Tottenham manager Andre Villas-Boas has praised striker Jermain Defoe after the 3-0 win over Dinamo Tbilisi in the Europa league, which helped the club seal progression into the group stages 8-0 on aggregate. Getting into the group stages of the Europa league was extremely important for Tottenham given the profile it would give to the club on the international market. Further, the club has also spent a lot of money on several players in this transfer window. They have made their purchases with the Europa league group stages in mind. Without the games of the Europa league, it would be difficult to satisfy such a large group of players.
Defoe has not been a first-team regular season, as he has largely been referred to Roberto Soldado in the league. However, he has played in the Europa league and he demonstrated his quality by scoring two goals in the second leg. After the match, the manager praised the 29-year-old, who has been linked with a move away from Tottenham. The Premier league outfit came into the match on the back of a 5-0 win in the first leg, which almost put them in the group stages. Defoe has been a goalscorer throughout his career and the manager rightly praised this ability.
“We couldn’t be complacent. All the boys did extremely well. After a 5-0 win you can come into the game with a laid back attitude. They didn’t. They kept their professionalism and got some chances and got some good moments of football with some good combinations. Jermain has the goalscoring ability and once again he proved it tonight. What we are trying to do is build a strong team with strong players and everyone has to compete for a place,” said Villas-Boas.
The team will be preparing for a weekend’s match against archrivals Arsenal.
