Emmanuel Adebayor

alright... i'm tired of this **** and i feel we need to discuss it. there is a group of people on this forum who have really gotten on this boy's back. Adebayor has not been with us for 6 months and some people are writing him off as a failure and saying we should sell him. i've said it before and i'll say it again. the guy is still what we would term a "kid". he is 21 years old! give the guy a ******* chance.

Ade came into a team that was in really poor form. he was thrown in the deep end. no time to adapt, no time to settle. he moved from france to England and was expected not to skip a beat, to immediately fit into the system. that is a tall task for the most experienced of professionals, let alone such a young player. he came in and contributed 4 goals and 4 assists, one of which, the one against sp*rs, was one of the most important (and deceptively beautiful) of the season. all this in 12 starts for the club. very admirable stuff, for one so young, if you ask me. i realize that he missed many sitters. i realize that sometimes he wasnt quite on the same page as the rest of the team but he only just arrived and will only improve with time and experience. he's a player of remarkable potential. also remember that as inconsistent as Ade was, he did allow Thierry Henry to enjoy more space by keeping opposition defences worried by his close control, willingness to occupy very advanced positions and formidable frame. Henry found his scoring touch again with Ade, a touch that stayed with him and carried us to our 4th place finish.

we also need to consider that we've been down this road before. robert pires arrived and seemed overwhelmed by the premiership during his first season. he came good to say the ******* least. reyes looked out of his depth but is going from strength to strengh (especially as a source of assists). hleb was with us all season but does not get the same stick that Ade does after 5 months, even though hleb went through a long spell of utter shitness. i just dont understand where the resistance to this guy is coming from. he's young and he really hasnt done too badly for us. give the guy time and stop being so ******* impatient. besides, he didnt cost us too much. i think the 5 million figure quoted in the media is higher than what was actually paid. how often does Arsène fail us with a high profile signing? show some ******* faith in the man.

i know whats coming next. its the old "respect our opinion" stuff. thats fine. i respect your right to your opinion and i humbly ask that you respect my right to think that your opinion is utter dogshit.

get off Ade's back. he wont be sold this summer. get used to him.

Stirring stuff there gtd - nicely emotive for the 10,000th topic in Arsenal Talk. I like Adebayor, but I didn't see the sitters he missed. Two guys in my office can't stand him based on those.

I agree that he'll be around enxt season, but I think only as a squad player. He does offer us something different though, and will be a valuable squad member.

You make some good points about his ability to fit in and score straight away. Diaby seemed similarly able to slot straight in.

I am backing Adebayour next season especially if he has good world cup . The sitters he missed were carelessnes -thats all . You and I could have scored what he missed , doubt it will happen again.

It is annoying to hear that some supporters dont want Ade to be with us next season. They should give em a chance like any player that joined in Arsenal. Reyes, Van Persie and Hleb all struggled from the start. But IMO i dont think that Ade had struggled at all. He may have missed some easy goals but the lad will soon be scoring. The only thing he had a tough time adapting to was the way we (arsenal) play. For example, henry got pissed off from Ade for not passing to him in a home match. After that they were A ok. COME ON LADS GIVE EM A CHANCE!!

Trust me he will be a valuable member next season, as i also see Reyes fighting for a Forward spot

Did Thierry score right after Wenger played him as a striker? How many times did Dennis' close-range shots hit the woodwork this season? Did Adebayor perform worse than the above two in those occasions? I think not. If Ade has to pack his stuff because he missed the sitters, then Reyes and Freddie probably should have followed Pires to the exit door.

the number one problem that players have when adapting to the premiership is the pace of the game. It's the fastest game in the country and Arsenal play at the quickest pace in the country for the longest amount of time. Adebayor didn't miss any sitters that weren't the result of very quick movements. It wasn't like he beat the keeper and was strolling in and just missed the net, they were usually balls that came his way that he couldn't see until they were a yard or two away from him and he didn't react quick enough which happens. How many sitters has Henry missed that he could've put away? I seem to remember a couple in europe this season as well as one against Chelsea last season to secure his hat trick and a victory for Arsenal that would've been huge. All I'm saying is that considering most players do **** all in their first season or so in the premiership as they adapt, 4 goals, 4 assists, and striking up a great partnership with the hardest man to partner (for his movement mostly, it's difficult to understand how thierry plays and complement it, not because of his personality) in 4 months is pretty damn good.

