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The papers are reporting that Benteke and Adebayor could be switching clubs in the near future (plus a sizeable chunk of cash going Villa's way). So what do we think Spurs fans? Let's compare the stats between the two target men.
Firstly, lets deal with Adebayor. In 87 Premier League appearances for us Adebayor has scored 35 goals. This averages out to a goal every 2½ games. That in itself isn't bad. Especially when you consider that Jermain Defoe averaged a goal every 3 league games for us! However, when we delve a little further into Adebayor's stats a different picture emerges.
In his first season at Spurs (on loan from Manchester City), he scored 17 goals in 33 league appearances which is very impressive. What's more is his work rate and all round contribution to the team was quite fantastic. Unfortunately, in the 3 seasons since his permanent transfer, he has only managed 54 PL games and scored just 18 goals! That's only one more than he managed in his first season at the club! It is no real mystery why his performances have declined.
In his highly impressive first season, he was playing for a permanent deal at the club. After Spurs provided him with a highly lucrative long term deal he had no real need to continue performing. At the time of his signing I felt it was a gamble to bring him in on a permanent basis, given his track record, but one that I felt was worth it considering his undoubted ability and cheap transfer fee (£5m). Admittedly, it has been widely reported over the season just gone that he has had family issues and while I do sympathise, I can't help but feel that if it wasn't one excuse then it would be another.
Given that Adebayor is in the last year of his contract at Spurs, it is conceivable that he is going to actually put some effort in during the coming season in order to secure himself a new deal. I sincerely hope he is not offered a new deal - regardless of performances - as the trust just isn't there anymore. Benteke has two years to run on his current Villa contract which contains a reported buy-out clause of £32m. Spurs are obviously unwilling to pay a club record fee of £32m and are reportedly hoping to offset some of the money by offering Adebayor as part of the deal. The problem is that no team are going to be willing to match Adebayor's current wage of 100k per week, including Villa, and subsequently Adebayor has shown little or no interest in leaving Spurs. It seems doubtful that any PL club would even want him at this stage, especially not on a long term deal. I would venture that teams would only be willing to give him a performances related contract - something that doesn't suit Adebayor.
Now on to Benteke. In 88 PL games he has scored 42 goals for Villa. An impressive 1 in 2 goal ratio. Some may worry that he is a classic 'big fish in a small pond' at Villa, - no disrespect intended - but personally, I don't believe so. When you consider the fact that he is an integral part of the Belgian national team, who are ranked 2nd in the FIFA world rankings, you must admit that he has to have something special about him. Benteke isn't without 'controversial moments' relating to Tottenham. As I am sure many of you will remember, he essentially used our reported interest in his services to negotiate himself a more lucrative contract at Villa last summer. Benteke has, repeatedly, stated his desire to move to a Champions League team. If he was to join Spurs, and missed out on Champions League football, I daresay he would go public with his desire to move on - much like he is doing at Villa.
Another factor to consider before deciding if Benteke should be brought in is where he would fit in the current team. Spurs have favoured a 4-2-3-1, with Harry Kane operating as a lone striker. Presumably, if Spurs were to bring Benteke in for big bucks, he would be in the team! He isn't about to replace Kane in the starting line-up which suggests that if he was to sign, then Pochettino might be considering a change of formation. Is Benteke worth disrupting the fluidity the team achieved in Pochettino's system over the course of last season?
In all honesty, this transfer just doesn't seem very likely. Indeed, it seems that Liverpool are keen to trigger his release clause and bring him to Anfield using the money they are likely obtaining from the sale of Sterling. But don't worry! Every cloud has a silver lining.. Hopefully Sherwood will use the money to take Adebayor off our hands! At least, one can hope..
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Pay him off.
ReplyDeleteTo be fair to Adebayor he has had several managers during that time and only 2 out of the 4 wanted him at the club. In fairness I want him gone as he should try his best as he is getting paid. He played well with harry and played well with sherwood. Both these managers got the best out of him because they could manage people. Managing people is part of management so it could be said that Adebayor downward spiral could be down to poor management by AVB and Mauricio. Both AVB and Mauricio made it abundantly clear he wasn't part of their plans and he was even put in the juniors under AVB which is a bit of an insult in itself.
ReplyDeleteAlso lets not forget he has had a lot of off-field problems with family and his best friend being shot and dying in his arms. All of these things would serious effect a lot of people's performance compounded by the fact the only place he could turn for support was telling him to F..k off.
I am no way using these things as an excuse but lets give the guy a break because when he is wanted he can be an amazing player.
As for this site it should be moderated and allowing people to make comments like
"fucking Lazy shit hope he dies" its a joke and who ever looks after this site and writes it should get a grip because allowing comments like this should be banned from writing such blogs
Only plays when it suits him, he had his best games under HR and TS but they were too few in my opinion. The stats speak for themselves, in his loan season he played out of his skin, in the next 3 he has been abysmal. OK he has had some troubling times in his personal life, but that's not an excuse when he's playing. If he's not fit to play mentally, then he shouldn't play. We could make up excuses all day long, but he has a track record of doing this at the Arse and Citeh. Best for everyone concerned if he was gone for good.
ReplyDeleteMaybe we could go back in time and put him back in th ebus...hopefully this time they wont miss.
ReplyDelete