The game was only a couple minutes old when Emmanuel Adebayor pounced on a poor back pass from Kolo Toure. The Togolese striker ambled forwards, the keeper was already on the floor, Toure had his head in his hands and the supporters dotted around the Royal Bafokeng Stadium prepared for the goal. However, as a […]
What happened to Emmanuel Adebayor?
The game was only a couple minutes old when Emmanuel Adebayor pounced on a poor back pass from Kolo Toure. The Togolese striker ambled forwards, the keeper was already on the floor, Toure had his head in his hands and the supporters dotted around the Royal Bafokeng Stadium prepared for the goal. However, as a Tottenham Hotspur supporter, my spidey senses were tingling.
“He’s going to miss.” I mumbled to myself and after what seemed like an eternity, he did miss. As I sat there and contemplated his failure, something occured to me. It wasn’t the miss itself that worried me, even the greatest players are occasionally touched by the hand of Rosenthal, it was the manner of the miss.
[linequote]Something is broken in Adebayor, he plays with no confidence, no buzz, no enthusiasm.[/linequote]
Rather like the opportunity he spurned at Loftus Road a couple of weeks ago, this wasn’t a physical issue, it’s a mental issue. The player knows what he has to do, where he has to be and how to do it, but he lacks the ability to execute those thoughts.
Something is broken in Adebayor, he plays with no confidence, no buzz, no enthusiasm. As the Spurs man ambled his way towards the gaping Ivory Coast goal he reminded me of Fernando Torres, a shadow of the player he was and the one we need him to be.
What has happened to the striker who last season contributed not only goals but assists, movement and gave us a focal point to our attack?
Those quick to listen to listen to the “I told you so” Arsenal fans amongst us have pointed to the fact that he now has a full time contract. Comfortable in his situation Adebayor is happy to pick up his wages, send a certain percentage home and then play out his career as a bit part player.
This reasoning doesn’t sit with me. If Adebayor was all about the money, why did he choose Spurs? Why did he choose a club that puts him in a position of judgement and one that has a strict wage structure?
During the summer Adebayor had the chance to follow the paper to Russia or Qatar, countries where his personality hasn’t already been rightly or wrongly judged. Alternatively he could have opted to remain at Man City collecting his wages and not having the pressure of first team football thrust upon him.
Roberto Mancini may have wanted him out, but football is full of examples of players who have seen out large contracts at major clubs training with the youth team. This transfer window we have seen the gifted Wesley Sneijder price himself out of a move to the Premier League by chasing the money. Adebayor a former Real Madrid, Man City and Arsenal striker could easily have done the same, but he didn’t.
Adebayor chose Spurs for a variety of reasons. To prove himself to the press and his doubters and secondly to finish what he started so impressively last season. Granted the wages we are paying him are big for our club, but definitely not bigger than a FC Anzhi Makhachkala or another fossil fuel backed club could have offered.
When this season started with a defeat away to Newcastle, the buzz word was patience. Now over six months later we should remember that. Adebayor has suffered this season through a lack of preseason training, injury, suspension and now the African Cup of Nations. It has been stop start and he has been unable to pick up a rhythm, but an even bigger factor on his performances has been his role. He has yet to play in a role which suits his style of play.
Think back to those glorious few months in 2011/2012 where Spurs were the toast of the country, Champions League dead-certs, even whisper it quietly, possible title challengers. Our Togolese forward was at the forefront of this expansive game that had our manager nailed in as the next Knight of the Realm. However, this wasn’t the manager being tactically astute or some Lance Armstrong style doping, this was very simply, Adebayor playing in his favoured number nine role, with a creative number 10 just behind him.
[linequote]When this season started with a defeat away to Newcastle, the buzz word was patience. Now over six months later we should remember that.[/linequote]
The former Man City man is an out-and-out solo striker, a player to hold up the ball, bring others into play and drag defenders into unchartered areas. This season alongside Jermain Defoe, a player whose limitations we are all aware of, the Togo man has faltered. Similarly playing off the industrious Clint Dempsey or unsettled Glyfi Sigurdsson has resulted in the same lack of form.
These issues have had a direct impact on the re-adjustment of Adebayor, but perhaps finally a solution is just around the corner. A solution in the form of a young part English part German midfielder.
Lewis Holtby, if newspapers and Twitter are to be believed is set to join earlier than expected. The Schalke man is very much in the Rafa Van der Vaart mould, a player capable of finding space, a pass and that moment of ingenuity that strikers like Adebayor thrive on. All the Togo man needs to do now is start believing and start playing with that beaming smile that has been conspicuously absent this year.
