Monday 17 March 2008

Is Adebayor really that bad?



I've read alot lately from disgruntled Gooners about Adebayor. On the most part people have started to doubt him and believe that he isn't that good a player. I think that people are being a bit harsh on him in fairness. Is he really that bad?

I admit that at times he can be a very frustrating player. He can miss the easiest of chances, his first touch seems to have deserted him, and he seems to have developed the trait of throwing his hands in the air that Henry used to have when a team mate misplaces a pass. But his goals have kept us in the Premiership title race.

The goals have dried up recently and he isn't playing that well at the moment but doesn't that apply to most of the squad? I don't think that we should start to make scapegoats for the team beginning to lose focus in the title race. It is, after all, a team game.

If you look at the amount of goals he has scored in the Premiership this season and the person at Arsenal closest to him its astounding. Adebayor has scored 19 and the closest is Cesc on 7! And most of Cesc's goals came in the first quarter of the season!



For most of the season Adebayor has played as a lone striker too. That is a very hard job to do and you never heard him moaning about it. He gets on with the job and causes a huge amount of problems for the opposing team. Ask John Terry and Rio Ferdinand, they have both said in the past how hard it is to play against Ade.

He is a constant threat and does not stop working for the Arsenal cause. Alot has rested on his shoulders this season with the departure of Henry, the injuries that Van Persie has suffered, the settling period of Eduardo and Bendtner to the Premiership, and finally the injury to Eduardo.

Lets cut the guy some slack. I didn't hear people moaning about him when he was banging in the goals and chasing the Arsenal goal-scoring record. Lets not forget that he is still only 24, and add's a different dimension to Arsenal's play.

Lets not forget the important goals he has scored in the past for Arsenal and the important things that he does for the team, like chase down opposition and willingness to graft to win back the ball. His contribution to the side cant be measured just for goals. He adds a huge amount to Arsenal.

He loves Arsenal and we love him. The song that rings around stadiums at the moment he scores raises hairs on the back of my neck. He isn't replacing Henry and in my eyes is very effective at his job for Arsenal. It's time we stopped the Henry comparisons and got off his back for Arsenal slipping up. It's not all his fault.

He has a great future ahead of him and I'd rather him be wearing the red shirt of Arsenal then playing against us. You might not agree with me, that's your opinion but I think that Adebayor has alot to offer Arsenal and hopefully will justify my thoughts of him.

Keep it Goonerish.........

36 comments:

Anonymous said...

It was about time some Gooner spoke up for this kid - he's been one hell of a grafter - our problem stems from lack of goals elsewhere. The likes of Hleb & Eboue constantly pass up good shooting opportunities while Adebayor has to contend with several defenders at a time.

Anonymous said...

I agree with Wrighty and the previous comment.
Ade is a great player for Arsenal and gives a huge amount. Our goals do not just stem from him, others must take responsabilty too.

Good post.

Anonymous said...

Sorry, but I disagree with you. Nice guy? Yes. Centre forward up to AFC standards? No.
He lacks ball control, imagination and frankly, despite his goals, which primarily came over a comparatively short period during the season, he lacks ability. Why, when he receives a pass through the middle does he invariably ricochet it straight back? How often does he pass the ball to a colleague in a better position? How often does he try shooting from distance?
He is infuriating, looses the ball all to often and is frequently the point where attacks break down.
He is ok, but only ok, and if we are to really challenge for honours we need a Torres, a Wright, a Stapleton (for those who memories go back that far, or further still to a Holton). A centre forward who knows how to lead his like, and who knows how to score from anywhere around the box.
Lovely guy as he is... but he is not what we need, not what the team needs.

Anonymous said...

I disagree with anon 18:25.

Ade offers a huge amount to this team and without him where would Arsenal be this season?

He has led the line upfront on his lonesome for most of the season and still played very well.

~He is one of the toughest players to play against in the Premiership, if not Europe and will only get better for Arsenal.

jan hills said...

he has been amazing, at least 6 goals have been wrongly offside, three penalty claims not given, he has set up a lot of gaosl for bentdner, eduardo, fabregas. He will get better, rosisky is needed

Anonymous said...

Good post Wrighty. Very pleased to see you at News Now!

Ade has been tired. He has been running the line too much on his own. He will come good when RVP gets match fit.

I said...

A good forward is one who, even when the goals aren't coming, will still do his part for the team and play an integral role in the attack. Adebayor is nothing without his goals, can't pass, can't hold the ball up very well without giving it away/making a terrible decision. He makes ridiculous moves into the corners as Henry used to do, but without the dynamism to unlock a defence. He needs to go, honestly. A workable target man, but not a starting forward for the club.

