Coach Tim has declared that Defoe is possibly better than Jimmy Greaves! When asked where he would rank Defoe among Tottenham strikers, he added: "He is possibly number one, obviously you would argue that thereâs Jimmy Greaves, but Jermain Defoe is possibly one of the best goalscorers this clubâs ever seen. That last sentence saved him- but not better that JG or Smith or Chivers- possibly! Anyway lets give a great send off tonight.
Tim not so nice, but apparently very dim, should try engaging what passes for his brain before opening his ever ready gob!.. Defoe, I have always liked, but to classify him alongside one of World footballs' greatest ever goalscorers is just...well, dim!...
It seems that Tim speaks honestly when doing the media thing, but needs to be careful with his words lest he says something that will come back to bite him, like this.
at goalscoring J/D isn't fit lace Jimmys boots.how Sherwood could come up with that is beyond me.Greavsie is the top EVER british striker,a fact acknowledged by most people
Although I'd agree that Defoe isn't on level with Greaves, it's impossible to actually compare past players to those of the present. If you put the Greaves of the 60s and 70s into the current Spurs line up would he score as many? If the current Defoe went back to the 60s and 70s would he score more or less? Impossible to tell. It's like when people compare Pele to Messi/ Ronaldo/ Ronaldinho. All were the greats of their generations but saying who's better or worse is just too impossible to tell as the style and level of football was completely different to one another's' time.
cut the guy some slack. Defoe has been a great, honest servant for the club and clearly has affection for Spurs. Tim can't come out and say "he was alright, top 20 maybe" can he?
I saw Jimmy Greaves play many times. To this day, he's still one of, if not the most deadly, nerveless finishers I've ever seen. I like Defoe, always have, as I put in my earlier post. But take my word for it, he's not in the same league as Greaves. Yes eras are different. Today's defenders are certainly fitter and probably faster, but Greaves played and achieved a phenomenal scoring record in a time when it was semi-legal for defenders to kick strikers into the third row of the stand!...
Football is different today. It is a fourteen man game and forwards are often taken off after an hour or so in order to hold onto a lead. It would be interesting for someone with time on their hands to compare goals per minute for our best ten strikers
Are you kidding? One sliding tackle from the likes of Tommy Smith or Billy Bremner, or Chopper Harris, and little Defoe's career would have been ended. There was a reason why strikers (or centre-forwards, as they all seemed to be known), back in the 70s and 80s, were built like Chivers and Gilzean and Peters.
Yeah unfortunately I never had the pleasure of watching Greavesy though I only have to ask a few of the elders in the family to gain an understanding of how incredible the man was. Just trying to point out that the way footballers as a whole have improved, would he have the same chances he had back in his day as he would now? I'm not saying yes or no but just merely it's too difficult to say. But you can then argue and say that Defoe in his prime was extremely quick and agile and therefore could have evaded those sort of challenges due to his superior fitness and speed. Like I said, I'm not saying Defoe is on par or anywhere near the level of any of the former greats but just that I think it's too hard to compare different strikers from different eras. Compare JD to Zlatan, Eto'o, Rooney and van Persie by all means and then you realise how far off the level he is/ was to those of the best in this era but I think comparing one player to another that played in completely different generations and styles is just too hard to judge.
What HIAG's saying, and what was, as I pointed out, almost an accepted part of the game, was that players such as Styles, Hunter, Storey, Harris, to name but a few, deliberately went out to hurt you and put you out of the game. Or to make you so scared of them that you couldn't play effectively. You may have been quick, but they only had to catch you once!!... The thing with a Greaves was his strike rate. He so rarely ever missed, give him half a chance and it was in the back of your net. He was also almost completely nerveless - never panicked, snatched at a chance. Everything he did was just so cold and clinical.
He's just talking up a player that's done well for us over the years who's moving on. No harm in that.
I quite agree that Defoe has been a great asset to the club and deserves a lot of praise and the club's best wishes for his future. However, Sherwood comparing him to Jimmy Greaves is just plain stupid, and has probably only caused embarrassment to the player himself.
Nothing wrong with being complimentary, same as saying the dinner your wife's just cooked is lovely, when truthfully its inedible ****e! He's scored a lot of goals for us, but so would the other names mentioned if they'd been here as long as he has. Not takin anything away from him though, great pro, great attitude, we'll always remember Wigan! all the very best JD!
Talk JD up by all means,he was a good pro for us ,and a good striker,i had a lot of time for him,but Tim didn't have to make the Greavsie bit.
