Interesting summary from a guy who didn't want him back. We aren't struggling so not really a worry, but it does back up the theory we need to change our formation if we play Defoe.
Defoe is a great natural finisher and a talented footballer, but he doesn't have the physical skills to hold the ball up or the energy/pace to cause problems as a lone striker. That severely limits how effective he can be, as most teams try to play with 1 up front now. We ended up in the 'Defoe trap' in one sense. The myth that all we needed was a single 15-20 goal striker was exactly that. To play with a guy up front who can't run all day and drag defenders around, doesn't have the pace to cause problems on the break... in some ways we'd have been better off with a 'lesser' player who was less potent in front of goal but who brought others into play more. Not to mention that his awareness that he was the best player in the team led to a bit of a 'shoot on sight' policy and lack of trust in teammates. We didn't have many good players, but he wasn't the type of player who would just fit into any old system. You have to be in desperation mode and as Bournemouth have found, there's rarely a point in any PL game nowadays where you can put a 36yr old guy on as a poacher and not see him marked out of the game. I enjoyed his goals, but deep down he was the wrong player to play up top on his own in a struggling team.
