Carrick: We have to give Defoe help

14 April 2012

Tottenham's inability to penetrate Premiership defences can no longer be dismissed as a blip.

The league campaign is only 11 games old, but failing to create - never mind convert - goalscoring opportunities has already become a familiar trait of Jacques Santini's team.

Tottenham have found the net just six times in the Premiership under their new coach, furthermore they have failed to score more than once in any league match this season.

But in Saturday's 2-0 defeat at Fulham, Spurs, as an attacking force, reached their nadir. In 90 minutes of football they failed to register a single shot on target.

Inevitably the spotlight falls on Jermain Defoe but Michael Carrick believes that his team-mates are relying too heavily on the England forward.

"If you ask any striker they live and breathe for scoring goals and that's what they're in the team for," said Carrick, who replaced former Fulham player Sean Davis late on.

"[Jermain's] taken his game to another level and I think it showed at the start of the season but you can't expect the lad to score every game.

"I think it's up to everyone else to help him out and chip in with a couple of goals from midfield and from setpieces to take the pressure off the lads up front a little bit."

The need for a greater contribution from other areas was certainly evident on Saturday as Spurs slipped to a third straight league defeat.

Mark Crossley, who was making his first Premiership appearance for almost a year, was effectively a spectator in the Fulham goal.

Cherry-picking crosses was as difficult as it got for the 35-year-old former Wales international. Nevertheless, Carrick believes that Spurs only need one result to get their season back on track.

"We've got quality but the team is going through one of those patches at the moment and we are not passing it as well as we can," he said. "We've had a bad run of late and we need to get back to winning ways, even if it's a scrappy 1-0, we will take that as something to build on."

The former West Ham midfielder, who has yet to start a competitive match since joining Spurs in August, denied that he clashed with Santini last week over his lack of opportunities.

However, the 23-year-old is clearly eager to play a bigger role. "It's frustrating [coming on for six minutes] because that's my living out there and it's hard when you are being held back a bit. But that's the gaffer's choice and I can't really argue," said Carrick.

"I fully believe in myself, I'm confident, I've just got to be patient and hopefully I'll get my chance."

That should come sooner rather than later following Saturday's insipid performance. Tottenham were thoroughly outplayed by a Fulham side that had failed to take a point from their previous three league matches.

Zesh Rehman - making his full Premiership debut - and Zat Knight were commanding in defence, but it was Luis Boa Morte who took centre stage for manager Chris Coleman's side.

The winger put Fulham ahead in the 33rd minute when he slotted home a Steed Malbranque pass. And later he exchanged passes with Andy Cole before delivering a cross that the striker headed past Paul Robinson.

Though delighted with his team's performance, Coleman admitted that his inconsistent side have yet to earn his trust. "We have got to go to Newcastle next Sunday and we are capable of falling flat on our face," he said.

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David Jones (Footballer)

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