He hated playing at Monaco because he was benched even when he was in form and couldn't get back in no matter how well he played for Togo or in training and the staff openly criticized him in the press which is tough for any player. He views Wenger as having saved him from that and he'll do anything he can to repay him.

Did Thierry score right after Wenger played him as a striker? How many times did Dennis' close-range shots hit the woodwork this season? Did Adebayor perform worse than the above two in those occasions? I think not. If Ade has to pack his stuff because he missed the sitters, then Reyes and Freddie probably should have followed Pires to the exit door.

Adebayor is a striker, so scroring is a must. Midfielder should support but sometimes they can score. So I think comparison between Ade and Freddie is not right. But, we could do comparison to Henry when Arsenal play against Barcelona. He missed two good chances. I think a lot of people will criticize Ade if he is the one who miss the chances but not to Henry. Why ?

I am backing Adebayour next season especially if he has good world cup . The sitters he missed were carelessnes -thats all . You and I could have scored what he missed , doubt it will happen again.

Now I'm not anti-Ade or anything and I think he does offer us the 'Plan B' option, but that statement is a huge understatement. I suggest you take a look at our Pompey away game again. And at the time, Spurs had just lost and it was a perfect game for us to close them down and put more pressure. Our performance in the Champions League was boosting our youngster's confidence big time.

In that game, Ade didn't just miss a few sitters, but every time our player passed to him, he would lose the ball with such abysmal touches that would make one think that he did it intentionally. I recall Wenger's post-game interview saying that he didn't think Ade purposely gave the ball away. That's how bad it was. I also remember Tony Montana saying those missed sitters by Ade may end up costing us the game. In the end, we drew and lost 2 points. If there was one thing that Ade did in that game, it was the one touch pass to Henry and Henry scored the goal with exquisite finishing skills. (The ball hit the post and went in, no chance for the keeper.) No doubt, it was an assist, but it was a 3 yard pass that even 15 years olds could've easily done. (Henry actually pointed his fingers with a direction so Ade would hit the ball in that direction.) We had so many open chances and we should've scored 3 goals at least in that game, but we only found the net once.

If I remember correctly, not many people have seen Pompey's away game because it was on a weekday and was only available on PPLive. Maybe that's why certain people are more ready to jump on Ade's back than others. In all fairness, I think Ade certainly deserves more chances and, considering the fact that he only had 6 months to adapt to England,I'd say he's done quite well.

Is his performance against Pompey a one to expect from him in the future? I hope not. But some people seem worried and I can understand where they are coming from.

P.S. It was a game in which Wenger also started Song in the midfield. He also drew a huge criticism from the fans after this game because of his apparent lack of composure on the ball....

I like him. I reckon he will be improve next session. Hes not quite that fox in the box but he gets in positions for taps in and stuff. those positions where the ball rebounds or cross happen and i think to myself '...god if only someone was in the box!!..

Ade came into a team that was in really poor form. he was thrown in the deep end. no time to adapt, no time to settle. he moved from france to England and was expected not to skip a beat, to immediately fit into the system. that is a tall task for the most experienced of professionals, let alone such a young player.

A good point. When people have their favorites, they will make endless excuses about changing countries and cultures, adapting to new leagues/teams etc.
Yet when somebody wants to slag a player that all goes out the window.

Ade came at a time when he wasn't even playing week in week out at Monaco and it's a good point that our lads weren't exactly firing on all cylinders either. So I think that it does speak somewhat to his character that he managed to step into the team and contribute.
Personally I don't think that he offers the team alot per say, we've got plenty of better finishers. But that doesn't mean that there isn't a place for him with Arsenal FC.
What he does offer is a physical presence in the oppositions third, and another option for Wenger, either as a starter or from off the bench.

