spud
Well-Known Member
- Sep 2, 2003
- 5,850
- 8,794
I like Jermain Defoe; always have. When we first signed him, I was pleased that we had signed a raw goalscorer. He was fast, he could shoot, and he knew where the goal was. Sure, he had his faults, but who doesn't? Here was a young player with the potential to be great.
I was disappointed when he left, but I understood it. Keane and Berbatov were the first choice, and Jermain needed to play. I was pleased when he came back; we needed his goals, and he didn't disappoint. But over the years my enthusiasm for him has waned, and turned to disappontment and frustration.
He has worked on his game. He is offside far less than he used to be. He has worked on his strength and is now far more able to hold the ball in a chellenge. His running in the channels is much improved, and he can play a teammate in (for example, Bale at home to the Goons last season). But he has failed to develop the most important part of his game: his goalscoring.
Sadly, Jermain Defoe is limited forward. He has two ways that he scores: the 'shift-and-shoot' (right foot only) and running the right channel off the left shoulder of the last defender. This would be fine if he offered another type of threat; the fact that he doesn't means that it is relatively easy for defenders to stop him. It isn't a coincidence that, prior to Wolves, he had the most shots without scoring of any player. Defenders 'stand' on his right foot and block the shot. Wolves was encouraging because he placed his two scoring shots rather than hitting the ball as hard as he could to the middle of the goal. I hope it is the sign of a greater maturity, but I'm not banking on it.
My main gripe with him is his almost total lack of movement in the box. When the ball is wide, he takes up a position in the general vicinity of the penalty spot and stays there. His next move is to react to the ball in or to any deflection, when it should be to make a run or to find space. His lack of mobility means that he hardly ever gets on the end of balls played in from wide areas, and he also takes up space that could be exploited by a late run from outside the box. This, I am sure, is the reason why Bale and Lennon switch wings. There is, when we play VdV and Defoe, simply no point in either winger beating their man and putting in a cross, as there is nobody there to exploit it. Better to have them on the 'wrong' side so they can cut in and make something happen from a central position. The problem with this, of course, is that the opposition (such as West Ham did) simply have to congest the centre and crowd us out, restricting us to long-range efforts.
There was an exception against West Ham. In the first half, he left his marker on the back (right) post and made a run in front of the other centre back, reaching the ball in (I think from Bale) and putting it just wide of the far (right) post. He hit it with his right when his left would have been more appropriate, but you can't have everything. 'Great' I thought, 'the coaching staff have worked on this and we're going to see some movement from our boy'. But it was a one-off. There was an example in the second half where he ran the left channel and didn't get the ball, then made another good run across the edge of the box. Again he was ignored, and the ball went left. 'Now is the time' I thought, waiting for him to run from behind his marker into space in the middle of the goal to meet the ball in. But he didn't. For the umpteenth time, he simply watched when he should have been moving, anticipating play, gambling on the cross.
This is hurting us. If you play VdV plus one striker, then that striker has to be a goal threat. VdV, contrary to some opinion, isn't a forward and doesn't play like one. He drops very deep and his game in the box is playing off a front man. Like (for you old-'uns) Martin Peters, and a host of others since, he uses space by timing his runs and getting into positions where defenders don't expect him. If we play one striker, that striker has to be effective in all aspects of penalty box play, not just hanging around waiting for something to happen. This not only renders him ineffective, but also limits the opportunities for his teammates.
So we have to change. We simply cannot play Jermain Defoe as our only striker and expect to win games. It makes us toothless up front and predictable in approach. There are two answers to this if Defoe does not change his game. Either play VdV with either Pav or Crouch (my preference would be Pav) or play two strikers and leave VdV on the bench.
If we're going to finish in the top four again, we need to win games. To do that we need goals. We aren't going to get them with Defoe as our lone striker.
I was disappointed when he left, but I understood it. Keane and Berbatov were the first choice, and Jermain needed to play. I was pleased when he came back; we needed his goals, and he didn't disappoint. But over the years my enthusiasm for him has waned, and turned to disappontment and frustration.
He has worked on his game. He is offside far less than he used to be. He has worked on his strength and is now far more able to hold the ball in a chellenge. His running in the channels is much improved, and he can play a teammate in (for example, Bale at home to the Goons last season). But he has failed to develop the most important part of his game: his goalscoring.
Sadly, Jermain Defoe is limited forward. He has two ways that he scores: the 'shift-and-shoot' (right foot only) and running the right channel off the left shoulder of the last defender. This would be fine if he offered another type of threat; the fact that he doesn't means that it is relatively easy for defenders to stop him. It isn't a coincidence that, prior to Wolves, he had the most shots without scoring of any player. Defenders 'stand' on his right foot and block the shot. Wolves was encouraging because he placed his two scoring shots rather than hitting the ball as hard as he could to the middle of the goal. I hope it is the sign of a greater maturity, but I'm not banking on it.
My main gripe with him is his almost total lack of movement in the box. When the ball is wide, he takes up a position in the general vicinity of the penalty spot and stays there. His next move is to react to the ball in or to any deflection, when it should be to make a run or to find space. His lack of mobility means that he hardly ever gets on the end of balls played in from wide areas, and he also takes up space that could be exploited by a late run from outside the box. This, I am sure, is the reason why Bale and Lennon switch wings. There is, when we play VdV and Defoe, simply no point in either winger beating their man and putting in a cross, as there is nobody there to exploit it. Better to have them on the 'wrong' side so they can cut in and make something happen from a central position. The problem with this, of course, is that the opposition (such as West Ham did) simply have to congest the centre and crowd us out, restricting us to long-range efforts.
There was an exception against West Ham. In the first half, he left his marker on the back (right) post and made a run in front of the other centre back, reaching the ball in (I think from Bale) and putting it just wide of the far (right) post. He hit it with his right when his left would have been more appropriate, but you can't have everything. 'Great' I thought, 'the coaching staff have worked on this and we're going to see some movement from our boy'. But it was a one-off. There was an example in the second half where he ran the left channel and didn't get the ball, then made another good run across the edge of the box. Again he was ignored, and the ball went left. 'Now is the time' I thought, waiting for him to run from behind his marker into space in the middle of the goal to meet the ball in. But he didn't. For the umpteenth time, he simply watched when he should have been moving, anticipating play, gambling on the cross.
This is hurting us. If you play VdV plus one striker, then that striker has to be a goal threat. VdV, contrary to some opinion, isn't a forward and doesn't play like one. He drops very deep and his game in the box is playing off a front man. Like (for you old-'uns) Martin Peters, and a host of others since, he uses space by timing his runs and getting into positions where defenders don't expect him. If we play one striker, that striker has to be effective in all aspects of penalty box play, not just hanging around waiting for something to happen. This not only renders him ineffective, but also limits the opportunities for his teammates.
So we have to change. We simply cannot play Jermain Defoe as our only striker and expect to win games. It makes us toothless up front and predictable in approach. There are two answers to this if Defoe does not change his game. Either play VdV with either Pav or Crouch (my preference would be Pav) or play two strikers and leave VdV on the bench.
If we're going to finish in the top four again, we need to win games. To do that we need goals. We aren't going to get them with Defoe as our lone striker.
