jerradpeters.blogspot.com

Tuesday Football
08 January 2008
by Jerrad Peters

Defoe wants to stay at Spurs?
Juande Ramos called Jermain Defoe into his office, yesterday. The Tottenham Hotspur manager, you would think, uttered the words which the 25-year-old striker had long hoped to hear.

“He just said, ‘You can leave if you want to,’” recalled Defoe shortly after the face-to-face with the Spaniard. “At first, I thought it was a joke. I thought he was going to say I would be starting against Arsenal in the Carling Cup – which was why he didn’t give me a game against Reading at the weekend.”

And that, in a nutshell, sums up Defoe’s career at White Hart Lane. Whoever the manager, whoever his teammates, Defoe has remained an afterthought at the club since his arrival from West Ham in 2004. Tipped for greatness by Hammers boss Harry Redknapp, he has often impressed and frequently dazzled his coaches – dangling just enough promise to continually warrant a reputation as one of English football’s up-and-coming strikers.

But he’s 25 now. Smack between up-and-coming and past it. So, you’d think, he’d want regular football. And as he’s clearly not going to get it at Spurs, it follows that he’d be attempting to orchestrate a move to a different club.

“I have no intentions of leaving this club because I love it here,” he said. “I would love to sign a new contract; and I know people at the club want me to stay.”

Huh? And who, exactly, are they? Daniel Levy, perhaps. But Levy, for all his faults, has never been accused of knowing anything at all about football. Former manager Martin Jol seemed keen enough to keep Defoe around – although he rarely gave him a game. And Ramos, finally, is prepared to part with a player who obviously isn’t in his plans.

There must be a reason why. Why Ramos, and Jol before him, would be content to keep a promising, young player on the sidelines without ever indicating that they’d be open to either starting or selling him. Something doesn’t add up. It just doesn’t make sense.

Here’s a theory: Jermain Defoe doesn’t want to be a top striker. Think about it. When you’re 22-years-old and being bought by a bigger club than the one you left, you’ve got to think that you’ll, at the very least, be given a fair shake. And if you’re a player as hyped as Defoe was in 2004, you’d probably assume that a regular place was yours to lose – or at least earn. After all, you were brought to a new club to play football in the prime of your career.

As we all know, Defoe never cracked the starting-XI in any season over his time at White Hart Lane. Now, for a player of his age and ability, you’d think that consistently warming the bench would be perceived as the ultimate insult. Imagine the outrage if Robin Van Persie was regularly excluded at Arsenal. Or Gabriel Agbonlahor at Aston Villa. Or Fernando Torres at Liverpool. They simply wouldn’t stand for it.

In those instances, one of two things would happen. Either the player would do whatever it took to claim a place – or he’d demand a transfer. We’ve seen it time and again. But not with Defoe. Quite the contrary. He’s never appeared dissatisfied with his role at Tottenham. And that’s disturbing.

Here’s betting that Martin Jol would have loved nothing more than to have Defoe storm into his office, slam a fist on the desk, and demand more playing time. It would have proved he wanted it. Of course, that never happened. If, in fact, Defoe had actually aspired to realize his potential and become a top striker, he would have demanded at least enough playing time to fulfill his ambition. He would have forced Jol’s hand. And if the manager remained either unable or unwilling to meet the ultimatum, he would have had to sell the player. It’s as simple as that.

Which is why the present situation is so troubling. Judging by the indifference with which he has approached his circumstances, it is only reasonable to assume that he lacks ambition, objective, and bottle. He doesn’t want to be the go-to man. He doesn’t want to be depended upon. And given that, how could you blame both Jol and Ramos for keeping him around? Jermain Defoe makes a decent enough substitution on the hour-mark.

With that in mind, it’s hard to believe that any of England’s big clubs would take a chance on him. Sir Alex Ferguson, in particular, has no time for players who lack the intangibles which win trophies. Pity, because Defoe could have been as great a goalscorer as he wanted to be. He could have been a front-man for Manchester United and England. Of course, that means nothing if you never wanted it in the first place.

Juventus to swoop for Sissoko
Claudio Ranieri once coached Mohammed Sissoko at Valencia. There it is. That’s the connection. There always had to be one. Why else would the Juventus manager make a move for the 22-year-old?

Truth be told, Sissoko was a revelation when he arrived at Liverpool in 2005. Just 20 at the time, he was immediately compared to former Arsenal captain Patrick Vieira. And he did little to dissuade the evaluation. He was confident on the ball, accurate in his passing, and lethal in his tackling. Two years later, he is none of the three.

