Andorra were brutal, but what isn't in question is that we are sitting on one of the Premiership's most ruthless finishers. I for one have grown tired of the anti Defoe brigade. They've painted him as a lazy, truculent character unprepared to fight for his place. It's all cobblers...
Defoe is an up front striker - he never was a ball go getter. You want goals from him? You hit the ball into him. He turns, he shoots. He is a proven, glorious marksman. He doesn't bring the ball, say as Keane does. And that never bothered anyone when he was on fire - before Jol dropped him as a result of that nonsensical competition for a sole striker spot with Keane & Mido. This issue here is both a tactical and a distribution one.
Carrickless, all too frequently of late get the frenetic 'lucky bag' passing of Davids. I'll be kind and simply add that Jenas lacks any real presence.
Danny Murphy, take note, had the highest assist rate in the Premiership BEFORE he signed for Tottenham. Yet he can't get a game. Couldn't he be a wonderful contrast to Lennon? A holding player to play off Keane. Defence splitting passes to Defoe & Berby anyone? Alternate this with Lennon causing havoc, cutting in and running directly at defenders. Wow.
If Jol doesn't sort out this distribution problem, we will be discussing the validity of Berbatov in the squad before Christmas...
Monday, September 04, 2006
Another Pro Jermain Defoe Article By A Spurs Fan
Posted by Harry Hotspur at Monday, September 04, 2006
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24 comments:
Yes, we certainly do have a problem with creativity in midfield. I saw a suggestion that Jol pair Zokora and Keane in the centre of midfield, with Lennon and Tainio on the flanks, and I like the idea. Then play Defoe and Berbatov up front and bring Mido on late if need be. Murphy is certainly an option too. Just have a feeling that Man U could be in for a backlash, this Spurs squad is packed with talent, we just need attitude ... and a strategy!
Bloody excellent article.
Anonymous said "I saw a suggestion that Jol pair Zokora and Keane in the centre of midfield, with Lennon and Tainio on the flanks"
why not just play keane on the wing and tainio in the middle? Its a smaller leap from playing up front to centre mid for keane???
Keane could play anywhere, frankly
your article is close to being insane keane on the wing your having a laugh you get the best out of keano letting him roam freely off the main striker and to move him into centre midfield is not an option.our creativity will come from malbranque eventually and jenas tho not as creative his energy and penetration gives us something no other midfielder can.teemu tainio is talented enough to play on the wing even new signing assou-ekotto gives us an potion there.i do agree with defoe and berbatov but its a long season and having all these options will no doubt help us out as every team is different and j.d and dimitar wont work all the time.didier zokora is a key man and need to get him in the team at the expense of davids who can still play a major part this year but the legs aint there no more.i would just like to say a welcome home to ahmed mido cant wait to sing his name again at the lane......
'our creativity will come from Malbranque.'
You're the sane one?
Keane 'in the hole' with Berbatov & defoe up front. Chuck Mido at the problem when we meet the likes of Bolton & Blackburn.
I can't believe the easy time Martin Jol gets from Spurs fans - as if finishing fifth in the Premiership were the Holy Grail, and absolved the manager of all responsibility for his continuing tactical and selection-related failings.
Sure, the big geezer has steadied a rudderless ship, but where is he taking it? I for one can see further storms ahead, particularly with regard to Jermain Defoe.
It is truly ludicrous that Defoe does not start every game for Spurs, and it says a lot for him that he has kept his counsel about the shocking treatment he has had from Jol, especially given that it cost him a World Cup place.
The arguments about Keane and Berbatov are irrelevant - neither of them is as good as Defoe, or as deadly.
Why does Jol play Davids and Jenas instead of Zokora? This was a guy who stood out at the World Cup, and now warms the bench for Spurs, while an old Dutchman lurches round the field fouling people in his place.
As for the lack of creativity in midfield, this doesn't matter to Jol - his midfield are for winning the ball, and his central defenders and goalkeeper are given playmaker duties - no team, not even Bolton, hit more long balls than Spurs.
Spurs is very much a work in progress, and hope remains, but sooner or later Jol's honeymoon period will be over, and he will have to be judged on his record.
To some Spurs fans, he is already in deficit - Spurs should have finished fourth last year, and Lasagnagate did Jol a favour by detracting attention from his bad management and the tactical errors that cost Spurs so many points last season.
When he brings a fit-again Paul Stalteri straight back into the starting eleven, you will know that he has learnt nothing - as if his handling of Defoe did not tell you that already.
Well, there is something you Spur fans all should know: Berbatov has been injured for a fortnight and it got worse during the match against Romania when he had to be substituted. Probably he won't be fit for next matches with Slovenia and MU. NOw show some consideration for the guy, please.
twd!?!?!
