That (fill in the blank) from Togo

Article by Jon Lewis

A couple of weeks before the close of the summer transfer window, Arsenal fans were feeling pretty bad about themselves (those were the days! Gunners, pre-Ozil). They had lost out on Higuain and Suarez and their only transfer-in was a nineteen year old French striker, Yaya Sanogo. Feeling unloved and unwanted – feelings made worse by Spurs’ spending – a clever Gunners chant rhyming Sanogo with “that cunt from Togo” seemed at once funny and a bit of sour grapes.

Times have certainly changed from those halcyon days of pre-Ozil Gunner self-abasement … mostly because the Arsenal don’t need Sanogo. But it’s looking more and more like we really do need Adebayor.

We’re now eleven games into the league schedule, plus a handful of Cup and Europa fixtures and Adebayor has been this season’s conspicuous absence. Sanogo has played a grand total of ten minutes closing out an easy 3-1 win over hapless Fulham. But that’s ten minutes more than our (fill in the blank) from Togo.

To be clear, I blame Adebayor for Spurs missing out on Champions League last season … mostly because I have to blame somebody. He had his new contract and appeared diffident and lazy. There were the usual excuses: personal stuff (some of it legitimately awful) and fitness problems (that were supposedly physical, but seemed more likely mental). Even his hold-up play seemed half-hearted.

For sure, tactically, Adebayor never adjusted to the 2012-13 game plan, which was to get the hell out of Bale’s way and let him do his thing. For a center forward used to being in the way, especially in the middle of the final third, Adebayor wandered off to the wings or into the midfield, and was throughout the season, pretty damn useless.

Over the summer there were rumours of Adebayor’s exit and few Spurs fans would have been sorry to see him go. For once Gunners’ and Spurs’ fans were in agreement (about “that **** from Togo.”) But Adebayor didn’t go, despite interest from top outfits like Schalke and Besitkas.

Though we can’t possibly know what’s going on in his head, the assumption among many fans is that Adebayor is happy enough cashing his monthly paychecks, his feet up on the desk, so to speak, until his contract runs out. But if (and this is the more likely scenario) Adebayor is willing to play (and he says he is), then AVB needs to face a simple fact of life: with 9 goals in 11 games, it’s hard to imagine Adebayor making matters worse up front. And unlike Defoe (who plays a lot like Soldado, minus the Spaniard’s deft feet) and Kane (who simply isn’t good enough), Adebayor presents a tactical alternative … an alternative, even if he is a (fill in the blank), we simply have to explore.

Let’s face it: we’d hardly be the only top team playing a player who’s kind of a jerk: Liverpool is doing fine with Suarez, who spent most of the summer bad-mouthing his teammates, his coach, and all of England at one point.

All to say: the time has come to give Adebayor a run out with the first team. Sit Soldado. And while we’re at it, sit Townsend too (until he learns to play with his head up). Let Lamela run off Adebayor’s hold-up play – and maybe also pass the ball back to him (which, to be fair to our man from Togo, was not the game plan last year). I’m not sure who to play on the left; how about someone who can run to the corner flag and cross the ball (not Sigurdsson – maybe Chadli, who at least tracks back well – or Townsend if he promises to stay put).

We have City up next at the Etihad. At the risk of stating the obvious, it’s a game we’re hardly expected to win. Even with City’s struggles at the back and Joe Hart’s blooper-reel season so far, I don’t see them worrying much about stopping Spurs, especially if AVB starts with the same old same old up front. So, why not try something new: Lamela, Adebayor, and Chadli. If it doesn’t work, we lose a game we probably would have lost anyway. And then we adjust for the must-win game at WHL against United on December 1. But if it works, we give even the best teams in the league something else, new, and different to think about.

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