I refuse to believe that he is damaged goods, he remains a player blessed with all he qualities needed to be a success at Spurs, we just need to AVBelieve in him.
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16 Comments
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24/01/2013 @ 12:57 pm
Well said. Too many people quick to jump on him and call him a mercenary.
He’s been disappointing but he should deserved appreciation for last season’s work. I am sure he’ll be back
24/01/2013 @ 12:59 pm
Adebayor has a HUGE ego and loves fame & money. Let’s not forget, this is the same player who confronted a heckling Arsenal fan at an airport by taking out a wad of cash from his pocket and kissing it.
For him, just collecting money from City without being in the spotlight would’ve been terrible for his ego. He wants to be seen, he wants to be on back pages. But its quite obvious that a player who has been at Arsenal, Madrid and City, has been dumped by all those clubs well before his contract ended.
24/01/2013 @ 1:01 pm
My observations of him over several seasons suggest a pattern of play and commitment closely linked to the financial side of things.
24/01/2013 @ 1:28 pm
Stop knocking the guy. He was late signing so missed some pre season training, then injured, then some of our weak and fragile so called supporters turned up there noses at him. Support a good player and he will reward us! Lets play our part!
24/01/2013 @ 1:41 pm
You say he has “suffered through lack of pre season training,injury,suspension, and the Africa Cup of nations.” Wrong. It’s the club and it’s fans who have suffered. Lack of pre season training was down to him “negotiating his greedy contract”, suspension through a ridiculous challenge agains the Arsenal, and going off to the A.C.O.N amounts to deserting the club that are paying your wages. His attitude is simply unacceptable, he’s lazy at the best of times, coupled with arrogance. What a contrast is Michu at Swansea who not only scores loads of goals but also tackles back and generally works hard for the team. Oh if only…
24/01/2013 @ 1:46 pm
I admire your faith, I really do, but I will have to disagree.
Its not a confidence thing…… he has bundles of it. On his day his top draw. But the moment he gets a contract he loses interest. When he joined City it was about him proving Arsenal wrong. Think he scored 10 in 10, including against Arsenal. After he did that there was no need.
I don’t think he has taken a pay cut as such. Sure, Spurs are playing less in basic wage but I am sure City paid off some of his contract and Spurs paid a cut price in order to compensate for his wages. I predicted once he had his contract he would stop and he has. His past behavior suggests this and I think there is little to suggest he would treat Spurs any different to Arsenal and City.
We will see how second half of season goes……
24/01/2013 @ 1:46 pm
It’s not a case of Goon’s saying ‘ I told you so!’, it’s more an case of most Spurs fans saying ‘We knew this would happen, once a perm deal was settled’
That said, on his day he’s a huge talent and we can only hope that he realises his days are getting shorter at the Lane, and we get the player we all know he’s capable of being!
24/01/2013 @ 2:06 pm
Glad someone has finally written an article like this.
As frustrating as Adebayor has been in his brief spells in and out of the team, he’s not had a fair crack of it. Even at his worst, Adebayor still probably offers more to the team than Defoe does at his best (e.g. a footballing brain and the ability to pass).
24/01/2013 @ 2:09 pm
Adebayor was not that great last season either, nor was Van De Vaart. Everyone looks at stats not at performances. He was just as frustrating and inconsistent last season also. Most of his goals were tap ins and penalties. He was just as reluctant to take shots then as he is now. He is a very frustrating player to watch. He has all the tools, but doesn’t use them. Don’t blame the coach for his abject form, its a follow on from the second half of last season. With the chances that were presented to him last season he should have easily scored 30 plus. Are you saying he hasnt played where he prefers? He sees more of the ball than any other player in and around the box.
The problem is with him ,not the manager or the system. He receives the ball in the box unmarked yet never takes shots. He will receive it and turn away from goal every time. He is good on the outside of the area but afraid of receiving the ball in the area. He has gone 3 games in a row at times this season without taking a shot, yet been on the field for 90 minutes in each of these games. On the rare occasion that he does get a shot off, he somehow seems to be falling or off balance. One on one with the keeper he somehow finds a way to take an extra touch or fall of balance.
He has been given ample opportunity this season, so don’t blame the manager. Adebayor is not the answer. The sooner we get another forward in the better.
This seems to be a thinly veiled attack on AVB written by an ‘Arry apologist.
24/01/2013 @ 2:25 pm
Good article! I think its a case of Adebayor being a ‘Arry’ type player’. Ade is someone who needs to feel loved, needs an arm around him and needs his ego to be massaged, in order to see the very best out of him. While Redknapp knew how to do this effectively (having managed Di Canio, Merson, Van Der Vaart, etc, previously), AVB appears to find the art more difficult, with him EVEN benching Ade in favour of Defoe at the beginning of the season.
