Pompey little-and-large duo get off to a flyer
The £18.5million (€23.3m) pair, who grabbed three of the goals in Pompey’s 4-1 friendly win at Bournemouth, have never completed a full match in tandem before despite each winning 28 England caps and being on Tottenham’s books.
Crouch, who made his £11m (€13.8m) move from Liverpool last week, scored twice against the Cherries and laid on another for Defoe.
Said Crouch, who has played for Pompey boss Harry Redknapp in two different spells at Fratton Park and at Southampton, insisted: “Myself and Jermain worked well together. I was really pleased with how it went. Three goals in one game isn’t a bad start. Hopefully we can continue like that.
“It is important to build up a good understanding. Come the start of the season I’m sure we will know each others’ game inside out. That will prove to be good for Portsmouth. It’s the first time we’ve played together for a club and we enjoyed it.”
Defoe, Pompey’s record buy last season at £7.5m (€9.4m) from Spurs, said: “Me and Crouchie linked up well. I’ve played with him only a few times before at England senior and U21 level but we work well together. For a big man he has great feet. He is someone I can definitely hook up with. He has played at the top level, he is a good footballer and he is very clever.
“Now we are really looking forward to the season. I’m happy with the way I got my goal. It shows we can play together.”
Redknapp, however, insists he needs more new signings for the start of the season after loaning Ben Sahar from Chelsea for six months and taking Glen Little on a free transfer from Reading. And his mood will not have been improved by reports that both Juventus and Inter Milan — now managed by Jose Mourinho — are targeting Pompey’s Ghana midfielder Sulley Muntari who signed from Udinese for £7m (€8.8m) last summer and opened the scoring against Bournemouth.
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