Jermain Defoe was recently asked by Troy Deeney to name the angriest teammate he has ever played alongside, and he named both Danny Rose and Benoit Assou-Ekotto.
In two spells with the club, Jermain Defoe saw plenty of top-class players come and go. He wasn’t too bad himself, either, scoring 140 goals in 361 appearances for the Lilywhites (Transfermarkt).
Having shared a field with the likes of Gareth Bale, Luka Modric, and Ledley King, it would probably be pretty easy to guess who Defoe would pick as his most skilful, most intelligent, and most reliable teammates.
However, behind the scenes, players can be very different to their on-field persona. The idea that Danny Rose would be the most angry player Defoe ever came across then, is something of a surprise.
Rose joined Spurs in 2007, and made 213 appearances for the North London club (Transfermarkt) before being released on a free transfer in 2021.
(Photo by James Chance/Getty Images)
Danny Rose was an angry player, says Defoe
Speaking to the former Watford striker, Troy Deeney, for BBC Radio 5 Live’s The Players Channel (via Facebook), Defoe was asked to name his angriest teammate.
He said: “Danny Rose was angry.” Deeney replied: “Yeah I played with him a bit.”
Defoe then added: “Benoit Assou-Ekotto. Remember Benoit? Angry!” Deeney seemed shocked by that one, adding: “He always seemed chilled though?” Defoe simply replied: “Angry.”
Unfortunately, he offered very little explanation for his answers beyond describing the pair as angry. Maybe it’s just something in the blood of left-backs.
Spurs Web Opinion
After seeing Danny Rose confront Jose Mourinho in the Tottenham documentary, I can see why he would be considered an angry man. He was fairly calm in that discussion, but you could see how riled up he was.
Assou-Ekotto is a surprising one though, as he famously didn’t even particularly like football, so you wouldn’t think he would care enough to get angry.
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