2009 July 20 « Arsene Knows Best!

Now that Adebayor is gone I decided to republish an article I wrote about him back in February this year, with a few modifications:

Details of goals scored by Adebayor last season:

With Fabregas:
Blackburn – 3 (header + penalty)
FC Porto – 2 (header + penalty)
Fenerbahce – 1 (one on one, through ball provided by Fabregas)
West Ham – 1
Tottenham – 1 (tap in)
Wigan (one on one, assisted by Fabregas)
Middlesbrough (header from a Fabregas corner)
Manchester City – 2 (one on ones, both assisted by Fabregas)
Villareal (bicycle kick, still the pass was Fabregas’s)
Villareal

Without Fabregas:
FC Twente – 1 (one on one)
Hull City – 1 (header)

That says it all. For Adebayor to score you have to send him one on one with the keeper so he can finish it and only Fabregas can do the job. Barry, Ireland, Petrov etc. aren’t good enough to lick Fabregas’s boots. Even then the number of chances that Adebayor misses far outweighs the number of goals that he scores. If there was a statistic for number of misses, Ade would be at the top of the list I am sure! Adebayor scores (1) one on ones, (2) tap ins and (3) headers. To be a world class striker you have to do much better than that. We have van Persie and he is a complete forward but Adebayor is just not good enough. So 25m for Adebayor is ridiculous! Arsene Wenger has pulled off another masterpiece.

Last season we saw him hit straight at the keeper on one on ones and cushion the ball to the keeper from free headers six or seven yards away from goal. And lately he moves to the flank, receives a pass, slows down the attack by holding the ball and eventually gives it back to the player he got the pass from (This way he ended a lot of our counter attacks by giving players time to get back). Hard to believe a player like that cost 25m to Man City. Silly Hughes. He was more of a liability last season than an asset. The 30 goals he got two season back will be a once in a lifetime achievement for him. Mr. One Season Wonder.

The 30 goals he scored shows he has the potential. Remember the stunning volleys he scored last season? Oh and that goal against Villareal. Awesome. But now that he is playing for just money so the talent will be wasted. We might see an odd stunner or two but that’s all.

So Man City fans who are getting excited need not be. But one thing they can be sure of is Adebayor will probably stay at City till he retires. Because he plays for money and he won’t get as much money as he is getting now anywhere else. He is all about money.

So Adebayor, we won’t miss you. Go to hell. You never know he might be warming the bench there just like Hleb did after he left. City have Tevez, Santa Cruz, Robinho, Adebayor and Bellamy now. So he won’t get as much first team action as he did here. But then he doesn’t care as long as he’s getting the money.

Anyway, do you think a replacement is needed? If yes then who should it be? Vote in the following poll and lets see what the fans want now.

Hleb - Missing the good old days...

Alexander Hleb has reveealed he deeply regrets his decision to leave Arsenal. Arsenal fans knew from the start he would hardly get to play in the star studded Barcelona side but Hleb didn’t realise that until he moved to Nou Camp.

He got what he primarily went for i.e trophies. But winning trophies while sitting on the bench isn’t something that pleases the Belarussian international. The former Gunner admitted in an emotional interview that he would love to play again for Arsenal but it’s too late now:

“When you mostly sit on the bench, winning titles brings very little joy, while getting to the last eight of the Champions League with Arsenal was unforgettable.

“I regret my move from London, but unfortunately nothing can be done about it now

“For me, Wenger was like a father. I consider him one of the best managers in the world.

“For such a boss one wants to die on the pitch. Arsene managed to create a smashing team with a wonderful atmosphere inside of it.

“I have no doubts that if Arsenal had the same budget as Barcelona, the Gunners would be among the three best clubs on the planet.”

So Gooners can all laugh at the greedy guy now! He is probably off to Inter Milan now so lets hope he earns some more experience of warming the bench. First in Spain, now in Italy. Good luck to Hleb!