JD=SuperStar
01 Jan 2005, 05:12 AM
JOL BACKS DEFOE TO RIVAL OWEN
Tottenham Hotspur boss Martin Jol believes 'priceless' striker Jermain Defoe is already 'in the same bracket' as Michael Owen - and can rival him for a regular place in the England side next year.
Defoe is about to complete an incredible 2004, having been transformed from a promising First Division striker to regular goalscorer with Spurs, as well as an England international, in just 12 months.
Jol is predicting another year of great development ahead, while again stressing that Tottenham have no intention of allowing their prize asset to escape from White Hart Lane.
He declared: “Jermain is getting better and better with every month. He'll be even better in six months and then in one year.
“Tottenham paid £7 million for him, so he wasn't cheap. But he's a big asset for this club now and he is priceless. Robbie Keane was also expensive but they have both done well.
“Jermain is already maybe in the same bracket as Michael Owen and he is playing in the England team as a regular. Jermain could do the same.
“It's all about mentality and I think he's got a good attitude. He will be a terrific player.”
Defoe, 22, made his international debut in March in Sweden, just two months after moving to Tottenham, and made an immediate impression on coach Sven-Goran Eriksson.
He has since played seven more times for England, scoring a vital goal in Poland in Wayne Rooney's enforced absence, before keeping his place against Wales and Azerbaijan in a three-pronged strikeforce.
Given his similarities to Owen, however, Eriksson is unlikely to pair the two strikers together up front when Rooney is fit, so they are effectively competing for one place.
Jol insisted: "I would play him for England but I'm biased. That is down to Sven-Goran Eriksson but he is now watching us more than any other team in the league."
As well as Owen, Jol also sees similarities in Defoe's quicksilver game to ex-Germany international Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, with whom the Dutchman played at Bayern Munich in the late 1970s.
“Defoe is certainly one of the best young strikers I've seen. I played with Rummenigge and he was an unbelievable player," he said.
“He was the same sort of player as Jermain. He was going into the same sort of spaces, dribbling the ball. Jermain is similar but Rummenigge was taller.”
At Tottenham, Defoe is now one of three front-line strikers - as well as Keane and Fredi Kanoute - but is almost assured of his place, with 15 goals already this season.
Reflecting on an "amazing" 2004, he set his sights on continuing his incredible fast-track development in the new year.
“It's been an amazing year and things have happened so quickly," he said.
At the start of this season, I said I wanted to score as many goals as I can and stay in that top scorers' chart,” he told the club's website, www.spurs.co.uk.
“That's happened but I want to keep focused and make sure I'm still there at the end of the season. Hopefully, we'll be right up there as well but there is a long way to go.
“One thing is for sure - teams know that when it comes to playing us, it's a difficult game. We're a strong side that plays football and we've got goalscorers in myself, Fredi Kanoute and Robbie Keane.”
Jol confirmed he is still looking to add a fourth striker to his squad in the January transfer window, but played down reports linking the club with an interest in Newcastle United's Shola Ameobi.
He joked: “I'm not a top manager, I'm the manager of Tottenham Hotspur, so maybe three strikers are enough!
“But in an ideal world, of course, it would be nice to have a young fourth striker and we're looking around. Maybe we will sign one, maybe we won't. We will see.
“Shola Ameobi? He played well against Arsenal. Last week, he wasn't as good as that. But he's not one of the players we would like as he wants to play and he doesn't want to sit on the bench.
“When people say that a fourth striker would have to be on the bench, that makes it impossible for me to bring one in.”
Rather than another high-profile striker, Spurs seem more likely to continue a process which has seen them attract Iceland Under-21 international Emil Hallfredsson and Czech Under-21 midfielder David Limbersky to White Hart Lane.
“There are so many young strikers out there. Hallfredsson was a big surprise as no one knows him, while we also have David Limbersky,” said Jol.
“These players are young and can identify with our club in the next few months and years. They are as important as big-name players in my view.
“Some other managers will say we have a small squad. But we have a good bunch of players and, while we always want to improve our squad, we're pretty fine at the moment.”
