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Andre Zadorozny ,

January 14, 2014 Email

Andre Zadarozny



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Since December, Toronto FC supporters have been talking excitedly about the team's new edition, Jermain Defoe. The biggest press conference Toronto FC has ever seen happened this past Monday and served only to feed the Defoe flame. It’s hard to deny that TFC will have a very talented player on their hands. However, to be blunt- while he was great five years ago, he isn’t great anymore. He’s just good. And, as I think will become evident, the confidence and optimism surrounding this overly expensive player isn’t warranted. We as TFC supporters are being led, once again, to believe that this is the way to go. MLSE pays for large salaried players, even when they do not live up to their abilities. So who benefits the most out of the Jermain Defoe move to Toronto FC: Tottenham or Toronto? Most reading this piece will argue that Toronto does, and that they are the team who has finally decided to convert fan support into dollars and cents, thereby creating a team actually worth supporting and cheering on. You probably think that's the right thing to do, and probably think Jermain Defoe is a lynchpin in a brand new TFC squad, ready to take on any team in the upcoming 2014 MLS season. But if you support both Tottenham and Toronto, like I do, you’d feel a little wary about the move. For many Toronto FC supporters, Jermain Defoe is a new commodity. This is exactly how he has been introduced to fans and supporters- a star, but to many he is relatively unknown. Most TFC fans won’t have memories of his goal scoring prowess in the Europa League during the recent qualifying stages, nor of his abilities in the attacking third and the box. Nor do TFC fans usually know him as number five in the top ten all time Tottenham Hotspur goal scorers, or know that he recently beat the European goal scoring squad record of one Martin Chivers (WiKi him please). Not many TFC fans remember his time with the Lilywhites at all, and why would they? Most TFC fans only know that Defoe is worth A LOT of money, and that he’s a “superstar” according to whatever the Sun or Star have run on the subject since last December. All of Defoe’s successes have been highlighted time and again in the press. But haven’t his performance been mediocre lately? As a Tottenham supporter, the answer for me would be an emphatic yes. Jermain will go down in Spurs lore as an excellent player, one who Harry Redknapp, AVB, and as of last Sunday’s Crystal Palace matchup, Tim Sherwood, could rely on to score goals. How many is of course up for debate. (He had only scored 11 goals in 34 appearances in the 2012/13 season for Spurs, and has not been a regular player for most of this Premier League this season.) He scored his first goal of the 2013/2014 season as a sub against Crystal Palace last Sunday. Vintage Defoe with a slight nod from his pal Aaron Lennon, making quick work of the situation and putting Spurs up 2-0. I was delighted, and it was touching for him to be playing and scoring at the Lane, knowing that a deal had been struck with TFC. But all I could think was, “Now he’s scoring?” Not scoring up until Sunday, and only scoring in the Europa League (against lesser competition), with 4 goals in 5 qualifying games. His difficulties in scoring in League play, April 21 2013 being the last time before Sunday’s home game, shows that he couldn’t be counted on to score and explains why he hasn’t been started. I will be happy to see Defoe go, but coming to Toronto is not a sure thing. Some will argue that if Defoe can score goals in lesser competitions like the Europa League and national cup play, then he is still a good fit for Toronto and MLS. But the reality is that those competitions have little to no pressure placed upon them, whereas the Premier League, or the Champions League, do. That lack of pressure is a concern. Does Defoe still work well under pressure? Qualifying for Europa League games might be excellent to pad the goals but it does not equal the stress or quality needed to keep a starting place in the League. While MLS is definitely not the Premiership, I believe that Defoe may buckle under the pressure of performing with TFC. With all of the pageantry of this moment, he may not perform. Defoe has not been the proven goal scorer like Thierry Henry was, and will make more money than the once great Arsenal and Barcelona player. It seems outlandish, but it’s true. All of this hype just doesn’t make much sense for a player like Defoe. My biggest concern is whether he will get the quality service he needs to score goals. Who will give it to him? Is it going to be Bradley? At Tottenham, most recently he had players like Aaron Lennon and Christian Eriksen to rely on for support in order to score goals. There’s no sense in bringing in a player like Defoe if he will not get the support he needs on the pitch, and I have questions if it is there as of now. Recruiting Defoe is an enormous display of wealth and capital on the part of Tim Leiweke and Tim Bezbatchenko. However, I almost feel hoodwinked, the wool being pulled tightly over my eyes, but some of us can see what Defoe has to offer and unfortunately, it’s not as much as is being sold. Recently, his spell with Tottenham, and since 2012 with the England National Team, while memorable at times, was predominantly on the bench. So what are the Tim’s selling us but spectacle? The press conference on Monday with both Jermain Defoe and Michael Bradley as official Toronto Football Club players was what it was supposed to be: loud, noisy and infected with glamour and hope. It is how most MLS fans are repeatedly treated, showing off their shiny new acquisitions and hoping for the best. There are too many variables here to guarantee TFC will win anything now or in the near future. David Beckham and Thierry Henry had proven themselves on championship winning teams and have the stats to back it up. Defoe has not been a first choice player for some time and when he has been, has not delivered in what is arguably one of, if not the best league on the planet. After all is said and done, Toronto came out shorter than their Spurs counterparts, with someone who can only hope he can do the job he’s being paid handsomely to do. Toronto needs a player who has proven himself in Europe, can score goals, and actually puts fans back in their seats. Jermain Defoe will have the pressure to deliver, and it is still not clear if TFC are set up in order for him to be that player.