Portsmouth: Riding into Europe

I've been telling everyone since before this Premiership season began that I fully expected this year's campaign to be the most "open" competition that there has been in several years.

Now, with slightly more than 10 games left in the season for most clubs, I believe that my prediction has clearly been correct.

We've seen an incredibly under-performing Liverpool (but who was really that surprised?), a rejuvenated Manchester City (when many said manager Sven Goran-Erikson wouldn't be able to cut out), an excellent Aston Villa side, and a Portsmouth team that have managed to actually better their last season (which had already been the best we had had in more than 50 years).

Throw into that mix an Everton who have been playing well for several seasons now, a Blackburn side who (under Mark Hughes) have been consistently solid-performers, and a West Ham side who have firmly put the woes of last season behind them, and the race for European places is particularly competitive.

Many of my fellow Portsmouth supporters have spent a bit too much time, however, looking at our "possibility" of Champions League football next season.

Although it is certainly not out of the question, I am not expecting such a result.

While many who are not Portsmouth supporters would scoff at the proposition of a Pompey side with Europe's elite under nearly any circumstance ("big-club" syndrome, anyone?), we have a set of players and a manager who can make a UEFA Cup place a reality this season.

The addition of Jermain Defoe has gone a long way in making believe that this is truly possible. But there was a significant groan which was heard upon the departure of Benjani, whom many felt had finally matured into the player we expected when he arrived from Auxerre.

Many supporters of other EPL clubs may have been shocked by the news that Benjani was sold on deadline day as well. After scoring two hat tricks for us this season alone while also being our top goalscorer, I’m sure there were many skeptics about this decision.

In truth, I will readily admit that the announcement had shocked me, as well; Benjani was a firm favorite amongst the Fratton faithful, and his performances were very much a part of our rise up the table in the first half of the season.

But in thinking more about the deal itself, it was incredibly good business for us—not only trading an older player for a younger one, but also trading a player who has always shown inconsistent goalscoring form for a natural finisher.

The money being offered, too, seemed silly to turn down.

Benjani had previously had a season and a half of relative mediocrity for us in terms of finishing, and City was originally offering us a bargain.

The reason I write this, however, is the concern that I have felt has plagued our team throughout the campaign.

Our defense has proven to be rock-solid throughout, and David James's performances have been nothing short of stellar. He has almost single-handedly won us games, as well as saving our blushes from defeat.

The midfield has managed to pull the strings immensely, too, and the addition of Diarra has proven thus-far to be a masterstroke.

But we've always clearly lacked the cutting-edge up front.

Nugent has proven to be nothing near what we expected, Utaka has been utilized solely as a right-winger, and Kanu can simply not be relied on.

That's right, I said it—Kanu has been garnering a great deal of praise from many corners, especially Pompey supporters.

He's much too inconsistent for my liking.

In addition, he's certainly not going to get better as the years go on, and I guarantee that he will not break the ten-goal barrier this season.

Kanu had an excellent cameo on Saturday against Sunderland, but he is not the goalscorer who will fire us into Europe. Which brings me back to Defoe.

As I've mentioned, I believe our problem all season, and the reason for our home-woes, has been the lack of a consistent goalscorer.

We’ve had players who have and had been able to score goals, but I believe that it was due to good form rather than something that would last all season.

Although it is still very early in Defoe's Portsmouth career, I'm backing him to be the answer to our concerns. Defoe is the player who can fill the void left by Yakubu's departure so long ago.

Except this time, it's not survival that Defoe's goals will bring to the club—it's a European tour.