sort of form or do it against the top teams which will really blow our lungs out if he does. To see him score two or even one against the Manchesters would be refreshing. I'm sitting on the fence but well done to him for yesterday.

 

[notsosmartspur]

TMT - I have constantly said that he doesn't score winners against the Mancs, if his hot streak continues a couple more weeks (I'd love it if he has an RVP like season tbh!) guess who we've got! I have a feeling he might ram my words back down my throat...here's hoping!

 

[Dier Hard]

Thought Sandro/Dembele/Sig worked really well yesterday. sorry to be harsh on Jake, but we were a different midfield yesterday.

It's a fact though Roo, wouldn't say it's harsh. Jake is a great squad player but he shouldn't be starting in the league unless there's a major injury crisis. Dembele, Sandro, Parker, and Huddlestone should all be above him in the CM pecking order.

I like the guy, local lad and always gives 100% but ability wise, he's not as good as the others just yet. Another season or two learning from Parker and Sandro and maybe he'll be able to make a real claim.

 

[LockStock]

It's a fact though Roo, wouldn't say it's harsh. Jake is a great squad player but he shouldn't be starting in the league unless there's a major injury crisis. Dembele, Sandro, Parker, and Huddlestone should all be above him in the CM pecking order.

I like the guy, local lad and always gives 100% but ability wise, he's not as good as the others just yet. Another season or two learning from Parker and Sandro and maybe he'll be able to make a real claim.

I'd be lying if I was apologetic to Jake. No room right now. Not ready.

I tell you something else too. It's nice to have some height and presence in midfield for a change. Dembele did a great defensive job with clearing headers too.

 

[Dier Hard]

I'd be lying if I was apologetic to Jake. No room right now. Not ready.

I tell you something else too. It's nice to have some height and presence in midfield for a change. Dembele did a great defensive job with clearing headers too.

Absolutely LockStock, Dembele is already looking a magnificent capture for the club. I was delighted we got him as I knew of his attacking ability but like you mentioned, he was more than happy to track back and win the ball while also not being afraid to use his head which was great to see. Someone mentioned in another post he could be the best £15m we've spent, I personally think he already is the best £15m we've spent. So excitied about the potential of the lad.

 

[ComfortablyNumb]

Defoe's closing down efforts bought us one goal and could have got us another. Ade wouldn't have got close to those. And his selfishness at least means that there's likely to be at least one person in the box when the ball comes in. Ade's all round game is great, but when he is doing his stuff out on the wings there's usually no one in the box for the end product. Plus Defoe laid the ball off three or four times in the box yesterday. And as for shooting on sight, you might like to have a word with messers Bale and Siggurdson about that.

On the midfield, though, I suspect Livermore will learn a lot from the three (or five if you include THudd and Dempsey) ahead of him. I think Livermore has the basic ability, he just needs to learn what to do and when. Our three yesterday looked as though they'd played a full season together, instead of lining up for the very first time.

 

[Roo]

one thing i noticed about Dembele (or "Dumbell" as Niall Quinn preferred to call him) is that he very very rarely gives the ball away. he's always thought about his move before he's even received the ball. - that's a sign of an intelligent footballer.

he's looking very promising indeed.

 

[KingHotspur]

Defoe is on fire and long may it continue.

That said I still want to see more of Adebayor as he is the best bet for the lone striking role.

 

[Dier Hard]

one thing i noticed about Dembele (or "Dumbell" as Niall Quinn preferred to call him) is that he very very rarely gives the ball away. he's always thought about his move before he's even received the ball. - that's a sign of an intelligent footballer.

he's looking very promising indeed.

Said pretty much the exact same thing to my mate. Has that "Glue-foot" I like to call it

 

[Boss]

I know what you're saying Boss but I'm not convinced that he'll either maintain this sort of form or do it against the top teams which will really blow our lungs out if he does. To see him score two or even one against the Manchesters would be refreshing. I'm sitting on the fence but well done to him for yesterday.

To be fair, we could label that against all our players, Bale, Defoe, Lennon, Adebayor......but I won't be surprised if Defoe gets 20+ goals this season as the guy is always looking to score and puts himself in positions to score,

Plus as ComfortablyNumb pointed out, his closing down is a key part in the system avb wants to play, Adebayor doesn't have the stamina to do this so I think this could be Defoes season to shine, which is ironic as we all thought he would struggle.

 

[Spurm]

Defoe has always blown hot and cold, even when he got 24 in 2009 he got them in relatively few games. The problem is that no manager has handled it right imo, they've either kept him as a bencher or they've continued playing him hoping the scoring returns.
I would hope a manager with a pair of balls would recognise the purple patch and stick with him, but then not hang around when the purple patch finishes and put him on the bench. If the purple patch returns he has to have the balls to possibly bench Ade and stick Defoe back in. When he is on a purple patch he is a very, very useful player to have, but when he isn't his use dimishes a lot.

 

[Hoddle is a god]

There is no doubting that Defoe is a natural born goal-scorer (as is Darren Bent), and that he is capable of scoring important goals for us (as he proved against Reading). I have never doubted that, and I have never argued against it. Also, I have already posted elsewhere that I find his apparent loyalty to our club to be highly admirable.

But...

He just doesn't score enough for us against the better sides. That has been my criticism of him. Nor will I forget the 18 months when he scored something like 5 goals in all competitions, which was an utterly dreadful return for any striker in the top flight. Indeed, he was one of the worst, if not the worst striker in the EPL a couple of seasons back.

I'm sorry, but one game against - let's be brutally honest, here - a very poor Reading side isn't going to force me to change my opinion. Let's see how many goals he scores over the next ten fixtures, and if he's scoring the winning goal for us over that period of time, I might just get excited.

That having been said, I am pleased to see that he has knuckled down and applied himself. He, perhaps more than any other player, appears to be genuinely upbeat about the arrival of AVB, and that will only encourage our other players to approach AVB in a similar vein.

 

[NSIS]

There is no doubting that Defoe is a natural born goal-scorer (as is Darren Bent), and that he is capable of scoring important goals for us (as he proved against Reading). I have never doubted that, and I have never argued against it. Also, I have already posted elsewhere that I find his apparent loyalty to our club to be highly admirable.

But...

He just doesn't score enough for us against the better sides. That has been my criticism of him. Nor will I forget the 18 months when he scored something like 5 goals in all competitions, which was an utterly dreadful return for any striker in the top flight. Indeed, he was one of the worst, if not the worst striker in the EPL a couple of seasons back.

I'm sorry, but one game against - let's be brutally honest, here - a very poor Reading side isn't going to force me to change my opinion. Let's see how many goals he scores over the next ten fixtures, and if he's scoring the winning goal for us over that period of time, I might just get excited.

That having been said, I am pleased to see that he has knuckled down and applied himself. He, perhaps more than any other player, appears to be genuinely upbeat about the arrival of AVB, and that will only encourage our other players to approach AVB in a similar vein.

As I, and others, have said many times. Defoe is a confidence player. I think Harry did quite a bit to undermine that confidence. So, from Defoe's point of view, I think he was more glad to just see the back of Harry rather than anything else. AVB seems to have faith in him, he seems to have responded well to that, so far. Yes, he has his faults. But he scores goals, always has, always will. So long as he keeps banging them in, he deserves his place, IMO.