Unfortunately, the Mali international ran into injury trouble in early 2006. Against Benfica in the Champions’ League Round-of-16, he took Beto’s boot to the eye and suffered a damaged retina. And although he returned later in the season, it was just the first bite of the injury bug. In total, Sissoko has played just 51-matches for Liverpool in two-and-a-half seasons at the club. That’s not a lot of football for a player at the most important phase of his development.

This season, Sissoko has struggled mightily. Most Liverpool fans would suggest that he has been nothing short of rubbish. Still, a 22-year-old with so much upside is a rare asset; and Rafael Benitez would prefer to keep him at the club. That said, the manager has precious little capital with which to add depth during the winter transfer period and may be tempted to sell Sissoko simply to enhance the coffers.

Juventus is the most likely destination. Ironically, the former Auxerre midfielder is coveted in Turin as a direct replacement for Patrick Vieira. The Frenchman left the club in 2006 in the wake of the match-fixing scandal.

Meanwhile at Liverpool…
Some time ago, Liverpool chief executive Rick Parry was invited to New York City for a tête-à-tête with club co-owners George Gillett and Tom Hicks. The meeting was intended as little more than a discussion regarding the new stadium plans for Stanley Park. Then Liverpool drew at Luton.

All of a sudden, today’s mini-conference is expected to revolve around the future of Rafael Benitez. The manager has made one faux pas after another of late and is widely thought to be headed for the Anfield Exit. After clashing with Gillett and Hicks regarding transfer policy in December, he proceeded to lose at home to Manchester United as the pair looked on. Days before, of course, Liverpool had qualified for the next phase of the Champions’ League by the skin of their teeth. A few lackluster performances through the holidays followed. And then Liverpool drew at Luton. As if that wasn’t enough, Benitez, in his post-match comments, insisted that he was “happy” with the result.

Nonetheless, it would be foolish to dismiss the Spaniard at this point in the season. Granted, he will never win the Premier League. But Liverpool are well enough off the pace to ensure that they won’t win the title this season anyway. Besides, sacking him would entail that a fully qualified replacement was waiting in the wings. And, as of today, no such person exists.

Liverpool are far too big a club to be entrusted to a caretaker manager for the remainder of the campaign. Gillett and Hicks would be best advised to keep Benitez around long enough to make a run in the Champions League and FA Cup – assuming, of course, that they get past Luton. Then they can search high and low for an appropriate replacement in the summer. In the present, this much is sure: Rafael Benitez will not be managing Liverpool next season.

Meanwhile at Luton…
Monday’s deadline has come and gone; but Luton Town are still in business. Prospective buyers of the financial imperiled club had until yesterday at 5:00pm to present an offer to administrators. And although none did, there may be a bid tabled within the next few days.

Television personality Nick Owen is spearheading a takeover which includes a consortium of American and English businessmen. And while the details remain murky at this point, the 60-year-old is a lifetime Hatter and would probably not have got involved unless he was confident in securing the necessary capital.

In an interview with the BBC this afternoon, Owen stated, “I cannot wait for us to get the go-ahead. I’m very hopeful.” The Midlands Today host is also expected to enlist the participation of several supporters’ groups.

In/out
Derby County have launched a three-pronged assault on Premier League safety. It was revealed, today, that the Rams will sign Laurent Robert, Robbie Savage, and Hossam Ghaly. Robert, out of contract since finishing last season at La Liga side Levante, has already been training with the club and will be unveiled before the weekend. Savage, meanwhile, has lost his place at Blackburn Rovers since recovering from injury and Ghaly is out of the mix and out of favor at Tottenham Hotspur. Manager Paul Jewell is hopeful that the trio will push the club out of the relegation mire.

Manchester City have been linked with former Liverpool striker Djibril Cisse. Currently at Ligue 1 Marseille, the 26-year-old is struggling to maintain a regular place in Eric Gerets’ squad. Club president Pape Diouf, however, is an admirer of Cisse and would prefer to keep him at Stade Velodrome.

River Plate midfielder Fernando Belluschi has joined Olympiakos for roughly 6.5M-euros. The 24-year-old has been capped twice by Argentina and scored 13-goals in 48-games for River after a move from Newell’s last summer. An attacking, linking midfielder, Belluschi is also useful in the wide positions.