Defoe Vs Man City

[saintlyspur]

what have i done?

questioned god

 

[kendoddsdadsdogsdead]

As Harry said, he changed the direction of his run which cost him vital time.

he held his run because the ball inside was the ball that was on at that time imo. He gave Bale that option. When he went on the outside then he made the move to get in the area but just couldn't make up the ground or the ball wasn't quite on the money whatever way you want to look at it. It was unlucky and very frustrating and I nearly put my foot through the wall when it squirmed wide. Playing devils advocate if we'd stumped up the money for Adebayor I'm sure he would have got his long leg to it and we'd be right in the title mix.

 

[Spurs_Bear]

Defoe's game today:

60 minutes - long ball over the top, error by defender - good first touch, good finish

c.70 minutes - gets beyond his defender in the 18 yard box, crap control, wide

93 minutes - lacks anticipation and pace to get onto Bale's cross, fluffs it 'Gazza '96 style'

Also he was offside quite a bit too.



But that's it - 3 times he was involved in play. Ade would have clocked up 80 odd passes if he'd been on.

Defoe's a decent impact sub, but when he starts it's like playing with 10 men.

He also gives the ball away far too often and breaks up our fluidity because he's not got the intelligence to be on the same wavelength as his teammates.

Once actually. Lazy posting about a subject you claim to know about.

 

[Capocrimini]

I hate to make Defoe a scapegoat, but he isnt a good enough understudy to Adebayor. His hold up play is at times atrocious , whenever we are in a crossing position he always makes a run to the near post, its so predictable. Even on the ball you know he will shift and shoot. Today he did well in the second half, but he is never going to be a great lone striker, not his fault, its just not his game. He will however get us goals so I would not want to lose him, but if we are to compete in the top four, rather then squeeze in, we need another striker in the Adebayor mould. Honestly had we had Adebayor today, we would have had more possession, and been a lot more decisive in and around the penalty area.

I appreciate this thread is to big up Defoe's goal and terrific second half performance, but his size and style of play is negative to the rest of the team. Typical example is when BAE and Bale attempted crosses in Defoe wasn't anywhere near the delivery. We had to slip the ball on numerous occasions to Lennon and Bale to hold up the play, whereas Defoe just ran into no where. An Adebayor, Berbatov, Rooney, even Keane in his pomp would have provided our midfielders with better support.

Hats off to the team, very good match and performance from everyone involved. My one gripe is Bale again constantly being in the middle, yeah he scored, but hes supposed to be a wide player coming in central, not the other way round.

 

[Dan Ashcroft]

Yep thought he did fairly well myself. He was isolated in the first half especially, as VDV didn't get up around him often enough. Agree about the chance at the end as well. He held his run waiting for the ball inside which was the natural one you would play.

Why would vdV want to be anywhere near him? He can't hold on to the ball for 5 seconds. Surely it's in vdV's interests to go somewhere that someone will be able to feed him the ball?

Once actually. Lazy posting about a subject you claim to know about.

Fair. It just feels like groundhog day with him after 7 seasons of the same dross.

 

[kendoddsdadsdogsdead]

I hate to make Defoe a scapegoat, but he isnt a good enough understudy to Adebayor. His hold up play is at times atrocious , whenever we are in a crossing position he always makes a run to the near post, its so predictable. Even on the ball you know he will shift and shoot. Today he did well in the second half, but he is never going to be a great lone striker, not his fault, its just not his game. He will however get us goals so I would not want to lose him, but if we are to compete in the top four, rather then squeeze in, we need another striker in the Adebayor mould. Honestly had we had Adebayor today, we would have had more possession, and been a lot more decisive in and around the penalty area.

I appreciate this thread is to big up Defoe's goal and terrific second half performance, but his size and style of play is negative to the rest of the team. Typical example is when BAE and Bale attempted crosses in Defoe wasn't anywhere near the delivery. We had to slip the ball on numerous occasions to Lennon and Bale to hold up the play, whereas Defoe just ran into no where. An Adebayor, Berbatov, Rooney, even Keane in his pomp would have provided our midfielders with better support.

Hats off to the team, very good match and performance from everyone involved.

I know what you're saying but he's not a lone forward so I dont really like to compare him to Adebayor. Still think Adebayor and Defoe has the makings of a good partnership and would have caused them alot of problems if they played today.

 

[Spurs_Bear]

Fair. It just feels like groundhog day with him after 7 seasons of the same dross.

I used to get slated by my mates that I went to the games with in the Jol years for moaning about Defoe.

But he isn't as bad as you make out, and he's a fuck load more useful to a team than the other option we had today.

 

[jonathanhotspur]

The thing is, I'm not necessarily convinced he is that bothered about being a squad member of a good team. I think he just wants to play every game, for whoever it is.

Sounds weird but I get the impression with Defoe he would rather be first choice for a team like Fulham that a squad member of the top 4.

If you're not convinced, Spurs_Bear, it's probably because he keeps saying he doesn't want to be a squad player and that he doesn't understand what he has to do to cement a starting spot. The only way for him is down, isn't it?