Tottenham Hotspur boss Martin Jol believes 'priceless' striker Jermain Defoe is already 'in the same bracket' as Michael Owen - and can rival him for a regular place in the England side next year.
Defoe is about to complete an incredible 2004, having been transformed from a promising First Division striker to regular goalscorer with Spurs, as well as an England international, in just 12 months.
Jol is predicting another year of great development ahead, while again stressing that Tottenham have no intention of allowing their prize asset to escape from White Hart Lane.
He declared: “Jermain is getting better and better with every month. He'll be even better in six months and then in one year.
“Tottenham paid £7 million for him, so he wasn't cheap. But he's a big asset for this club now and he is priceless. Robbie Keane was also expensive but they have both done well.
“Jermain is already maybe in the same bracket as Michael Owen and he is playing in the England team as a regular. Jermain could do the same.
“It's all about mentality and I think he's got a good attitude. He will be a terrific player.”
Defoe, 22, made his international debut in March in Sweden, just two months after moving to Tottenham, and made an immediate impression on coach Sven-Goran Eriksson.
He has since played seven more times for England, scoring a vital goal in Poland in Wayne Rooney's enforced absence, before keeping his place against Wales and Azerbaijan in a three-pronged strikeforce.
Given his similarities to Owen, however, Eriksson is unlikely to pair the two strikers together up front when Rooney is fit, so they are effectively competing for one place.
Jol insisted: "I would play him for England but I'm biased. That is down to Sven-Goran Eriksson but he is now watching us more than any other team in the league."
As well as Owen, Jol also sees similarities in Defoe's quicksilver game to ex-Germany international Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, with whom the Dutchman played at Bayern Munich in the late 1970s.
“Defoe is certainly one of the best young strikers I've seen. I played with Rummenigge and he was an unbelievable player," he said.
“He was the same sort of player as Jermain. He was going into the same sort of spaces, dribbling the ball. Jermain is similar but Rummenigge was taller.”
At Tottenham, Defoe is now one of three front-line strikers - as well as Keane and Fredi Kanoute - but is almost assured of his place, with 15 goals already this season.
Reflecting on an "amazing" 2004, he set his sights on continuing his incredible fast-track development in the new year.
“It's been an amazing year and things have happened so quickly," he said.
At the start of this season, I said I wanted to score as many goals as I can and stay in that top scorers' chart,” he told the club's website, www.spurs.co.uk.
“That's happened but I want to keep focused and make sure I'm still there at the end of the season. Hopefully, we'll be right up there as well but there is a long way to go.
“One thing is for sure - teams know that when it comes to playing us, it's a difficult game. We're a strong side that plays football and we've got goalscorers in myself, Fredi Kanoute and Robbie Keane.”
Jol confirmed he is still looking to add a fourth striker to his squad in the January transfer window, but played down reports linking the club with an interest in Newcastle United's Shola Ameobi.
He joked: “I'm not a top manager, I'm the manager of Tottenham Hotspur, so maybe three strikers are enough!
“But in an ideal world, of course, it would be nice to have a young fourth striker and we're looking around. Maybe we will sign one, maybe we won't. We will see.
“Shola Ameobi? He played well against Arsenal. Last week, he wasn't as good as that. But he's not one of the players we would like as he wants to play and he doesn't want to sit on the bench.
“When people say that a fourth striker would have to be on the bench, that makes it impossible for me to bring one in.”
Rather than another high-profile striker, Spurs seem more likely to continue a process which has seen them attract Iceland Under-21 international Emil Hallfredsson and Czech Under-21 midfielder David Limbersky to White Hart Lane.
“There are so many young strikers out there. Hallfredsson was a big surprise as no one knows him, while we also have David Limbersky,” said Jol.
“These players are young and can identify with our club in the next few months and years. They are as important as big-name players in my view.
“Some other managers will say we have a small squad. But we have a good bunch of players and, while we always want to improve our squad, we're pretty fine at the moment.”