Oh God, it's that time of the month
Tuesday, March 22, 2011 at 11:51AM International Break is upon us. Last time out it was a rather productive time with this blog as I side-stepped the England circus with a six-parter (that acted as filler for the lack of newsworthy Spurs news) which included musings and anecdotes about the 1991 season protests outside the High Court smashing up Amstrad computers, how and why I (and you) started supporting Spurs, a mention of Stratford, defending Robbie Keane and one or two other more random subject matters to polish it all off before the Prem returned. Click here for the final part and links to the first five - if you fancy reminiscing. Full links below.
Not sure yet how to best handle the time that will see Wales and Ghana share the headlines with Fabio and his army of stuttering, spitting and soulless Lions before we return to all things THFC.
Although I might find myself forced to follow and report on England thanks to the following:
Dawson, Lennon, Defoe, Crouch. All in the squad. Congratulations to Walker for also making it. Back to the aforementioned four. I promise you all, if we lose any of these players to injury I will systematically remove body parts from World Cup Willie and send them to the FA until they do the right thing and return the Tottenham representatives, boxed up in cotton wool and feathered pillows to Bill Nicholson Way. Yeah, World Cup Willie, you heard that right. He's old, his bones are brittle, but he still feels pain.
If that wasn't bad enough (the Spurs players selected in the squad, not the fact that I have the World Cup '66 mascot imprisoned in my basement), it's Wales which means it's Bale which means they're hardly not going to play him. So that's almost half a team we've got out there risking it all for national duty. There's also van der Vaart with the Netherlands, who isn't even fully fit. I could go on, I won't. I need to stop thinking about all this to aid with subsiding the heart convulsions. I need to relax, and possibly attempt to detach ever so slightly from it all. Again.
Therefore...
International Break Diary II...on it's way.
International Break Diary
Tuesday, October 5 - Tuesday, October 12
A spoon full of sugar makes the Venables go down
Reader Comments (25)
Defoe playing and being carried off injured could be the kind of devine intervention that allows us to kick on and claim fourth!
But lets face it, we support Spurs and are not that luck, pretty sure we will see that useless twat lining up for us next week
I wish everybody would just back off of JD..... Its really tough for a player to hit the ground running after a long injury, he was on fire brfore getting injured playing for England. Two wonder strikes against Wolves the Hero on the day, a few weeks later and a couple of glaring misses and everybody wants him shot... give the guy a break !
Back off him ?? After the miss of the season last Saturday ??
He's another Andy Cole --- needs 6 gilt edged chances before he scores one.
I go with many other Spurs fans --- play Pavly !!
He had several shots on target during his short cameo on Sat, and I believe a run in the team from now until seasons end will see him continue to outscore JD this campaign.
Where has this Myth about JD being on fire before he got injured come from? please show me the stats, lets talk about his inability to score in the league for injury and the poor end of last season he had, has everyone forgotten the numerous misses against Man City???
Lets play Pav and get rid of Defoe, wasn't ever good enoughand never will be
Who cares about what happened in August! That is the past. What is Defoe doing now? He has outscored Drogba, Torres, Dzeko, Bendtner, Chamakh, Berbatov, Anelka, Agbonlahor since start of Feb. That is what matters. I am not saying that he is god's gift, but he played quite well to get those opportunities. A striker does not just wait for the ball. Defoe's pace was the right decision for that game. Perhaps Pav will suit next game.
Defoe is crap, hes costing us 4th, because spurs as a club put soo much faith that he would come good but he hasnt!
Lets face it he was great at Portsmouth when they were mid-table but even then there greatest achievement the FA Cup he didnt play in there run.
Last season he went quiet and disappeared just when we was gunning for 4th, Crouch and Pav pulled us through.
Our greatest achievement in many years our champions league run he hasnt been involved in, and thats why we are doing so well.
Its why Man Utd, Arsenal, Chelsea or any big team has never gone near him, he wasnt even good enough for us when he was in his prime, Berba and Keane shafted him out.
But those people protecting him are right dont blame him, the truth is he has never been that good and never will be that good, his level is mid table he crumbles under pressure his penalties prove that.
Surely Bale or Krancjar can play up front, Cristiano Ronaldo and Messi are traditionally wingers but play up top through the middle when required if your good enough you can play there
good to see that I'm not the only one who wouldn't complain if defoe picked up another injury on international duty, he's costing us points all over the shop. pav may be a bit hit and miss, and not have the best strike rate but at least he does have a strike rate.
I would like to know where Tony Rich is getting his dubious stats from!!!!!!!
Outscored Berba? He has 20 league goals this season, that more than Defoe score this and last season put togeather!
