Once again the Tottenham Hotspur man played a bit part role for England at Euro 2012. The striker will hope to win over the new Spurs boss.
Sooner or later, Jermain Defoe has to catch a break, doesn’t he?
For the best part of two seasons, the striker has been living his life at Tottenham predominantly on the bench.
Harry Redknapp’s signing of Rafael van der Vaart really worked against him. To accommodate the Dutchman, Redknapp elected to play with one striker for the majority of the time and in 2010/11 it was Peter Crouch who got the nod over Defoe.
The timing was tough, Defoe was coming into his own, scoring a hat-trick for England against Bulgaria in the World Cup qualifiers but by the end of the season he was reflecting on where it all went wrong.
This season it was the same story, despite Crouch being sold. He was replaced by the on-loan Emmanuel Adebayor, and despite an initial experiment playing them together, Redknapp quickly decided Adebayor was his man for the big games, and sent Defoe out with the reserves and youngsters in the Europa League. Louis Saha’s January arrival even pushed him down to third choice.
His season ended like this, 14 goals from 14 starts – plus 17 appearances from the bench. It tells it’s own story.
Defoe’s output was excellent, despite not starting two league games in a row since September, scoring as many goals as he started made him a more reliable performer than ever. He in fact set the Premier League record last season for the most ever goals scored by a substitute.
At 29 the record is a bit of a back-handed compliment. For a player so highly rated in his youth it is debatable whether it is a record he would have wanted.
At Euro 2012 his situation didn’t change. He was a substitute, playing just 13 minutes of England’s opening game against France. It seems Roy Hodgson is a manager who rates him, but not quite enough to put his full faith in him.
Right now Redknapp leaving could be a bit of a turning point for Defoe. Putting aside Dos Santos who is expected to leave, Defoe is Tottenham’s only senior striker.
When the new manager arrives he will have to prove himself all over again. He can’t have worse luck than he has had over the past two seasons- and will hope the next boss appreciates what he can bring to the side.
New strikers will come in, and if they dislodge Defoe and shunt him to the bench again, then next summer it might just be time for Defoe to up sticks and leave to play for a club where he can be first choice.
Is Defoe under-appreciated? Has he deserved more starts?
image: © OliverN5
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