JERMAIN DEFOE could be forgiven for throwing darts at pictures of Robbie Keane and Peter Crouch as the World Cup finals approach. Early last season the Tottenham Hotspur striker was first choice for club and country, but those players are blocking his path to the pitch at a time when he should be auditioning for a prominent place in the England squad this summer.
Defoe, 23, is at least given a regular runout as a substitute by Tottenham, but his goalscoring form has suffered. He will hardly be filled with confidence when he hears that his club are interested in signing another striker, although he will take comfort in the fact that Teddy Sheringham, should he arrive at White Hart Lane, will not provide direct competition if Martin Jol, the head coach, adheres to his policy of fielding a “little and large” strike force.
Effectively, Sheringham would be battling for the taller forward’s role with Mido, the undisputed first choice, and Grzegorz Rasiak, although the Pole does not appear to have a long-term future at White Hart Lane and may be offloaded during this transfer window if Sheringham or a similar player signs. Defoe, meanwhile, is in a private duel with Keane — and it is a fight that he is losing.
Defoe has started only two of Tottenham’s past 12 games, against Aston Villa last Saturday, when Mido was at the African Cup of Nations, and against West Bromwich Albion on December 28, when Jol rested Keane. Defoe was paired with Keane against Villa, but that reflected Jol’s lack of faith in Rasiak rather than a desire to play the two together.
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The only other time that they appeared in the same starting line-up this season came in the Carling Cup de-feat by Grimsby Town in September.
Jol explained his stance after that defeat. “If you play Keane and Defoe then you struggle for the physical side, but if you work like you should do then it shouldn’t be a problem,” he said. “But it is (a problem) and this has been my story all along, and why I like to play a big man with a little man working off him.”
Sven-Göran Eriksson has no such strategy, but Defoe has also fallen behind Crouch in the England pecking order, with the Liverpool striker appearing in the past three international matches while the Tottenham striker has not been called from the bench. Defoe may now fear that Darren Bent or Andrew Johnson will overtake him in seniority in the run-up to Germany.
Defoe fared well after Jol was appointed in November 2004, scoring 14 times in his first 18 appearances in all competitions, but a record of seven goals in his subsequent 37 matches, albeit many of them coming as a substitute, testifies to his fall from prominence. Perhaps Sheringham will advise him on how to forge a successful England career.