Anonymous said...

Believe me, Adebayor is one of the best strikers in the league and always gives me a very hard game.

You Gooners need to realise what a great player he is. If he left then trust me you Arsenal would be worse off.

Anonymous said...

Ian, does Adebayor not work hard?

He grafts so much for Arsenal and once he gets a calm head in front of goal will be a WORLDBEATER!

Mark my words mate.

Good post.

Anonymous said...

Sorry, but he's SHIT.

He has the first touch of a rapist and he can't hit a cows arse with a banjo.

We should buy a true WORLD CLASS striker in the summer and use Adebayor only when we have injuries.

His song should end with the line: "Give him the ball and he can't hit a barn door."

Anonymous said...

Our Glorious Midfield

Fantastic, young and BIG on players who are mobile, can pass quickly and see passes in tight spaces - Oh Yes!!

However our midfielders are SHORT on:-

Goals

BIG tacklers

Players good in the air

Using the open spaces of a pitch

Taking players on single handedly

Quality Free Kick takers

Players capable of clearing the first defender from a corner

Posing any kind of threat from a corner or dead ball situation in the last 5 minutes when a ManU team would be slowly turning the screw and forcing defenders into mistakes... (Please note Gallas, Senderos and Toure are not midfielders)

-------------------------------

Are these not things that every squad in the country should have an abundance...?

And that the manager's sole problem is deciding how best to blend all these strengths together and make the perfectly balanced team designed to beat your opponents??

Call me naive but other than (10 games a season) RVP - not 1 of our players can 'whip' in a good corner or free kick...

Who of our midfield is capable of arriving on the back post and leaping above the full back to nod 1 in...

If you all thought Plan B was Ade scoring the odd header or 2 then you must surely be aware that when his tap turned off we were back to Plan A only again...

I love Wenger - his teams play amazing footy - but his ignorance to the art of scoring any type of goal - is once again biting him on the proverbial...

Thoughts???

Anonymous said...

i think he is not that bad, but my problem with him is that he has started behaving as if he has arrived. A sense of complacency have set in, he has a lot to learn. He need to improve his confidence level, must know when to patch the ball on the goal pkeeper and when to chip it like roony does at crtical moments.
However, in the face a stingy manager who will never buy a big striker money wise, we have no choice than to live with the pain of managing what we have. Let us forget the title this year,we have lost it due to the fact that our manager doesnt want to add more quality to the team. You can only get as good as you can.

Anonymous said...

At last some sense. I've read a lot of negative comments about Ade. Point is, he's a bloody good player and one that most opposition fear. A few weeks ago certain sections of the press were saying he's the complete striker! He's never been too popular with a section of our fans but the fact is, he's carried the team goal scoring wise recently. Fabregas, Hleb, Flamini, Eboue/Walcott are not scoring enough. Start of the season the goals were coming from midfield and upfront and we were flying. Now the goals are drying up and who gets the blame? Ade. He is not in the top scorer bracket in the premiership by accident! Oh and he hardly gets injured unlike RVP, Rosciky etc.. I can go on, get off the big mans back he is Top Class!

Anonymous said...

I just can not agree. The team has been built and managed to play a certain way but when the pass comes to Adebayor the play usually stops - he's offsides, his touch is poor, or his return pass is awry. He is not Arsenal class. Give all those minutes to Bendtner and he would have 19 goals.

Anonymous said...

how many goals did cska chelski score against sunderland....1,and manusa against derby?!...1 ,and how many did adebayor score?Hmmmn let me guess....oh yes! 1.(allowed or not).While all our other strikers have decided to go south(and midfielders east) for summer adebayor continues to graft in the bitter cold;and all he gets is ingratitude.Not one word is said about the inabilities of the others.Every defender knows who to mark for christ sake don't you? Take out adebayor and fabregas and Arsenal turns into a toothless bulldog!!!
When fabregas was scoring for fun he drew defenders away from adebayor setting him(adebayor) up with just one defender to beat,which he could (not by skill ala henry) but by pace and power.If we all are constantly looking to adebayor to score during a match it is proof that our midfielders are CRAP??!!Remember how ljunberg bursts into the box unmarked from the wings?The golden opportunity cesc had was because of such play.unfortunately dont expect Hleb or flamini to do it so much.
In the end, all am saying is that the team is more at fault than adebayor. I don't understand the logic of the worst striker scoring the most goals and being praised by the likes of MILAN'S defenders!! yet hated by his fans...

Anonymous said...

