Sunderland manager Sam Allardyce has encouraged
Jermain Defoe to style himself on Manchester City's
Sergio Aguero.
Sam Allardyce has urged Jermain Defoe to replicate Manchester
City striker Sergio Aguero's playing style, if he is to solely lead
the Sunderland attack
Allardyce is eager for Sunderland to play with one forward but
has reservations over whether former England international
Defoe has the attributes to effectively execute the role.
Defoe, 33, set up Steven Fletcher for the opener against
Newcastle United last time out but is determined to line-up in a
central position, having to settle for either wide-left duties or a
place on the bench so far this season.
"There's no doubt about Jermain playing like that but, if that's
4-4-2, can the rest of the team cope?" Allardyce said ahead of
Sunderland's clash with Everton.
"Jermain might score, but the opposition might score two.
Jermain might score two and the opposition might score three!
"That's based on the fact that you can't control midfield if you
have one player fewer there. It wasn't a problem against
Newcastle because, once Ola Toivonen came off, we ended up
playing the same system as them.
"We won, but Newcastle were better than us.
"That's the problem. I'm happy we won, but I'm not daft, I know
we can't allow that to keep happening because we'll end up
losing more than we win.
"Jermain could play up on his own maybe. Can he do it, can he
deal with it? Nobody thought, for a long time, at Manchester City
that Aguero could play up on his own. He always wanted to
play up with a big man.
"Now you see him playing up on his own brilliantly. You can get
your defensive side right, but you're going to need someone to
score and Jermain Defoe's track record says he needs fewer
chances to score than anyone else, normally.
"At the moment, I'm two games into the job and I thought he
made a good contribution last weekend, so we'll see."
Jermain Defoe to style himself on Manchester City's
Sergio Aguero.
Sam Allardyce has urged Jermain Defoe to replicate Manchester
City striker Sergio Aguero's playing style, if he is to solely lead
the Sunderland attack
Allardyce is eager for Sunderland to play with one forward but
has reservations over whether former England international
Defoe has the attributes to effectively execute the role.
Defoe, 33, set up Steven Fletcher for the opener against
Newcastle United last time out but is determined to line-up in a
central position, having to settle for either wide-left duties or a
place on the bench so far this season.
"There's no doubt about Jermain playing like that but, if that's
4-4-2, can the rest of the team cope?" Allardyce said ahead of
Sunderland's clash with Everton.
"Jermain might score, but the opposition might score two.
Jermain might score two and the opposition might score three!
"That's based on the fact that you can't control midfield if you
have one player fewer there. It wasn't a problem against
Newcastle because, once Ola Toivonen came off, we ended up
playing the same system as them.
"We won, but Newcastle were better than us.
"That's the problem. I'm happy we won, but I'm not daft, I know
we can't allow that to keep happening because we'll end up
losing more than we win.
"Jermain could play up on his own maybe. Can he do it, can he
deal with it? Nobody thought, for a long time, at Manchester City
that Aguero could play up on his own. He always wanted to
play up with a big man.
"Now you see him playing up on his own brilliantly. You can get
your defensive side right, but you're going to need someone to
score and Jermain Defoe's track record says he needs fewer
chances to score than anyone else, normally.
"At the moment, I'm two games into the job and I thought he
made a good contribution last weekend, so we'll see."
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