Defoe looks back to rediscover his future

A return to Tottenham could help the east Londoner begin to realise the potential he showed at a youngster, writes Tim Rich

Friday, 2 January 2009

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Jermain Defoe joined Portsmouth as opportunities were limited at Spurs, but the situation has changed

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Jermain Defoe was born in an area of east London dominated by a giant ski slope known as the Beckton Alps and, as he contemplates a return to Tottenham, he might reflect that he should long ago have reached football's summit.

His education in the game began at the same boys club, Senrab, that produced John Terry, Ashley Cole and Ledley King. He was part of the wonderful young West Ham team, fashioned by Harry Redknapp, of Frank Lampard, Joe Cole and Michael Carrick. When he was sent out on loan to Redknapp's former club, Bournemouth, he scored in 10 consecutive fixtures. When he joined Tottenham five Januaries ago, their then director of football, David Pleat, said he could not think of a British striker who had achieved as much in so short a space of time. Defoe was then 21.

Within three months he would make his full England debut in one of Sven Goran Eriksson's lacklustre friendlies, although his hitting the post made a 1-0 defeat in Gothenburg rather more palatable. If it is over-egging it to say that greatness beckoned, it appeared beyond dispute that Defoe was very good.

He is 26 now and not only has he marked time, Defoe is on the verge of breaking one of football's great unwritten rules, second only to the law that you always score against your former club. Never go back.

With Portsmouth's chief executive, Peter Storrie, accepting that since Defoe wants to go all that remains is to drive a hard bargain with his long-time friend Redknapp at Tottenham, this will be the third January that Defoe has changed clubs.

January signings are seen by most football men as awkward business; there is no pre-season and the player is either in a groove with another club or has been discarded. The most important attribute of a January signing is to be able to adapt quickly and this is an ability Defoe possesses.

He scored in his first game for Tottenham, a 4-3 defeat of Portsmouth. He not only scored on his debut for Pompey, he found the net in his first six home games. Redknapp, with his well-honed arm around the shoulder technique, has always drawn the best from Defoe and now that Robbie Keane has gone so has the competition for places at White Hart Lane.

When he arrived at Fratton Park, Defoe was clear that the one attraction Portsmouth offered was regular football. "Playing football is all that I have ever wanted," he said. "I lost that at Spurs. I was held back. If I was serious about playing for England, I had to go to a new club.

"I didn't know what I was doing wrong at Tottenham because nobody ever told me what I should be doing differently. I bump into Spurs fans who ask me why I had to go. I tell them there was nothing more I could have done."

Because he is older and because he has learnt, Defoe is able to return to Tottenham in a way he never would be able to at Upton Park. Even at a club where style is prized above all else, West Ham's relegation in 2003 with 42 points still carries the dull ache of a once-searing pain. It meant the break-up of a young, supremely talented side that under the temporary leadership of Trevor Brooking looked likely to pull off a very great escape. Under the circumstances, Defoe's public submission of a transfer request 24 hours after Brooking had led his relegated side off at Birmingham was a crass move.

His language sharpened the blow. "This is very much a career decision. I am very ambitious and hungry to achieve at the highest level of the game for both club and country." It took Defoe seven months to achieve his wish, by which time he acknowledged the transfer request had been a mistake. When he left Tottenham, he was at pains to point out that if he scored against Spurs he would not celebrate and that the supporters at White Hart Lane had been "fantastic".

Which Premier League player will cost the most money in the January transfer window?

Despite scoring in his first competitive round of internationals, against Poland, Defoe has not achieved the aims of that transfer statement. He has scored four more times for his country but the identity of his opponents give you some idea of an international career unfulfilled – Andorra, Trinidad & Tobago, Kazakhstan.

The nadir came in the 2006 World Cup, a tournament for which Defoe was initially overlooked in favour of the 17-year-old Theo Walcott, who had not started a Premier League match for Arsenal. He was then flown over to Baden-Baden to cover for the injured Wayne Rooney.

He found it a dispiriting experience. Everyone in the England camp was desperate for Rooney to be fit; Eriksson never convincingly dispelled the impression that he thought Defoe was not good enough.

Prayer helped Defoe. He may have been brought up in a broken home in an area of London he describes as "a rough area with a lot of violence" but he appears a very grounded figure. He does not forget that his mother took him to game after game and screamed encouragement from the sidelines. He still returns to his old school in Forest Gate and he still prays.

"I pray every day in the morning and before I go to bed," he says. "I try to think that every disappointment might be a blessing in disguise but it is important not just to pray when things are bad. It's easy to ask God to help you but it is also important when things are going well to show your appreciation."

As he awaits his second time with Tottenham, Defoe must be hoping for more of the second kind of prayer.

141

Jermain Defoe's total career goals, including 64 for Spurs.