Once again the "fickle" nature of Spurs fans rears it's ugly, toothless head. The same supporters that were bemoaning the fact that City got Dzeko, Chelsea got Torres bo- frickedy-hooo! What a waste of money they would have represented! Jermain is a quality striker, but the game we play at the moment is purely 2 dimensional - if Crouch plays, lump it forward, if not try and pass it in the net. You can applaud pav all you like for having 20 shots from 40 yards, the fact is, he scored exactly the same number of goals against the spam as Defoe... None. We got to where we are by playing fast counter attacking football. That's now gone out the window, and we are the arse incarnate. Would a different striker make a difference, who knows? Who cares? The tactics you employ should mould around the players you've got, and we're not doing that for Defoe.
Dubious stats? I clearly stated FROM FEB 1st. So what if Berbatov has scored 5 goals in a game a couple of times earlier on in the season. The fact is that he has lost his place. That is what matters. Hernandez and Rooney are scoring more goals NOW - even though Berbatov has more goals in total. Fact: Defoe has outscored Berbatov since the start of Feb. Berba = 1 goal in plenty of minutes. Defoe = 2. We are trying to decide who plays next game, not going back into a tardis and deciding who should play in September last year.
Fickle? Football fans?
NEVER!
Pav, Pav, Pav, Pav, Pav, Pav, Pav, Pav, Pav, Pav, Pav, Pav, Pav, Pav FTW!
Haha, TonyRich that is brilliant!!!!!
Defoe has scored more goals than Messi since 10.30am, March 22 2011 therefore he must be a better player!
Hahahahaha
Ossie mate. I am comparing current form. I do not believe Defoe to be a better player than the others that he has outscored in the last four matches. But it is a FACT that he has outscored them, and therefore on better goal scoring form. That is indisputable. Besides, I am only comparing players that have played a similar amount of minutes of football to him - or even more minutes. So the stats hold up. Even if Defoe scores 10 more goals than messi since February it does not make him a better player.
Tony, i do not know if you have ever played football before, but to score a brace in 1 game but not score in the 10 games previous does not make you in good goalscoring form!
Form is based on a sequence of games, say 3-6, 6-12 and so on, if Hutton had a good game next week he would have played his first good game in months, not all of a sudden in good form!
Fine. The over the last 6 games, Defoe has out scored Torres and Dzeko. Who have a big fat zero. That is my point. To take it back to 10 games is going too far. Do not get me wrong. The man should have scored more goals by now. That too is indisputable. All I am doing is trying to highlight that a lot of other BETTER strikers are also not scoring right now too. Defoe actually played a decent game on Staurday - should have scored, and didn't. If he continues to play like that, he will score many. Yes I have played football before. Going to play in a few hours time tonight!
Defoe's form is being hampered by confidence issues - and he's not the only one in the squad. Hutton had a big bust up with 'Arry, now VdV is annoyed at being subbed, and JD can't be happy after being dropped for the AC Milan game following arguably his best performance of the season. Kranjar, for HR's protestations, never looks interested when he comes on. Pav, apparently the fan's favourite, is forever telling the press that he's leaving in the summer. The only one who keeps his head down and gives 100% every chance he gets is, God help me, JJ.
I've got a horrible feeling things could implode if we're not careful!
The last thing I will say is that in the 2008/9 season, Drogba scored 5 goals in 24 apps. Should Chelsea have sold him? Or dropped him? The following season he got 29 goals. Defoe is having a similar sort of season, and has played 15 games - so he could well beat Drogba's total of 5 that season! He is never capable of 29 next season, but it is going too far to say that he is no good. All players have a light season. He is far from my favourite player, and we should not rely on him next season - but this season we need to pick the best strilker for the job. It is looking like Crouch for CL, Defoe when pace is needed, and Pav for other types of game. C-O-Y-S
Defoe will score the goal that takes us into the CL again. People will then slate him much like they do Crouch who also scored the goal that took us into the CL. And then the goals to take us into the CL proper.
http://img202.imageshack.us/img202/4176/screenshot20110322at101.png
That link says it all Spooks!
Don't forget, the night before the Wham game Defoe was told one of his grandparents had died. I know Defoe is a big family man and this was probably on his mind during the game.
He's had a bad season what with injuries and all, he knows it too, but to turn round and say he's suddenly shit defies belief. He is a regular scorer in the prem and will get goals...every striker goes through a bad patch (Torres, Rooney) does it help them when fans get on their case?
Parker's father died the night before too I think. Both showed strength in placing it all aside. JD was clearly effected by something but I tend to believe it's more to do with him thinking way too hard about that 100th goal.
Didn't know about Pakers father.
Hopefully once Defoe gets this 100th goal out of the way he can relax a bit, and when he does I'm sure he'll go on a get a few more to see the season out. There is a lot of pressure on him right now, I think the desperation of such a poor season and his possible landmark are getting to him. I have confidence he'll grab enough to help us steal 4th this season.
He's lost his bite. He'll get it back. He'll score goals and he'll still get caught offside far too many times for an 'England international'.