0-1 to Wigan?

[Strike For The South]

Ade>Defoe

English players are vastly overrated and criminally overpriced

[johnhughthom]

AVB understands what most Spurs fans don't, Adebayor has his nice, fat contract now and doesn't give a toss anymore.

[Strike For The South]

AVB understands what most Spurs fans don't, Adebayor has his nice, fat contract now and doesn't give a toss anymore.

Jermaine can do 1 thing well, put the ball in the back of the net and even then he only does that above average.

Unfortunately all of his other skills are lacking. His touches and passes are atrocious, typical English striker, you had better hope that pass you just sent in was a good setup becuase the next touch on the ball will be a shot .

Ade OTOH is great at holding the ball up and creating space for other players. Which is conicdentally how AVB wants to play.

On a side note, I feel bad for Kyle Walker. Without Parker there to cover him he is getting absolutely crucified out there.
It is amazing that the country that pours so much money, time, and emotion into soccer has given this man 52 caps with the national side.

[Rhyfelwyr]

Jermaine can do 1 thing well, put the ball in the back of the net

Surely that's what you needed.

A lot of strikers are like that - they seem to do nothing but somehow always end up knocking the ball in from 6 yards. There is a skill in that even if it's hard to deduce. Yanks need to learn this isn't American football, you can't rationalise everything to fit it into ultra-complex tactics and dramatic plays. Great teams don't come together on the drawing board.

[johnhughthom]

Strike also conveniently forgets Defoe's 17 international goals, a decent return considering a lot of those caps were off the bench.

[Strike For The South]

Strike also conveniently forgets Defoe's 17 international goals, a decent return considering a lot of those caps were off the bench.

Nearly all forgettable, nearly all coming out of the same style of play that compliments him the best.

Thinking like this is why you lose tournaments

Surely that's what you needed.

A lot of strikers are like that - they seem to do nothing but somehow always end up knocking the ball in from 6 yards. There is a skill in that even if it's hard to deduce. Yanks need to learn this isn't American football, you can't rationalise everything to fit it into ultra-complex tactics and dramatic plays. Great teams don't come together on the drawing board.

You assume Defoe is markedly better than Ade at finishing. I say they are about even .Even if we assume he was, I'm not going to rely on a 30 year olds current run of form when his top level is just above average.

I would rather have someone with more versatility.

[johnhughthom]

Sorry Strike, but you are showing yourself as someone new to the game. Jermain Defoe's strength is not finishing, it is the same as great strikers of the past like Lineker, Rush and Inzaghi. Movement, like Rhy suggested. He has that instinctive ability to know where the ball is going and to move off his marker getting there.

None of the three strikers I mentioned did much but score goals, and are considered legends of the game, I've never understood why Defoe gets lambasted for having the same skill set.

Saying a striker is only good at scoring is like saying an investment banker is only good at making money.

[Rhyfelwyr]

You assume Defoe is markedly better than Ade at finishing. I say they are about even .Even if we assume he was, I'm not going to rely on a 30 year olds current run of form when his top level is just above average.

I would rather have someone with more versatility.

You know your team better than I do, and I can't say whether Defoe or Ade fit better into AVB's setup. I'm just saying that to be a goalscorer is a major attribute of which finishing ability only a tiny part of. And that's exactly the guy you need on the pitch when you are trailing to a weaker team than yourselves.

My local club used to have a legend called Paddy Flannery. The guy was so lazy it was beyond belief. He would literally stand in one spot for five minutes straight, and I don't think I ever saw him break beyond a medium-paced jog. But somehow, he scored goals - to the point he is one of the clubs top goalscorers of all time and was always in the top goalscorers for the division. Granted, at the lower divisions of Scottish football it's almost a different game to the English Premier League, but there's something in that.