Defoe spent time with the Dane when he was in charge of Brentford.
He recalled to the Mirror: "(Spurs') squad's strong. Obviously the (James) Maddison injury, the (Dejan) Kulusevski injury, it doesn't help, but with this manager he's a top top manager.
"I was lucky enough that I went into Brentford... two years ago, just to watch training and pick his brains. I was still on my A licence and he was really impressive.
"Not only that but away from football he's such a nice guy, approachable.
"A lot of people think about coaching, you go up and down the country you see coaches put on good sessions, everybody puts on good sessions, but I think managing people is so important and he does that well.
"I hope he does well. The players look really fit, sharp, but we'll see what happens - it's a long season."