I'm going to take a punt here and say that Defoe getting injured could be blessing in disguise. Ade loves to be the focal point in a team, he also loves to play with a creative midfielder supporting him. A system with Holtby just behind and Bale/Lennon wide is effectively what worked so well under Harry. Ade has something to prove now, the honeymoon is well and truly over and he is fully aware of the pressure mounting on him to perform. Whatever we say about Ade's finishing (definitely not a natural) his movement is very good, he works harder than he gets credit for and IMO is a better spearhead than Defoe in the box when balls are arriving from wide areas. I think there are legs in a system like this, and I'd love to see AVB give it a try this weekend.
I was going to touch on the part about Ade being centre of attention so to speak. He's a player that loves being "the man" and so maybe Defoe being out gives him the ideal platform to prove he is the top draw player we all know he can be. An on form Ade is unplayable for any CB in Europe, it's just the fact his form this season has stayed at home so far it would seem.
Agreed but the lack of opportunity to play that 'main man' striker role has contributed to that. He doesn't perform well with Defoe along side him, and I think he struggles to find his place in the team in that system. Last year in that lone striker role he scored 17 goals in 32 premier league starts, chipping in with 11 assists, sometimes those stats are often forgotten I think. So far this season, Defoe has scored 10 in 24 starts, but only 3 assists.
