John Helm: Jermain Defoe showing World Cup form
JUST a few weeks ago I said in this column that the one player England couldn’t afford to get injured before the World Cup was Ashley Cole.
I think I must have had a premonition!
The Chelsea full-back, who has incredible powers of recovery, can still make it but his broken ankle could have hardly been more ill-timed.
Who knows, his three-month recovery period could prove a blessing in disguise, and he’ll be raring to go come June 12 and a date with USA in Rustenburg, meanwhile we have to assess the alternatives.
Wayne Bridge? No need for me to go there. Psycho-analysts will have as much to say about that as football pundits.
Stephen Warnock, Leighton Baines, Nicky Shorey, Phil Neville, Joleon Lescott. All very able but hardly exiting.
A friend even suggested Tottenham’s Gareth Bale. “Brilliant. He’s playing really well,” I said. Pity he’s Welsh.
The one player in the country who is absolutely demanding World Cup selection right now – apart from the obvious – is Jermain Defoe.
Having put an end to Leeds United’s romantic run with his Elland Road hat trick, the Spurs striker scored a classic goal at the Reebok Stadium to earn a replay.
Killing a pass with his right instep, his next instinctive swipe with the left boot dispatched the ball in a flash wide of Bolton keeper Jussi Jaaskelainen.
Only the incomparable Rooney is in even better form right now.
Word is Fabio Capello is thinking of taking just four strikers to the World Cup, presumably these two plus Heskey and Crouch.
I think there should be five. The most effective substitutes are strikers who can score a goal. We can’t expect Gerrard, Lampard or Joe Cole to come up trumps every time.
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