With transfer gossip this morning claiming that Liverpool were looking to sign Jermain Defoe, I just thought I would ask, what for some may be a silly question.
Twelve months ago, a fairly large percentage of Spurs fans saw the then Newcastle striker as the perfect No9 to solve all our ill`s, but what looked a grossly inflated fee then, is a standing joke now, as Liverpool beat everyone to his signature in a breathtaking £35 MILLION deal.
Today I find it difficult to imagine that anyone would pay more than £15m for the player, and perhaps that would be consider a gamble on a striker that looks like a pub player, such is his lack of confidence and touch, and doubts are sure to be raised about his ability to play for anyone else but his hometown club, or that a mix of injury and a less than professional lifestyle has taken the edge from his game, even at such a young age.
Now it`s no secret that Jermain Defoe isn`t overjoyed at spending the majority of his time on the bench at White Hart Lane and I would imagine he would be more than interested in talking to Liverpool, should they be serious about making an offer. Not only would they be likely to offer him the regular football he craves, but he would see it as a face saving sideways (at least) move to a club that might also be willing to give him a pay rise on his current earnings.
In the case of Jermain, you really don`t see a long term future for the player as long as we retain Rafael Van der Vaart and look to play a lone striker, who would be expected to hold the ball up and be a greater physical threat than Jermain is capable of offering. My feeling is that though I expect him to remain at WHL this month, I can see him looking to leave with greater force in the summer and I can see Spurs allowing this to happen as long as they can secure his replacement.
My question is, could or should that replacement be Andy Carroll? On the face of it, we would be buying a player who isn`t playing well and is devoid of confidence for one who is at the top of his game. Hardly the ideal scenario, but if we could regain the spark to Carroll`s game, would he potentially turn out to be the outstanding striker that many hoped he would become?
Hindsight is a wonderful thing and I`m betting that if both Kenny Dalglish and Andy Carroll could turn the clocks back a year, they would not have done the deal in a million years. Carroll was injured at the time the deal was made and he probably returned too soon and never really showed anything of the player who terrorised defences with Newcastle. Now he has lost his confidence and also I believe that his manager doesn`t rate or trust him to be anything other than a Plan B, which is hardly ideal in a team that struggles to score enough goals.
Tactically, Liverpool don`t play to Andy`s strengths, but interestingly Tottenham do, with two wide men to supply plenty of crosses as opposed to Liverpool where they prefer to play with their wide men cutting inside, which wastes Carroll`s main talents. At 35m, Carroll was never a good buy and always a gamble, but at less than half of that fee and perhaps a straight swap with Defoe, I believe that Spurs would be a move to rejuvenate a player who has lost his way.
Carroll may not be your first choice option today, but he is potentially a player who is within our grasp on all criteria, and like Defoe moving to Liverpool, this would definitely be a move that would be face-saving and exciting for a player who still has massive potential and the ability to a legend for club and country with the right move and management...
Read more:
http://www.spurs.vitalfootball.co.uk/article.asp?a=7511132#ixzz1jdjDljU8As at Jan 2012 I wouldn't now have EITHER in the team.
WE CAN DO BETTER THAN ALL OF THIS ......... CANT WE ?
P.S. Also a small question of a £25 million squid difference.
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