WINNING IS THE ONLY THING THAT COUNTS
Clinical Defoe will continue good habits despite having to fight for his place in team
JERMAIN DEFOE is too long in the tooth to harbour any concerns about Steven Gerrard’s plan to bring in at least one more striker to Rangers this summer.
Throughout his storied career, the former England international has thrived on the challenge of competing with stellar names at club and international level.
And, at 37, he knows his body well enough to understand that it is simply impossible to think that he could start every match of what is expected to be another congested fixture card for Rangers.
Last season, Defoe largely played back-up to the prolific Alfredo Morelos until the winter break and then shared deputy duties with loan signing Flo Kamberi as the season spluttered to a halt after January.
Rangers’ demise coincided with fresh disciplinary issues for the Colombian and it may yet prove to be the case that Gerrard not only signs a reliable reserve option but seeks to replace the top striker if a sufficiently tempting offer arrives from one of his many suitors.
Regardless of how the rest of the transfer window plays out, Defoe will remain relaxed. Where once he might have felt threatened at seeing Tottenham splash out millions on a shiny new striker, he now oozes perspective.
Looking sharp and clinical as he dispatched Rangers’ opening goal in the 2-0 victory over Nice that secured the pre-season Veolia Trophy in Lyon on Saturday, Defoe has no hang-ups as he prepares for his 20th season as a first-team player.
‘Of course I thrive on that, because at the end of the day it’s about winning,’ he said.
‘Whoever comes in will try to help us win and, for me, that’s the most important thing.
‘It’s probably a different mindset to when I was younger. When you’re younger, you maybe see it as a threat or that they think you’re not good enough, but, as you get older, you just want the squad to be strong so you can really compete in every competition.
‘It’s not new to me. In my time with England, you had Michael Owen and Emile Heskey playing. You had Smudge (Alan Smith) and Darren Bent just coming through. ‘When Fabio Capello took over, it was me, Crouchy (Peter Crouch), Wayne Rooney and Heskey. When Owen finished, I thought: “I’ve got a chance” because it was sort of like for like. ‘Even at Tottenham, in my first full season I played every game then the squads got bigger, you had four top forwards and they started rotating. ‘They brought in Dimitar Berbatov, Crouchy and Roman Pavlyuchenko. I never really felt threatened — I looked at it as a case of when you play, you’ve got to do what you do. ’When you get an opportunity, you have to take it because you know there’s someone else waiting to play. Competition is healthy and it keeps you on your toes. Every game you play, whether it’s in the league or the cups, you have to put in top performances — and it always helps when you score.’
And that’s the thing about Defoe. He may be reaching the end of his playing days but the old instincts remain. Last season, he scored 17 times in 32 appearances.
‘As you get older, you have to manage yourself. Even times when you want to go and train every day, you have to be sensible,’ he added.
‘The manager has always said to me that it’s important I come to tell them what I need. They know I want to be out there training every day.
‘It doesn’t matter how old you are or what you’ve achieved, you always feel like you want to impress the manager, impress the coaches and be out there in every training session.
‘But it’s always nice when the manager says to you that you’ve got nothing to prove and to just make sure you’re ready for the games, basically.’
If Gerrard is happy to massage Defoe’s ego, he was on the end of a light-hearted jest from an old Premier League foe before Saturday’s game.
Nice manager Patrick Vieira, a veteran of countless North London derby clashes, had a few welcoming words for the striker.
‘He said: “Are you still playing?” and I was like: “Yes, just about”,’ laughed Defoe. ‘All the times he used to kick me when I played against him! But he’s a footballing great. That Arsenal team were really difficult to play against.
‘It’s funny, though, because you don’t really think about it (age). I always look forward to pre-season and you just get on with it. I found it funny when he said that.’
Confident about Rangers’ prospects for the new season, Defoe senses Gerrard’s team have shaken off the fragility that defined their form post-break.
“Competition is healthy and helps keep you on your toes”
His recent claim that the team was capable of stopping Celtic’s bid for ten in a row drew heat but he is happy to stand by his words.
He explained: ‘The first part of last season was brilliant. If we had done that in the second half, anything could have happened.
‘I think it’s important we believe we’re good enough to do it. Obviously the season hasn’t started yet, so I don’t want to sit here and say too much — Chris Sutton might have a go at me again for talking too much!
‘I want to get my head down, work hard, and for us to believe we’re good enough to compete in every competition.
‘I don’t want to sit here and say: “We’re going to win this, win this and win this” but our squad is good.’