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<H1></H1><DIV class=bylinebox style="MARGIN-TOP: 8px"><DIV class=bylinetext>Norman Hubbard
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He is living proof that 24 into 23 won't go and, with greater frequency, that three into two is just as impossible an equation. <DIV class=phinline>
<DIV style="WIDTH: 205px"><DIV class=photocred2>Empics</DIV><DIV class=photosubtext>Martin Jol explains to Jermain Defoe why he's not playing.</DIV></DIV></DIV>
It appears Jermain Defoe's lot is to be the odd man out. Had Sven-Goran Eriksson been permitted an extra player in his squad for either Euro 2004 or the World Cup, it would have been the Tottenham striker. At White Hart Lane Martin Jol, despite appreciating Defoe's qualities, is unable to accommodate him in the same attack as Robbie Keane and Dimitar Berbatov. First-team football, then, is precious and all the more unlikely when it comes in the colours of his country. Yet the meetings with Andorra and Macedonia could place Defoe in a select group, albeit with mixed blessings. Such is the cosmopolitan nature of the elite Premiership clubs over the last decade that there have been players more confident of selection for England than their club. Phil Neville, in Euro 2000, and Nicky Butt, between 2002 and 2003, provide two examples. Eight goals in 12 internationals could propel Peter Crouch into their company, especially with pressure for his place at Anfield from Dirk Kuyt and Craig Bellamy. Defoe could be another, with a significance for Spurs: it would mark their advancement into the ranks of the over-endowed if their perennial substitute ranks among England's first 11. Steve McClaren is an avowed admirer, selecting Defoe against Greece. Perhaps it was his anxiousness to impress, but a tendency to be found offside - and the misfortune of seeing the tap-ins drop to Crouch - denied him the opportunity to double his tally of international goals. One in 17 games sounds a miserable return, but brief and inconclusive substitute appearances form the majority of his outings for England. The good luck which had appeared to have deserted Defoe finally returned with the misfortune of others: Portugal were not the only beneficiaries of Wayne Rooney's red card in Gelsenkirchen while the void left by the injured Michael Owen in attack could present the chance for an extended run for someone. But by dint of his station on the Spurs bench, Defoe is not the form option for McClaren. Darren Bent and Andrew Johnson have scored the early-season goals to influence the England manager's choice; their rival at White Hart Lane has not. On face value, then, their case is stronger. Yet, alone among the candidates to augment the established trio of England attackers (Crouch plus the absent Owen and Rooney), only Defoe has attracted the attention of clubs with annual obligations in the Champions League and the necessity to recruit finishers capable of deciding such fixtures. Unlike Bent and Johnson, Defoe has figured on the radar of both Liverpool and Chelsea in the past. It is because of a speed of foot and thought, coupled with the single-minded focus that is the preserve of goalscorers. There is a school of thought, to which this observer subscribes, that regards him as England's best natural finisher as well as a goalscorer to rank alongside any in the Premiership, Thierry Henry and Andriy Shevchenko excepted. Why, then, is a regular place so elusive? Jol has brought a fluency and a flexibility to Tottenham, but his concessio
Archive </DIV><DIV style="FLOAT: left"></DIV></DIV><BR clear=all><DIV class=text11 style="BACKGROUND: #fff"><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top>
He is living proof that 24 into 23 won't go and, with greater frequency, that three into two is just as impossible an equation. <DIV class=phinline>
<DIV style="WIDTH: 205px"><DIV class=photocred2>Empics</DIV><DIV class=photosubtext>Martin Jol explains to Jermain Defoe why he's not playing.</DIV></DIV></DIV>
It appears Jermain Defoe's lot is to be the odd man out. Had Sven-Goran Eriksson been permitted an extra player in his squad for either Euro 2004 or the World Cup, it would have been the Tottenham striker. At White Hart Lane Martin Jol, despite appreciating Defoe's qualities, is unable to accommodate him in the same attack as Robbie Keane and Dimitar Berbatov. First-team football, then, is precious and all the more unlikely when it comes in the colours of his country. Yet the meetings with Andorra and Macedonia could place Defoe in a select group, albeit with mixed blessings. Such is the cosmopolitan nature of the elite Premiership clubs over the last decade that there have been players more confident of selection for England than their club. Phil Neville, in Euro 2000, and Nicky Butt, between 2002 and 2003, provide two examples. Eight goals in 12 internationals could propel Peter Crouch into their company, especially with pressure for his place at Anfield from Dirk Kuyt and Craig Bellamy. Defoe could be another, with a significance for Spurs: it would mark their advancement into the ranks of the over-endowed if their perennial substitute ranks among England's first 11. Steve McClaren is an avowed admirer, selecting Defoe against Greece. Perhaps it was his anxiousness to impress, but a tendency to be found offside - and the misfortune of seeing the tap-ins drop to Crouch - denied him the opportunity to double his tally of international goals. One in 17 games sounds a miserable return, but brief and inconclusive substitute appearances form the majority of his outings for England. The good luck which had appeared to have deserted Defoe finally returned with the misfortune of others: Portugal were not the only beneficiaries of Wayne Rooney's red card in Gelsenkirchen while the void left by the injured Michael Owen in attack could present the chance for an extended run for someone. But by dint of his station on the Spurs bench, Defoe is not the form option for McClaren. Darren Bent and Andrew Johnson have scored the early-season goals to influence the England manager's choice; their rival at White Hart Lane has not. On face value, then, their case is stronger. Yet, alone among the candidates to augment the established trio of England attackers (Crouch plus the absent Owen and Rooney), only Defoe has attracted the attention of clubs with annual obligations in the Champions League and the necessity to recruit finishers capable of deciding such fixtures. Unlike Bent and Johnson, Defoe has figured on the radar of both Liverpool and Chelsea in the past. It is because of a speed of foot and thought, coupled with the single-minded focus that is the preserve of goalscorers. There is a school of thought, to which this observer subscribes, that regards him as England's best natural finisher as well as a goalscorer to rank alongside any in the Premiership, Thierry Henry and Andriy Shevchenko excepted. Why, then, is a regular place so elusive? Jol has brought a fluency and a flexibility to Tottenham, but his concessio