Tottenham Hotspur - Jermain Defoe: Season has just started for me
Jermain Defoe, who played a vital role in Tottenham earning a spot in the final-16 round of the Champions League, is finally looking back in form, three weeks after returning to the field upon recovering from an ankle injury. Defoe scored twice in Tuesday’s match against FC Twente, in a performance that was reminiscent of his hat-trick for England against Bulgaria in early September.
“For me, this is just like the start of my season - I’ve done a mini pre-season, and this is the start of my season,” said Defoe. “It’s always important to feel fresh towards the end of the season, and I think I’ll do that because I’ve had two months off. It’s been frustrating, but sometimes you’ve just got to try and be positive. I’ve done my rehab - I didn’t cut any corners, I worked really hard to get myself back. Really, I should have been out for three months but I put all the work in so that narrowed it down to two months. I wanted to come back and feel strong, I didn’t want to rush it and then you come back and break down again. Now, I feel a lot stronger than I was before.”
Tottenham, after securing the top spot in Group A, are looking quite confident now that they will be able to avoid both Real Madrid and Barcelona in the knockout stages. Tottenham has scored a total of 18 goals in the Champions League and has proved to be a tough side against any opponent.
“I think it sends a good message because we’ve scored a lot of goals,” said Defoe about his team. “We’re always going to do that with the players that we’ve got, so I suppose that when other teams come up against us, they’ll know it’s going to be a difficult game. At club level, this is the best competition to play in, so topping our group is fantastic.”
More good news for the Spurs is that their next meeting is with Chelsea, who were beaten last season at White Hart Lane and have won only one game out of their last six, and are looking not only out of form but out of morale as well. This is the worst start for Chelsea since 2007 when Jose Mourinho was sacked from the job.
Defoe admits that even despite being at a disadvantage, Chelsea will not be an easy team to play against. “Top teams, when they’ve had a little blip, sometimes they can just turn it on, so it’s going to be a difficult game,” he said. “Even though they’re not winning games, it’s going to be a difficult game.”
If the Spurs beat Chelsea and Manchester United draws with Arsenal the next day, there will be only four points keeping Tottenham Hotspur alive in the race for the title.
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