Joe E
25 Sep 2006, 05:56 AM
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.jhtml?view=DETAILS&grid=&xml=/sport/2006/09/25/sfnsmi25.xml
Another "poor jermaine defoe, his talent is being wasted" piece in the telegraph.
i was as upset as anyone when he missed the WC, but i think we now have to start asking how good defoe really is these days, whether he's ever going to actually start scoring goals for us again, and whether his sale would be a bad thing. and i think in a broader context, we have to ask what the hell is wrong with our supposedly world class strikers.
The fact is that defoe has now had plenty of football this season. he's getting his chance to score his goals and prove what he can do. against liverpool, there was undeniably a lack of perceptive through balls and killer crosses, but he did nothing to make opportunities for himself. there was none of the cutting in from the wing, hitting swerving drives, cunning twists and turns and general sharpness that made us all cream our pants back in the first half of 05-06 (when undeniably, he was playing as well as any spurs striker i've seen in the flesh).
and against man united, where i was hopping up and down in the away end in feverish anticipation of a goal, he had a golden chance and blew it with one of the weakest headed attempts i've seen - bettered only by ledley's bizarre screw-up on saturday (and isn't it a shame that that marred what was a truly exceptional defensive performance from leds, who is better than woodgate or brown and who i would gladly marry if he felt it would improve his form further)
the point is that jermaine is getting what he wanted - games. and he needs to show that he can ********ing score goals.
likewise, keane and defoe insist they can play together. on saturday they had a chance to prove it - and what follwed was one of the most toothless offensive performances you'll see. the problem is that i can't fault jol because i was calling for those two to start against liverpool after the utterly imcompetent performance from mido against fulham.
i put the blame for the current blip (and it IS only a blip -0 we jsut need to work out the quickest way to get over it) at the door of the forwards. the jenas miss was infuriating and awful, but it is the kind of freak miss that just happens, and JJ played very well on saturday - not to metion the fact that he'd run 70 yards full pelt to get himself into a scoring position. it's the responsibility of the front men to score, and they're not doing it.
so what do you do about it if you're jol? after the liverpool game, my brother had an interesting proposition. leave mido AND defoe on the bench. and tell them that if they aren't scoring, they aren't playing. and play lee barnard up front along side keane. tell them that if they don't have the ingenuity to create their own chances, or the confidence to finish the guilt-edged ones created for them, then maybe a hungry youngster will. if barnard socres and we win, you've proved a point to the two of them, blooded a youngster properly (i.e not in the carling cup) and got some points. and if barnard is way out of his depth and doesn't get a sniff of goal, then....well, what's the ********ing difference? that's how defoe and mido have been all season anyway.
Another "poor jermaine defoe, his talent is being wasted" piece in the telegraph.
i was as upset as anyone when he missed the WC, but i think we now have to start asking how good defoe really is these days, whether he's ever going to actually start scoring goals for us again, and whether his sale would be a bad thing. and i think in a broader context, we have to ask what the hell is wrong with our supposedly world class strikers.
The fact is that defoe has now had plenty of football this season. he's getting his chance to score his goals and prove what he can do. against liverpool, there was undeniably a lack of perceptive through balls and killer crosses, but he did nothing to make opportunities for himself. there was none of the cutting in from the wing, hitting swerving drives, cunning twists and turns and general sharpness that made us all cream our pants back in the first half of 05-06 (when undeniably, he was playing as well as any spurs striker i've seen in the flesh).
and against man united, where i was hopping up and down in the away end in feverish anticipation of a goal, he had a golden chance and blew it with one of the weakest headed attempts i've seen - bettered only by ledley's bizarre screw-up on saturday (and isn't it a shame that that marred what was a truly exceptional defensive performance from leds, who is better than woodgate or brown and who i would gladly marry if he felt it would improve his form further)
the point is that jermaine is getting what he wanted - games. and he needs to show that he can ********ing score goals.
likewise, keane and defoe insist they can play together. on saturday they had a chance to prove it - and what follwed was one of the most toothless offensive performances you'll see. the problem is that i can't fault jol because i was calling for those two to start against liverpool after the utterly imcompetent performance from mido against fulham.
i put the blame for the current blip (and it IS only a blip -0 we jsut need to work out the quickest way to get over it) at the door of the forwards. the jenas miss was infuriating and awful, but it is the kind of freak miss that just happens, and JJ played very well on saturday - not to metion the fact that he'd run 70 yards full pelt to get himself into a scoring position. it's the responsibility of the front men to score, and they're not doing it.
so what do you do about it if you're jol? after the liverpool game, my brother had an interesting proposition. leave mido AND defoe on the bench. and tell them that if they aren't scoring, they aren't playing. and play lee barnard up front along side keane. tell them that if they don't have the ingenuity to create their own chances, or the confidence to finish the guilt-edged ones created for them, then maybe a hungry youngster will. if barnard socres and we win, you've proved a point to the two of them, blooded a youngster properly (i.e not in the carling cup) and got some points. and if barnard is way out of his depth and doesn't get a sniff of goal, then....well, what's the ********ing difference? that's how defoe and mido have been all season anyway.