The Togolese striker will never be a natural finisher (as we ALL found out last season) but what he must do to be MORE effective for Spurs this season is show that appetite for a battle that he has only displayed in glimpses this season.
Whilst I don’t subscribe to the notion that Ade has ‘downed tools’ after securing a permanent deal at the club, I do think that this IS a man who is desperately searching for the confidence he needs to produce his electrifying best.
I WOULD SUGGEST THE SUPPORTERS, WHO WANT TO SEE THE BEST OF MANU, COULD DO MORE BY GIVING HIM THE ENCOURAGEMENT HE NEEDS, COME MATCH-DAY!
24/01/2013 @ 4:09 pm
Here we go the levy brigade laying down the foundations for when we don’t strengthen in January
24/01/2013 @ 4:31 pm
I am too concerned this is the ‘Arry brigade out and about.
The comments that AVB can not man-manage in the style of H are bollox.
Look at Michael Dawson, 5th choice and told he can leave, still singing the praises of AVB. Tom Huddlestone woefully short on form and fitness, again told he can leave, but still involved and without a peep trying to help the cause.
Compare this to all those ‘Arry froze out while running 14 favourites into the ground every year. Corluka, Palacios, Pav all basically ignored when they lost favour.
The Pretender is Dead, long live the AVB revolution. Only the Levy pursestrings will hold it back
#COYS
24/01/2013 @ 4:34 pm
Actually forgot to mention Adebayor at all in my rant, lol.
My view on him, I have seen one decent performance this year against Maribor, apart from that the complete lack of commitment to the cause is disgusting to me.
All the talent in the world, if we could take his ability and JD’s gut-busting desire to play well for Tottenham we would have one hell of a striker.
24/01/2013 @ 6:57 pm
Pablodan makes some interesting points. Worth noting how much he manages to hold the ball up and give our back line a breather, particularly against teams like City. His passing in intricate triangles in the middle of the park and just outside the box is pretty impressive and often has a strategy which is not always clear to the players around him. My point? Don’t use him as a striker but just behind meaning switch number 9 for number 10 and let him do the Teddy Sheringham role. Bale was a full back and look at the lad now! No reason why we can’t “re-deploy” Ade.
24/01/2013 @ 9:47 pm
It is quite interesting the vast array of views pertaining to Adebayor’s performances. Like it or not, Adebayor has been a much different player than that of his former self of last season.
What I remember of him during his loan spell was his amazing ability to just get the ball into the net. Most of his goals were so-so, but there was no doubting his ability to make the back of the net bulge in circumstances where most would assume the ball would have been cleared. He gave us goals when we needed them, and he was always reliable to get on the score sheet.
His assists were also something that could not be ignored. He was a lethal threat, especially with VDV.
But let’s get something straight. AVB will not throw any new signing into the first team just because they are his new signing. You only need to look at the Lloris situation to figure that out. You will play based on the work you put in. Adebayor was a very late signing considering the circumstances, injured, lacked proper fitness, and suspended in a matter of 4 months. We basically have not had Adebayor for an extended period of time. But what I have seen of him so far this season has been not only dismal, but embarrassing. His passes are either over hit or under hit, his vision has been questionable, his positioning has taken him out of games, and his finishing….well that speaks for itself. It has been a pathetic showing from Adebayor for the entire season. He truly is a shadow of the player he was last year, but it doesn’t mean that he won’t show up (the goal against Arsenal was truly one of his signature finishes).
You make an extremely interesting point in regards to his choice in joining us rather than another sheik club. He really did not have to endure the frustrating transfer saga that transpired. He could have gone to an array of different clubs in perfectly competitive leagues. But he chose us, because he still has the drive to succeed at the highest level.
I suggest all of you to listen to him in interviews. He is not only extremely respectable, but clearly an intelligent person who knows what he is talking about when it comes down to football. He seems very likeable, and it really has changed my perspective of him since his Woolwich days.
Now, Ade needs his confidence back. It has been damaged due to lack of pitch time. Maybe ACON was not the worst idea, he can play with his fellow countryman in a much less-pressurized setting and environment. But, he needs to regain his confidence quickly because we need him, whether you like it or not.
25/01/2013 @ 12:31 pm
adebayor is the man who qualified togo for the Africa Cup of Nations by scoaring two goals against Gabon. He plays with confidence but he is sometimes unlucky this year at Tottenham