I think our last game against Man City sums up the character of Adebayor. The 3rd goal came as a result of him carrying the ball from midfield, getting fouled and knocked to the floor, the ref waving advantage Ade getting up, running into the box and scoring! Thats the player. Bendtner is ok but not as effective. You guys need to stop hating on him. He has made a huge improvement from last year and can only get better.

Anonymous said...

ade is a great player when we play derby fulham etc against the big boys atrocious cl 1 goal in 19 laid on by theo reminds me of lee chapman and ray hankin give me alan smith ian wright or thierry they were ttrue centre forwards.. also take bendtner away and give us a class experienced goalgetter for next season maybe i'm wishing for too much

Anonymous said...

Atrocious against the big boys?? Who scored the winner against Man U away last season?? As a lone striker as well. Who consistently scores against the Sp*rs? Like the last poster has said, teams now stick 2-3 men on him and as we don't seem to have a threat anywhere else on the pitch, we're being snuffed out!

Anonymous said...

When last did rooney score a goal?........so is he crap? and tevez?.Tell me rooney for ade anyone?

Anonymous said...

EXACTLY ADEBAYOR IS ATROCIOUS AGAINTS THE BIG TEAMS....

Scoring once against Manure means nothing....

Yes he does score v the yids but who would consider Spurs a big team???

We need a proper forward not someone who scores against the minows.... If Bentner had played those games he would have scored the same amount of goals!

The only thing I cannot fault Adebayor is that he fights for the team... but final judgement is not good enough to wear the shirt!

Anonymous said...

Look at it this way, if RVP was fit the whole season, how many goals do you think Ade would have scored, how many more do you think arsenal would have scored. I think the dude and robin partnership would probably the best in the prem. I hope they can test it out next season. As for Ade he is a hard worker, and causes trouble to the defence, but when he has played arsenal have had to adapt their play to suit him...a tall target man...and that really doesnt suit arsenal. Arsenal need two technical operators up front, someone who will bring a ball down and chip the keeper instead of hitting it straight at them.

Unknown said...

'Scoring once against Manure means nothing....'
That 'One' was the difference between a win and a draw! Hopefully he can score a 'one' against the Chavs because nobody else seems to be scoring for us at the moment! All I hear is Bendtner this and Bendnter that. Bendnter hasn't proved himself yet.
How about blaming the boy wonder Fabregas? Or is he above critcism? Remember he was one on one with the keeper on Saturday... The team is failing at the moment not Ade.

Anonymous said...

rexes says: i think hleb is afraid of making crucial decisions in an attack.He tends to passover decisions to team-mates.With his talent if he decides to waltz into the box all hell will break loose.A very direct attack by hleb into the box will yield him about 10 goals a season.It would be nice to see him a little more selfish.
Eboue IS direct but scared of failing when in the box,thats why he falls when challenged.He just needs a strikers self-belief and confidence and he will become a massive asset.
How we miss rosciky long rangers...sigh!!
Anyway we can only play the team in front of us and that is chelsea.At least they don't seat deep. :)

Anonymous said...

ADE WILL SCORE MORE THAN HENRY DID FOR ARSENAL.

Anonymous said...

he's a useless gooner scum cunt who fancies bender.
chavski for the leauge - you lot have blown it LOL

Anonymous said...

have to disagree...

thought I was wrong when he was in his purple patch scoring at will... but he misses so many chances - he is not as clinical as he should be

and as for being a nice guy....
a guy who is done for domestic violence and headbutts one of his team mates during a game is NOT a nice guy

Anonymous said...

I can't believe the negativity towards Adebayor - sometimes I wonder if they watch the same games - perhaps they don't see them at all!!! Great work rate, very quick, good target man, powerful and his control on the whole is very good. He is very like Drogba in his first seasons at Chavski (remember how people said his first touch was poor). Yet Ade is 5 years younger than Drogba.

Wrighty7 said...

Chavski1, one word for a donut like u mate.........BARNSLEY

Anonymous said...

you are being harsh on hleb and dare i say eboue, adebayor although he is a decent player is not arsenal quality, he should be leading the goal charts by a mile with the amount of chances he gets given, stick torres in our team and you have 30/40 goals a season no doubt about it, i seriously hope he gets off his high horse and learns how to play again

rant over:)

come on arsenal!

Anonymous said...

It's ridiculous really that our only high scoring player over the course of the whole season so far could be slated so much.

He's a long way from being perfect and can be annoying when he never shoots from range and stuff but come on. He's the second highest scorer in the league. A league which has Drogba, Shevchenko, Rooney, Ronaldo, Torres, Berbatov etc.