 

[jonathanhotspur]

he held his run because the ball inside was the ball that was on at that time imo. He gave Bale that option. When he went on the outside then he made the move to get in the area but just couldn't make up the ground or the ball wasn't quite on the money whatever way you want to look at it. It was unlucky and very frustrating and I nearly put my foot through the wall when it squirmed wide. Playing devils advocate if we'd stumped up the money for Adebayor I'm sure he would have got his long leg to it and we'd be right in the title mix.

If you listen to Harry, he says Defoe changed his stride pattern. He was heading for the near post, then he changed his mind.

 

[Spurs_Bear]

Absolutely JH, he isn't going to be a starter for any team in the top 4 is he?

 

[kendoddsdadsdogsdead]

Why would vdV want to be anywhere near him? He can't hold on to the ball for 5 seconds. Surely it's in vdV's interests to go somewhere that someone will be able to feed him the ball?

Feed him the ball for what? so he can lay it off five yards to Modric or Parker. You would have a point if he didn't do it when Adebayor's up top as well. I understand you want to be on the ball alot but you got to prioritise having a feel of the ball and over indulging and being able to pick it up in dangerous areas. Regarding Defoe, yep he is poor at holding the ball up, back to goal with a defender up his arse but when he finds himself in spaces between players he can carry the ball quite well and hes got good close control. There was a chance in the first half when he was involved in the build up play, got laid out left, the ball was centred and Defoe was in the box on his own. Where's the late run from VDV or one of our other players. Cant be blaming it all on Defoes poor hold up play.

 

[jonathanhotspur]

Absolutely JH, he isn't going to be a starter for any team in the top 4 is he?

With a first touch like his? Even Liverpool would be stark raving mad to want him.

 

[Bus-Conductor]

Absolutely JH, he isn't going to be a starter for any team in the top 4 is he?

Not as first choice he's not.

 

[kendoddsdadsdogsdead]

With a first touch like his? Even Liverpool would be stark raving mad to want him.

It's his strength, Movement on occasions that can let him down. His pace is also a bit overated by some but to say he's got a poor touch is wrong imo.

 

[EastLondonYid]

I am so proud of the effort ALL our players put in......i can't say the same about many on here, some of the OTT comments about JD are fucking pathetic.

 

[jonathanhotspur]

It's his strength, Movement on occasions that can let him down. His pace is also a bit overated by some but to say he's got a poor touch is wrong imo.

It's not wrong. It is not at all unusual for the ball to bounce off him. It happened today and he also overruns the ball.

 

[eViL]

Meh.. Defoe's game has gone backwards.

When we signed him first time he was full of ideas, unpredictable, good with the ball at his feet, could play off the shoulder of the last defender or take the ball past last man.

He now seems to lost all of these abilities. It's no good having a great shot when you can't make space for yourself or get beyond your defender.

Lets not even talk about his link up play..

He'll always get 15 goals a season and run his little legs off. But so will Kevin Davies.

 

[nidge]

he held his run because the ball inside was the ball that was on at that time imo. He gave Bale that option. When he went on the outside then he made the move to get in the area but just couldn't make up the ground or the ball wasn't quite on the money whatever way you want to look at it. It was unlucky and very frustrating and I nearly put my foot through the wall when it squirmed wide. Playing devils advocate if we'd stumped up the money for Adebayor I'm sure he would have got his long leg to it and we'd be right in the title mix.

No it wasn't as I said at the time, the early ball might have been on if Bale played it first time and then it was would have been a square ball instead of a ball that Defoe could take in stride and hence we could have lost all forward momentum. Also Defoe held his run after Bale was clearly looking to take the ball outside of Lescott.

 

[AngerManagement]

I don't think we can get much better than Defoe in terms of an impact sub and someone who will play against weaker teams and cup matches etc

As long as he is happy with the role he has now and the amount of footballl he gets he is a very useful member of our squad.

He took his goal very well today I thought although his lack of antispaction for Bale's cross highlighted why he will never be a really top level striker (slower guys like Inzhagi would have scored that all day every day because his footballing brain would have ensured he was there for the easy tap in)

I want to see him stay and fight for his place, I think he will get plenty of mins for us this season and even next if he stays around.

If he moves ok he'll be a starter potentially but he will almost certainly have to downgrade and hopefully with us next year he will be back in the Champions League and playing a decent role in a time with ambitions of winning the league.

He's not top level, he wasn't really good enough as a loan striker today but that;s not his game....it really showed our need for someone who can cover Ade. Defoe does however have an important role to play for us and he does score goals (our top scorer I believe over all this term)

 

[kendoddsdadsdogsdead]

It's not wrong. It is not at all unusual for the ball to bounce off him. It happened today and he also overruns the ball.

It is unusual for the ball to bounce off him. When did it happen today? I've seen it fired at him and he's taken it in his stride on many occasions he doesn't look uncomfortable on the ball or receiving it, players like Bent, Carrol, even Welbeck look uncomfortable receiving the ball and look jittery, Defoe doesn't. He's also got good close control when running with the ball. Every player will overrun the ball or miss control it every now and then but he's not a serial offender. Defoe does lack in a few areas but control isn't really one of them.