Dutch coach Dick Advocaat, a former head coach of the South Korean national soccer team and the Taegeuk Warriors at the 2006 World Cup in Germany, is adamant that Tottenham Hotspur is the right club for fellow Dutch striker Memphis Depay.
“Adbokat believes Tottenham Hotspur is the ideal club for Defoe,” Dutch media outlet SoccerNews reported on Friday, saying, “Adbokat believes Defoe can still compete at the highest level.”
“If Defoe goes to a good club, if it’s not Liverpool, he’s just a good striker,” Adbokat said, adding that when asked for a specific club he thought would be a good fit, he emphasized “Tottenham”.
Dutch soccer journalist Johan Dirksen disagreed with Adbokat, saying “Defoe can’t keep up the pace,” and argued that Defoe should go to the Middle East, saying “if he starts making money in Saudi Arabia, he’s out of the woods.”
Adbokat arrived in South Korea in September 2005 from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), where he coached the national team for 10 months leading up to the World Cup in Germany. The 2-1 victory over Togo was South Korea’s first away World Cup victory, but the team failed to reach the round of 16. In January of last year, Adbokat was named head coach of soccer’s fringe club Curacao in the Netherlands, making headlines for returning to the field at an advanced age.
He gave his countryman the thumbs up as the best striker in the Netherlands and insisted that he would still be a force to be reckoned with in the top leagues, with Tottenham, home to Son Heung-min, as a club that would suit him. If Defoe were to come to Spurs, he would form an attacking duo with Son Heung-min.
Defoe is currently without a team and is looking for a new one. His contract with Spanish club Atletico Madrid expires this summer, making him a free agent.
Things are not looking good. The Dutch striker had a poor showing at the UEFA European Football Championship (Euro 2024), where he played for the Netherlands. In six games, he scored just one goal and one assist. In the quarterfinal match against England, he had to leave the field after 35 minutes due to injury.
Defoe’s decisiveness was lacking. According to soccer stats site Footmob, Defoe missed four big chances, tied for fourth 카지노사이트 추천 most, and his expected goals (xG) was two, but he only scored one. If his decision-making had been better, the Netherlands could have finished higher.
The Netherlands struggled to reach the round of 16, finishing third in their group with one win, one draw, and one loss in their three group games. However, they raised their game with a 3-0 win over Romania in the round of 16 and a come-from-behind victory over surprise team Turkije in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals against England, he opened the scoring but lost by two goals.
Depay was a promising youngster when he played for Dutch club PSV Eindhoven, scoring 28 goals in 40 games. He had the pace to play as a winger early in his career and the decisiveness to switch to striker later on.
He joined Manchester United in the summer of 2015 as a much-hyped signing for the Red Devils, but scored just seven goals and left for French side Olympique Lyonnais after a year and a half.
At Lyon, Depay rebounded, scoring double-digit goals in each of his four seasons, starting with the 2017-2018 campaign, except for his first, which lasted six months. In the 2020-2021 season, he scored 20 league goals and finished second in French Ligue 1 scoring behind Kylian Mbappe.
However, a move to Spain would prove to be a career setback. He became a free agent and headed to Barcelona, where he scored 14 goals in 42 appearances in a year and a half, but his form was up and down, with Atletico Madrid following with 13 goals in 40 games. His ups and downs in decision-making were evident.
Despite his limitations, he is a free agent and is now in his 30s, so there is interest from several teams. “Depay has received offers from Roma and AC Milan,” according to Italian outlet Football Italia.