Jermaine Jenas

An outsider’s view of how Jermaine Jenas is making an impact on the footballing public.

In a week when we were offered the possibility of salivating over Tanzania staging Wigan versus Middlesbrough in 2011, we may have forgotten about some exciting performances by England players in the recent match against Switzerland. It has not been often since we could make such positive comments about an England team. Nearly forty-two years of hurt and we can only really dream about that 5-0 versus Germany on Saturday 1st September 2001, Euro 96, and that iconic team in Italia 90, but have times changed? I found the performance against Switzerland to be totally refreshing. One of the players that told us that there is an alternative to an eternity of long ball damnation, with ‘passion’ was Jermaine Jenas.

At this point, I have to admit that I have followed my football at Portman Road for the whole of my football-watching life. The links between Ipswich and Spurs have not always been positive with many of our talents making the journey to White Hart Lane and not always achieving their ability that we had witnessed in Suffolk. What links these two clubs is a passion for ball to feet, quick passing and dynamic football play. Jermaine Jenas has at last begun to show that he has the ability to contribute to this sporting feast in a positive way. In some ways, I wish Jenas had begun his career at Portman Road because he has all the attributes of being an Ipswich kind of player.

A quick web search can gain access to a number of positive comments about Jenas that have recently been made in the national press. The Daily Telegraph appears to be offering regular Jenas comments at the moment with much positive comment from a multitude of different commentators. It is understandable to see why. During some of the more turgid moments of the first half versus Switzerland, I relied on Jenas with his positive attitude and surging runs to stop me from changing channels to Location, Location, Location.

I have always wanted to see an England midfield that has the confidence to do something with the ball rather then retreat like Custer’s last stand to their penalty box. I have become depressingly familiar with balls that are lashed out of play, dribbled back to the goalkeeper, or desperately lashed up to a solitary striker who is meant to perform Pele-esque miracles within a two foot area surrounded by a baying defence.

In collaboration with Cole, Barry, Gerrard and David Bentley, Jermaine Jenas showed that England can enjoy a bright future and we can possible enjoy more from South Africa in the summer of 2010 rather than just normal news reports. We should not regard him solely on the goal that he scored, although it is nice to see an England player that can effectively beat the offside trap without crashing into the goalpost, or humiliating himself with a half-hearted Cruyff turn.

Whether we hand the credit to Juande Ramos, Gus Poyet, Martin Jol, Bobby Robson, Alan Shearer at Newcastle, Paul Hart at Nottingham, or the support of his peers from the East Midlands that include Michael Dawson and Andy Reid, I don’t know but we should be tentatively enjoying this exciting talent with the space to give Jenas time to develop. When we watch Jenas we need to understand that we are watching a player who will work with the ball rather then just palm it off like a ticking time bomb to one of his compatriots. One commentator from somewhere within football’s commentary black hole, told us Jenas “wants to be loved” in a team. The fans can be a key part in this love-in.

So my message, which is coming from a championship supporter but with an eye for exciting young talent, is one of patience and quiet celebration. With the ability to actually perform a decent 1-2 without the ball ballooning into Row Z, we are watching a player who is still got much more to give. We all hope that whether you will be watching Jermaine Jenas in Bangalore, Baghdad, Botswana, Barnsley or even Bolton in 2011, I hope we will all be watching an English born player who is still contributing to a refreshing antidote to an increasingly bizarre sporting world …

Tim Sansom.

Jermaine Jenas has now completed a little more than a full season in a Spurs shirt.  His 39 appearances (in all competitions) have brought nine goals, some glaring misses and generally unfavourable reviews.  Indeed, much has been said in these pages, with the consensus being that he remains an unfulfilled talent.  The murmurings of discontent at the Lane have spread to such an extent that he has become something of a crowd target, a classic Tottenham scapegoat who has been booed and called ‘Mr Invisible’ (and much worse besides).  Whilst he sometimes does flatter to deceive, I think the criticism he receives is harsh.

I hope he is not regretting his decision to swap the Newcastle goldfish bowl for a hostile Tottenham crowd, because he is a player we need.  I wrote last season about the effect crowd dissatisfaction had on Rasiak – he had reached his nadir and any remnants of confidence drained away as the boos and abuse grew louder. He was of course not forced out by the fans – he just wasn’t good enough – but the reception he got did not help him or the team.  Jenas seems a real confidence player and as frustrating as his open-goal misses and misplaced passes are, the team needs him to continue making runs and offering himself to start attacks and take possession.  If he starts to fear failure and disappear on the pitch, his contribution will decrease further.

And yet his contribution is generally a good one.  He possesses many of the attributes needed by the modern midfielder: pace, aggression, eye for goal (!), energy, heading, crossing, free kicks … the list goes on, with his best quality being that footballing cliché, the great ‘engine’.  The calls for his axing increase, but surely the Spurs midfield would be even less creative and devoid of goals. 

He is our one and only real goal-scoring midfielder and whilst it is not justification for missing the target from three yards, he at least made the run into the box to get on the end of Edgar’s cross.  However, that miss at Anfield was not a one-off, and the sitter he missed against Newcastle (much to the Geordies’ delight) springs to mind.  His finishing therefore is a concern, but he still carries the main midfield scoring threat.  His defensive work often goes unnoticed, with his positioning and tackling good, but admittedly he wastes too many passes and exasperates sometimes with over-elaborate flicks and touches.  Much is rightly expected of an England international and former Young Player of the Year, but I would ask for a little more patience.  The consistency will come.  He shows a desire to play for Spurs and to repay Martin’s faith in him.  Let’s encourage him to improve, not deride his efforts.

As promising a player Huddlestone is, I don’t see him a replacement for Jenas, as he is a deep-lying passing midfielder in the Carrick mould.  And there perhaps lies the problem.  Carrick played a role that allowed JJ to break into the box and play further forward, thus discovering a scoring talent hitherto undiscovered.  His goal tally of 1 per 4.3 games in Spurs colours compares favourably to the 1 in 11.6 ratio he managed at Newcastle and Forest.  Jenas, like most of the players, misses Carrick’s calming influence and ability to dictate play, but he has taken on extra responsibility since his partner’s departure and shown flexibility in playing on the right.

Martin needs to find a way of organising his wealth of central midfielders that gets the best out of each of them.  Zokora improves with each game and has surprised with his ability to run with the ball; Tainio is neat and tidy as ever, if a little uncomfortable on the left; Murphy and particularly Huddlestone have impressed in their limited chances and Davids has actually improved since being used as a substitute.  The jury is still out on Ghaly.  The return from injury of Lennon and Malbranque will obviously help matters, and as the season wears on the absence of Carrick will become less marked.

Promising signs were shown at Liverpool, although we need to show more than promise and to start scoring goals.  I have no doubt that a team with Jenas in it is more likely to do so than one without.

Phil Oliver.