Friday 2 June 2017

Just how good is Jermain Defoe?

Some England players have their critics, but Jermain Defoe is generally accepted as a dangerous forward who will get goals in any team. He's certainly good enough to play for AFCB and would be another full international player to add to the squad, which is surely the sort of players that AFCB should now be looking to sign. On the big international stage he has notched up 56 appearances with the most recent this year in Gareth Southgate's squad to play Lithuania and of course he scored to make it 20 goals in an England shirt.
Jermain Defoe - is he about to join AFCB again?
Defoe may well have scored more goals for the three lions and won more caps had he not entertained a move to the MLS in 2014, when he played for Toronto FC. Yet, even here he scored goals and was watched by the England camp. While having spells at Bournemouth and Portsmouth, he is best known for his time at Spurs and West Ham. To only play for one club that has been in the top six is perhaps a slight disappointment in his career, but he did well at Spurs and was arguably at his very best when he left in 2014.

We all thought then that he would fade into the history books, but it just shows how determined he is that he came back to England to play for Sunderland and kept them up in 2015/16 and still scored 15 goals in a relegated side. He even scored against the Cherries from the spot to sink AFCB 1-2 in November last year.



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Surely, Defoe is best when he plays with a big forward who knocks balls on to him to finish, but he has got better at scoring from all kinds of angles and can run from further out to unlock defences. While many forwards have lost pace in their latter years, that doesn't seem to have happened to Defoe which makes him a prized asset for any club. Importantly, it should be noted that he has played 37 games this Premier League season just gone, so he does remain fit and will be another England international like Jack Wilshere, who can help aspire other AFCB players to make the jump to the international scene.


The interview Defoe gave this week seemed to distance himself from making a clear link with AFCB, and he is more concentrating on the next England games before making any decision. If Defoe decides not to come to Dean Court, I hope that AFCB have other targets. While he is leaving his options open, I still believe Jermain will find it hard to turn down AFCB is they can agree terms.

1 comment:

  1. He was great for Sunderland until February - but has only scored 2 goals since (and one of those was for England) - everyone says "Look at the service he's had" but he had the same service in the first 6 months of the season and scored 14 goals! Sunderland have been awful this season and he's been a shining light - but he hasn't played well in the last 3 months for us.

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