Regarding how many goals he believes Jermain Defoe will score for Manchester City right now, Troy Deeney has made a daring assertion.
Few other teams can equal Man City’s strategy of combining possession dominance and intense pressure, which Pep Guardiola has honed into a finely tuned goal-scoring machine.
The benefits of playing this way have been obvious: City won the Treble the previous season and then went on to win the Club World Cup, which solidified their status as the greatest side in the world, as if that were needed.
Because of this, the positions on that team are extremely clear, with Erling Haaland being an obvious choice at the top considering the amount of goals he has scored since joining at the beginning of the previous season.
However, Deeney believes Defoe will succeed under Guardiola after the Watford icon was asked how many goals he believes he would have scored if he had been a member of the setup.
Perhaps modestly, Deeney said, “Me? 15-20,” on his Football Firsts podcast with Defoe. “Your game is altered.” Not fast enough, I think. You have a score of 40!
‘But you’ve got the ball you don’t need to run,’ Defoe shot back.Deeney, however, stood by his forecast, saying, “Even you know there’s more to it than that.” To score in those kinds of circumstances, you have to be a certain kind of player. Is what I’m saying understood?
“Because you’re on the shoulder, you’re responding to things, and you have that sharpness,” you would fit in those circumstances.
As a quick shooter from within the box, Defoe gained notoriety for himself by seizing half-chances and creating goals for his teams. He scored 140 goals for Tottenham alone, and for all of his teams combined, he scored 160 goals in the Premier League, establishing himself as one of the top goalies in the country.
Deeney was eager to compliment his colleague, but he had an unexpected view on how one of the best No 9s in the Premier League is now playing.
“Ivan Toney can’t go in there and score 40–50 goals; you couldn’t put – he’s going to kill me for this,” Deeney asserted. “It takes a special striker to create ten to fifteen runs without receiving the ball, and to continue doing so knowing that you will only receive the ball once.”
After a determined display by the Bees, Haaland scored for City on Tuesday night against Toney’s Brentford to force his team to three points.
It comes after the Norwegian received some criticism for falling short of the standards he set the previous season, but Guardiola quickly refuted such accusations following the game.
Top strikers have a high goal scoring rate. Guardiola stated, “Don’t criticize because he will shut your mouth.” Eventually, he will arrive. He missed two months of work. The loss of his grandmother has made for an extremely difficult week for him.
“He’s not in the best of shape, and it’s not easy for a human being.” Erling is essential in these kinds of games, such as Brentford, the City boss continued.