If I told a Spurs fan this time last year, that we’d sign a striker on loan who’d score 17 league goals in a season, I imagine they’d be pretty chuffed with that. If I then told that Spurs fan we’d be hesitant to snap him up permanently, then the chances are, they would seriously doubt my psychic credentials.
But if I said that man was Emmanuel Adebayor, then the game changes completely. What on earth do the Lilywhite’s do with the Togo frontman now?
Let us start with the positives and debunk a few Adebayor-related myths. To score 17 League goals and bag 11 assists is a great return for any striker, period. Remark about penalties or missed chances all you like, but Adebayor greatly upgraded this Tottenham team from last season.
For a team to accommodate Luka Modric, two flying wingers and especially Rafael van der Vaart, you need a pretty dynamic frontman- someone who can genuinely hold the ball up and bring the others into play. I empathize with Jermain Defoe as much as anyone and Redknapp has underutilized him this season, but he simply cannot do what Adebayor does.
Tottenham’s best starting XI has Adebayor and Van der Vaart in for a reason. You are not going to challenge for major honors by setting a team up to knock it through to Defoe. Darren Bent is living evidence that you can base a team around a striker like that and see them score a hatful of goals, but it won’t bring mass success. It’s about working as a unit, having a team that can damage others collectively; bringing your other mercurial players such as your Bale’s and Van der Vaart’s into play. Emmanuel Adebayor does that very well indeed.
At this point, I’m well aware for some of you, the blood might already be boiling. The statistics don’t show how many the big number ten has squandered. Match of the Day edits make him look like more ruthless than the Terminator. And the T-1000 he most certainly is not. Those who watch him week in, week out, are sick of hearing the casual fans preach about his prowess in front of goal. There are strikers out there who would convert more of the chances he has had.
But it is Adebayor the man, which is more concerning than Adebayor the footballer. “We all play football to get money,” explained the Togolese striker in November. He must be beaming then, with his reported £170,000 a week wage packet- the bulk £100,000 of that stumped up by Manchester City. If he plays football to get money, then this season has been nothing more than a marriage of convenience. Spurs won’t pay anywhere near that and rightly so. As a club that have been so astutely run by Chairman Daniel Levy, they’re not about to break the bank to sign Adebayor when Bale and Modric are still earning reportedly well under £70k a week.
And what about his appetite if he was snapped up on a permanent deal? Say Levy did put £100k on the table and Adebayor signed on the dotted line. Although not anywhere in the same league as Adebayor, Egyptian striker Mido dazzled in his loan spell from Roma in 2005. As soon as he managed to get his wages secured for the next few years on a permanent deal, he put his feet up and faded into obscurity. Of course Adebayor is a hell of a lot more talented than Mido, but his murmurings about money and wages don’t seem like a particularly good sign.
As nice a chap as he may seem off the pitch, Adebayor just doesn’t come across sincerely. He appears to be a popular player in the Spurs dressing room and although the home fans have got right behind him, his Arsenal past will always lurk under the surface.
Yesterday, he said: “I played at Arsenal for three years but today I keep Tottenham in my heart more than Arsenal, even though I haven’t played here as long.” To say the he received dogs abuse from some of the Spurs fans during the two ties against Real Madrid in the Champions League last year, is understatement of the year. Football is a fickle world of course, but it feels really quite difficult to take him at face value with those comments. More like cheap flirting for a permanent deal then a heartfelt statement to the fans.
Emmanuel Adebayor is a great footballer, but he isn’t world class. If he isn’t to join permanently and Defoe leaves as well, Spurs could be in some big trouble if they don’t have replacements targeted. But if they are to compete in the Champions League, they have more than enough pedigree to attract some of the best frontmen to White Hart Lane. As good as he’s been this season, Tottenham shouldn’t be taking the risk.
Laughing at the thought of Adebayor staying at Spurs? Or do you think I’m mad to reject him? Let me know and follow me on Twitter @samuel_antrobus
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