Gus Poyet moved to address Sunderland’s problems up front by signing Jermain Defoe from Toronto FC on a three-and-a-half year deal late last week. Discussing the move with the club’s website, the Uruguayan heaped praise on the 32-year-old and revealed his arrival will result in a change of tactics for the Black Cats:
“It’s not very often we’re in a position where we can bring in a player of the quality of Jermain Defoe. But we’ve got him here, and we have to use him in the right way now. We were missing something in front of goal, but now we’ve got Jermain. Now I need to keep him fit and playing. There are plenty of things we can do differently. We are going to develop into something different. We will try to adapt. In the past, we found it easier to be organised with one striker up front and the other one working a bit harder out wide. Now, it’s a big possibility we will start playing with two up front.”
The History
Starting his youth career with Charlton at the age of 14, Defoe was snapped up by West Ham a couple of years later in 1999. The striker spent a total of five years up Upton Park and, after being farmed out on loan at Bournemouth (18 goals in 29 appearances in 2000-01), went on to produce 29 goals and a pair of assists in 94 appearances for the Hammers before Tottenham came calling in January 2004.
Defoe’s first stint at White Hart Lane saw him rack up 59 goals and six assists over 171 outings in all competitions before he was snapped up by Portsmouth in the 2008/09 transfer window. His time at Fratton Park lasted just a year before he returned to White Hart Lane, with Defoe’s 18 goals and five assists persuading his former employers to bring him back to north London.
Second time around, the frontman delivered 79 goals and 26 assists in 155 appearances across all competitions but after falling down the pecking order, he signed for FC Toronto this time last year. Defoe’s ill-fated spell in Canada still brought goals aplenty – he netted 11 times in 16 appearances before Poyet made his move last Friday. On the international front, Defoe has turned out 55 times for the England senior side and has found the net on 15 occasions.
The Prospects
With just 19 goals to their name so far, Sunderland clearly need extra firepower to boost their survival bid. Crucially for Poyet, the new boy needs no time to adapt to the Premier League and the Uruguayan handed Defoe an immediate start against his former club Spurs on Saturday, switching to a 3-5-2 formation to partner him with Steven Fletcher up front. Although he failed to score, Defoe’s assist for Seb Larsson’s consolation hints at what may follow as he becomes more accustomed to his team-mates in the ensuing weeks.
Discussing his move at a press conference earlier today, the frontman reckons there’s reason for optimism in spite of the weekend defeat:
“I’m really looking forward to the challenge and I believe we will create a lot of chances for me and others to score goals. First and foremost I want to be back here playing games and scoring goals. I’ve missed the Premier League. Overall there were a lot of positives to take from the Tottenham game. I thought we deserved a point. Hopefully we can get some points in the next few games.”
Providing he steers clear of injury, Defoe looks nailed on for the Wearsiders and arrives at a time where the fixtures take a significant turn for the better. Poyet’s side are set for an exceptional run of remaining home fixtures (BUR, QPR, WBA, AVL, NEW, CPL, SOU, LEI) that sees them host seven of the bottom ten teams, and with trips to the likes of Swansea and Hull in the next six, the Wearsiders have the platform to cement their safety.
Available for just 6.0 in Fantasy Premier League (FPL), Defoe is another name to add to the growing list of budget options up front this season. He also seems to have spot-kick duties already in hand, judging by his manager’s weekend comments, and with Poyet intent on going on the offensive against his relegation rivals, we may well look beyond Sunderland’s defence as a source of points. The recent change of formation could also strengthen the claims of Patrick van Aanholt and Billy Jones – both were fielded as wing-backs at White Hart Lane and could benefit from more advanced positions if Poyet keeps faith in his new tactical approach.
