Jermain Defoe - A Disappointing Season?

Many will argue that Jermain Defoe had a poor season for Spurs and so missed his opportunity to establish himself in the England squad for the World Cup in Germany. It was a bitter disappointment to Defoe that Theo Walcott had been included in the squad while he had only been put on stand-by. The news that Wayne Rooney would be fit to play some part in the tournament, heralded Defoe's departure prior to the opening game against Paraguay.

However, a look at the statistics for last season shows that while Defoe lost his place to Robbie Keane and had to take his chance from the bench, he still made a significant contribution to Spurs' success.

Portsmouth (a) Assist – through pass deflected for opening goal
Goal – scored second Won 2-0
Middlesbrough (h) Goal – scored first
Assist – pass to Mido who scored Won 2-0
Villa (a) Assist – caused defenders difficulty – poor clearance to Keane who scored Draw 1-1
Fulham (h) – Goal – only goal of the game Won 1-0
Charlton (a) – Assist – pass to Keane for winning goal Won 3-2
Everton (h) – Assist – cross for Jenas to score second goal Won 2-0
Manchester United (a) – Assist – fouled for free-kick from which Jenas scored Draw 1-1
Portsmouth (h) – Goal – scored third Won 3-1
Birmingham (h) – Goal – scored second Won 2-0
Charlton (h) – 2 Goals – scored first and third Won 3-1
Sunderland (a) – Assist – cross for Keane to score Draw 1-1
Wigan (h) – Goal scored second Draw 2-2
Birmingham (a) – Assist – revitalised Spurs with second half performance and set up Lennon’s goal. Dispossessed Melchiott, evaded his rugby tackle and put in the cross for Lennon to score. Won 2-0
West Brom (h) – Assist – Harried and dispossessed goalkeeper for penalty - Keane scored Won 2-1
West Ham (a) – Goal – scored final goal of the season Lost 1-2

As the England manager struggled to find a striking partnership in the second half against Paraguay, he may have regretted his decision to leave Defoe out of the squad.

With talk of Spurs receiving offers for Defoe and looking to sell, I trust that Martin Jol will resist the temptation to sell him because Spurs could come to regret such a decision next year.

[Taken from an article on wlhatwhl column on www.Topspurs.com]