Clearly hasn't taken the medication this morning. A fifth place position is better than any other spurs manager in Premiership history, therefore it's an improvement. We only finished so high last season because of early cup exits. There's a long way to go but Jolly has proven that, at present, he is the best man for the job. Until we are facing relagation will I ever think otherwise.
for the person who has been giving martin jol a hard time do you actually go to the games.defoe was sharp in pre season but you cant forget how well robbie keane played last year if it wasnt for him we would of finished in mid table so i can understand why hes kept faith with him.give the new players a chance to settle then you will see how good a side martin jol has put together,lets not forget didier zokora was a target for arsenal and chelsea and various clubs in europe and berbatov turned down man united i think this says it all......
Anonymous said...
Keane could play anywhere, frankly
9:28 AM
i agree!!!!!
1 keane
2 keane
3 keane
4 keane
5 keane
6 keane
7 keane
8 keane
9 keane
10 keane
11 keane
Spurs fans need to bite the bullet on Jol. I'm not calling for him to go, I'm calling for him to get his shit together and get tactically aware. Quick.
The team are not equal to the sum of their parts and it is difficult to believe if Defoe left and went to virtually any other P'ship side he would be so frustrated.
I also believe that Jenas and Davids wouldn't get automatic starting spots in most other P'ship sides.
like the pirate flash, harry.
What is the deal with Zakora? Snubs Arse to warm the bench?
Further to the original point of this article, it is also a blatant and transparent lie that Jol, as he claimed, preferred Keane to Defoe because he was in better form last season. Form clearly did not come into it - Defoe was dropped after scoring in the first two matches of the season, and then later, after the Villa home match, after bagging three in three games. Jol's issue with Defoe is personal, not professional. He should be sacked tomorrow for being a total idiot.
here's something to investigate: if Berbatov was injured on Sheffield's why is Jol saying it was now with Rumania? and why did he played Everton if he wasn't o.k.? what kind of medical policy is ruling Spurs these days?
if he's forced to play MU he might be injured for a long time !??!
twd? what you on son? clearly a no good gooner trying to infiltrate our ranks? you so clearly aint a fellow yid.
fuck off back to the woolwich nomads and sit in your bankrupt city stadium
Sack MJ? You may have blown your cover, there, twd.
how can u slag martin jol off just remember glenn hoddle and santini.hoddle ruined rebrov santini didnt think carrick was any good,shows u what he knew!!.our best league position since 1989-1990 season has been achieved by jol back into europe so you owe martin jol a bit of respect for getting us this far as at the start of last season top 8 would have been thought of a good season.with the new editions to the squad it will certainly take us forward but patience is the key.
So I can only be a yid if I am prepared to worship the ground Martin Jol walks on?
The man is a fraud.
His idiocy cost Tottenham a place in the Champions League last season - not mine, not Santini's, not Hoddle's.
So he's a better manager than Hoddle and Santini? How is that - despite the cluelessness of both of them, they have both won trophies. He has won nothing, ever.
All you headless glory-starved fools should realise that Jol is taking Tottenham nowhere, and remove your heads from up his arse immediately.
Anyone care to post a list of the players signed by Spurs since Martin Jol took charge? It does not make pretty reading.
In a way, the reaction to my criticism of Jol on here is a reflection of the desperate nature of Spurs fans - we have been so bad for so long that a geezer can come in, make a few funny remarks, play route one football every week, and you all think he's the new Messiah.
Maybe I am not after all a real Spurs fan - perhaps I'm not stupid enough.
Voicing concern doesn't make you a traitor, but opting to summarily dismiss Jol without a back up plan is at best rash.
That's what happens when the demands of expectation overtake reason. No?
Sounds like a gooner havin a laugh to me.
Martin the Messiah did well again on Saturday.
Here's a little poser for Spurs fans:
You try and sign Damien Duff, but Chelsea want more than a tenner, and the player himself would rather got to Newcastle. So you try instead to purchase Stewart Downing. Leaving aside the fact that Downing is no good, he does not want to come to Spurs.
So, you have a bit of a problem - especially since you have given up on Andy Reid.
How do you solve it? To Jol, the solution is simple - sign Mido, and play him on the left side of midfield. Then instruct your goalkeeper and central defenders to hit towering long passes for him to head into the middle of the park to....... nobody.
The man is a genius - why didn't I see it before?
Four games, three points. And still poncing Defoe about for the sake of it.
Defoe is lazy, disinterested and rubbish. Get over it. We should sell him and get someone who is prepared to run into space.
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