Jose flirts with Jenius
Friday, January 16, 2009 at 1:04PM
Palacios is almost done and dusted. And the madness of this transfer window continues, this time with the Special One, Jose, telling us all the way from Milan (via Sky Sports News) that he wants Jenas. This following on from some rather nice comments made about Gareth Bale (as good as Ashley Cole apparently).
So, what gives with Mourinho? Someone spike his morning cup of coffee?
Every manager, Spurs or England, appear to rate Jermaine, whilst opposing fans and the Spurs faithful laugh and pull their hair out respectively. All the potential to be the next Gerrard. Has the energy, the athleticism but lacks the most important factor of them all. Arrogance. Jenas has no confidence or self-belief. And the comfort of White Hart Lane has nullified and stagnated any chance of development, though arguably, there was never any guarantee he would make the steps up to international class and then world class - especially in the comfort zone that is White Hart Lane. Believe that you are outstanding and you tend to be fairly outstanding in performance, more so in the case of someone like Lampard than a Bentley. You need the ability in the first place. Lampard believes his own hype. Bentley's hype is mis-guided. So does Jenas have 'that ability'? Is there a chance he can tap into it?
Gerrard is on another level. Penthouse apartment. Gold taps in the bathroom. But most would say Jenas is lost somewhere in the underground car-park, alone and scared.
So why does Jose, along with all other managers who have worked with Jenas, rate him so highly? Are his strengths invisible to the eyes of run-of-the-mill football fans? Does Jose believe he can coax out the Gerrard in Jenas and push him to the level Lampard plays at? Probably. If one person can take potential (Joe Cole) and turn it to gold, Jose can.
£20M should do the trick.
Reader Comments (8)
thats the sad thing about Jenas. You watch him at times and think - why don't you do that more often. Really sad when you have a talented guy who does not use his abilities. What chance he goes to a place like Villa and Martin o Neill get the best out of him. One of Spurs biggest issues is the talented guys dont have the desire and the guys who do have fight (Zokora, o Hara etc) are not that talented
The article is spot on, Jenus is world class!!! unfortunately one in ten games, he teases the Lane faithful with a one off performance oozing with class, athleticism and defense cutting passes and then follows it up with nine matches where he is as useful as a chocolate teapot!! We seem to have that effect on many potential super stars, Lennon, Modric etc
Good luck to him, let's take the money and this time make sure the next signing actually reached their potential
I think the problem is he can be so negative at times. He always seems to look for the pass backwards, wheras Modric is always looking to turn on the ball and try a difficult pass. That is until he gets a sense of urgency and he begins to look quality or a rare game.
Someone, be it Harry of Jose or MoN, needs to take him by the scruff of the neck and slap him around the face and scare fearlessness into him.
As much as I dig at him on this blog, and in general. I like the bloke.
Mentality is all wrong, and its sad to say this out loud, but Spurs are not the best club for players of Jenas ilk.
Re: Jenas
The problem is he HAS arrogance - not the other way round. He thinks he's made & he hasn't. Only performs in the "big games" ie arsenal matches etc.
Gerrard, we are told needs constant reassurance. The difference is he constantly pushes himself to be better where as Jenas is everything that is wrong with young players today - so much potenial but never lives up to it because he thinks he is a great footballer and therefore doesn't need to push himself. Spurs fans see that week after week.
If anyone can get the best out of him then Jose is the man.
I would be happy to see the back of him
He hasnt benefitted from playing alongside zokora (who is enough to make any teammate look bad) or hudd who for all his skills is a defensive liability. There have been periods of seasons (not just one off games) where he has been one of our best players. His facial expression doesnt help - he looks scared/weak rather than determined and he isnt great at passing (forwards!) or carving out opportunities. Having said that he will always do the job asked of him and I've seen him dash back to rescue the defence/keeper many a time - you cant fault his fitness. Mainly he just suffers by comparison with the midfielders at the champs league clubs - he isnt quite as good as any of them but we want to compete with them, so we have a downer on him. I wouldnt have a problem if he stayed - I'd sooner see him on the pitch than zokora anyday.
Jenas arrogance on the pitch is different to the arrogance off it. Yes, he thinks he's probably the bollox and has made it and does enough every week (what do fans know if the manager(s) keep selecting him?) but on the pitch he doesn't display the qualities consistently for fair comparisons to the likes of Lampard and Gerrard. He might be a great athlete and have an abundance of skills in training but on the pitch, he lacks leadership and a bit of venom.
Now and again, we get to see it. If he did that every week, he'd be our best player by a mile.
The slower paced Italian game would suit Jenas just fine. Less of the physical game, more time to play to his strengths.