I know Drogba's missed a lot this year and Shevvy is now shit but Berbatov's estimated value is around £30 million and people wouldn't be complaining if we had him, yet how many goals has he scored this season?

Ade could score more but if he scores (only!) 20 league goals every season and other members of our team pull their weight with goals (RvP would have it's a shame he was injured) then there needn't be a problem.

I love Hleb and his creativity and close control is phenominal but what the fuck? The guy has a good shot on him, it would be nice if he tried to use it more than once a month. Considering his ability he should be getting 10 league goals or more a season. Rosicky has done ok for goals when he's been fit this year, we've missed his input.

Eboue can't score to save his life, Fabregas has stopped scoring (man it's painful to criticise our beloved Cesc) and Flamini was never likely to get too many considering he's mostly defensive but could get one or two more.

Basically be reasonable, Ade does a lot for the team even if he doesn't score and is naturally a second striker really. It's not his fault that our main striker in RvP and our goal poacher in Eduardo are or have been out, or that the midfield rarely score. Ye he needs to improve some aspects like his offsides but the guy has been the difference between top 3 and struggling with Liverpool for 4th for us this year.

And ask yourself if we had Pires in this midfield instead of Hleb (not that I'm saying I don't love Hleb) then Arsenal would be 5 or more points better off now from his goals. Hleb doesn't need to score like Ronaldo, but Cesc, Rosicky and Hleb each need to be getting 10 league goals, Ade 20, RvP if he's fit 20 and the rest of the team another 5-10.

For all their brilliance our midfield need just as much criticism as Ade so let's not have him the scapegoat here.

Lenga said...

Ade is shit!! Tell me how many players in the premier league or in any other league have scored 20 goals? For a lone ranger this guy is phenomenal. What we need is a midfielder who can who wreck havock in the opposing teams third. Fab and Hleb for all their great vision and phenomenal passing have yet to dominate defenders ala Ronaldo or Messi. Yet each of these two guys work in tandem with other players in their teams to mesmerise defenders but our Ade works on his own. Rosiscky and RVP are definately class acts .. when they are fit and would only have relieved the pressure on Ade. Henry great as he was never scored 100 goals a season hwy should we demand such from Ade. Wenger should sort out the problems by strenthening the team. We now have enough talented youngsters what we need are 1 or 2 battle hardened and tested players to add steel to the team. We have the money. Wenger what more do you require???

Willy Kamanzi said...

GOOD POST Wrighty ! People forget easily, it`s been so unfair to Adebayor, he`s been immense this season , he has improved remarkably , he still has a lot to learn but even Fabregas, Hleb have a lot to learn.
I remember when my brother was criticizing Flamini saying that he doesn`t deserve to be an Arsenal player and we should sell him (I knew Flamini when he was playing for Marseille in France and he was amazing), my brother now rates Flamini as the best in his position. People forget easily! Adebaypr is a bit tired after a long season where he played so many games on his own upfront. Let`s give him our support when he needs it the most. Come on Gunners! Be more supportive of our heroes...!
A goal against Chelsea and you`ll all praise him and sing his song again !!!! (ADebayor, give him the ball and he will score...lalala)

Anonymous said...

i like ade, but he cannot win the season on his own. ade is raw talent but there are no experienced players to learn from with arsenals squad being so young. captain willy has won before but not with us. with time the rest of the team will chip in and score more but time is running out this year. i think we have a great young side and if we can keep them together we will have lots of trophys on the way to the the grove.

northbank said...

Ade isn't a bad player just hasn't had the best of games over the last month. However any striker who plays for us will get lots of chances just don't think he has converted enough this season.
I agreed with wrighty earlier that ade would be the top goal scorer this season but how wrong where we? To we the league you need a 30 goal a season player, united and now liverpool have there's. Think we now need to sign some one who will do the same for us.
Ade can score some great goals but he shows no consistancy. and wrighty says he gets lots of decisions against him, but he is offside alot. some needs to show him how to hold the line. still lets hope he finds some form for the end of the season. and arsenal find some cash to sign some big names!

nucks said...

Adebayor has tremendous ability and is definately being over criticised. However, recently he has been poor.
-He does seem to be the point where our attack in the final third has been breaking down.
-His touch has been poor.
-He simply hasn't threatened the goal and been positive enough.
-Fails to spot anyone in a better position .
-Despite this, he is still the second highest goalscorer this season in the premiership and no other Arsenal player has chipped in with even half the goals he has scored.
-Some of the goals scored are way above the abilities of any other striker in the premiership.

Get behind him and the team!!!
But i believe he will improve even further next year and be one of the best in the world.

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