Already this season, Jermain Defoe has started 17 matches for Tottenham Hotspur, only five fewer than during the whole of last term and seven short of the year prior to that. In those campaigns he still struck 17 and 12 times respectively, and he has already reached double figures this time out.
Defoe suffered last season from Harry Redknapp’s preferred attacking option of deploying Emmanuel Adebayor as a lone forward. To date this time out, Defoe is repaying Andre Villas-Boas’ faith in him with a series of displays which have exhibited not only his undoubted remarkable finishing ability but other attributes not readily associated with the 30 year-old.
The player with no fewer than 52 England caps has been impressive operating without a strike partner, in contrast to the popular belief that he can only thrive when alongside a target-man. Unfortunately for Defoe there is always a feeling attached to him that he is never fully established in any side, a remarkable fact considering his scoring prowess.
With Adebayor suspended, Defoe’s run in the team is guaranteed to continue against Liverpool at White Hart Lane and Fulham at Craven Cottage on Saturday. With an impending set of fixtures which include clashes with Swansea City, Stoke City, Aston Villa, Sunderland, Reading and QPR the ex-West Ham player will be licking his lips at the prospect of a barrage of goals and the opportunity to finally cement a place in the Tottenham team and convince remaining doubters on the terraces of his value.
Villas-Boas has today compared his forward with the prolific and much coveted Atletico Madrid marksman, Radamel Falcao.
‘I certainly put him alongside Falcao. His hunger for goal is extreme. That makes things easier for you to work with because you don’t have to teach a lot’.
Beyond identifying similarities with Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo the Portuguese boss couldn’t have offered higher praise. The bar has been raised for Defoe. The time has arrived for the diminutive striker to scale the heights.
What’s your take? Just how important will Jermaine Defoe be to Tottenham this season? Can his goals help guide Spurs into a top four finish?
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Defoe is one of our most important players this season he is a living tottenham legend!
Whatever avb is giving Defoe keep feeding, he is like a new player, was never his biggest fan, keep doing what ur doing Defoe,best striker in Prem at the moment..