I do expect to see more of Ade next season, and I'm hoping that he continues to improve for us as his comfort and confidence grows. I hope he has an enjoyable WC (He might score a couple but I doubt Togo will win a single match) and returns to the club ready to go for CL qualifying.

I like him.

Am thinking he might be put on the wing or the ljungberg role when we are playing 4-5-1. Hes pretty fast and got midfield qualities, i think the same might happen to van persie aswell, on the left wing for him. Of course probably not first team, but if have injuries or squad rotation they are roles i think they could play.

van persie wouldn't have missed those sitters...

at least thats the argument most have put up when highlighting adebayor's misses lol!

gunnertilldeath ....... Excellent Post!!!!!

I agree with you 100%. Ade showed me enough pace, skill and touch to feel certain that he has enough natural talent to make a positive impact. Just like Hleb, you could see that he was eventually going to come good. Everton just paid 8.5M for Johnson and he doesn't have 20% the potential of Ade (Johnson might one day become a poor man's Kevin Phillips). He carried the least talented team of the 32 to the World Cup on his back!

Will he miss more sitters? Of course. Unless he doesn't play or never gets near the goal he will miss a sitter. How many times has RVP even had a sitter to miss? I'm not saying Ade is better than RVP. Neither has proven themselves to be top quality yet. But so far, I would say that Ade makes better runs and ends up in better positions than RVP. Thus, as of now, he will be in a position to get more sitters than RVP. No doubt that RVP is a better finisher. IMHO RVP doesn't yet hold the ball up well enough, make the best runs or get into the best scoring positions for a top class striker. And Ade doesn't yet have the finishing skills of a top class striker. The difference is that poor finishing is much more noticable to the average fan. The good news is that both have the potential to improve on the weak points in their games because they are both young top class talents.

So all of you Ade haters, I say to you watch the entire field and the entire game when evaluating our players. Don't rush to judgement and most importantly be fair to our players who try hard and/or are just settling in. When a player's effort level has dropped (like Vieira's did in his last season and Pires' did in his last two) or he shows disloyalty (like Ashley did), then it is fair to be hyper-critical. But players that give full effort but are just not that talented (like Flamini, Cygan and Parlour) or ones who are settling into a new country, culture, language and team (like Reyes, Hleb, Ade, Diaby, etc.) deserve our patience and our respect.

van persie wouldn't have missed those sitters...

at least thats the argument most have put up when highlighting adebayor's misses lol!

prove that on the game at old trafford and i'll concur without a doubt at all...

but perhaps that's just one of those times...

But players that give full effort but are just not that talented (like Flamini, Cygan and Parlour)

on a side note, that is why I never say a bad word about Cygan. He comes into the team when he is needed, puts his head down and does an ok job most of the time, and from recent posts he seems to know his place in the team. People like these should be respected.

back to the topic of Adebayor, I think he'll become quite a good player for us, but the problem is, as people have mentioned before me, where he'll feature in a 451 formation, which seems to be the preference in the CL. RVP showed that he can play out far right (not left as mentioned in previous posts), as he did brilliantly for the national team against cameroon on the right wing, with lots of runs and a few crosses to ruud that show he actually has 2 good feet. On the other hand, while it seems that Adebayor has tendencies to drift wide also, he invariably likes to cut back in with short passes; seldom if at all, have I seen him cross the ball in. So my point is, if Wenger opts for the 451 formation, where one would assume he'd like more width since he's already packed the middle, RVP would get more game than Ade anyway.

Agreed. I can understand people simply not taking a liking to Adebayor - that can happen. But he should be given a chance to prove himself, and he has not had near enough time yet to prove anything, one way or the other. He definitely offers size, and seems to be quite strong as well. Wenger obviously sees something, and I would be willing to give a player a chance pretty much just based on that.

Deschamp said he is good.......so give him chances!

Parlour was class, you dont spend over 10 seasons at arsenal if you arent good enough. I was sad to see him go as he was my favourite player.

I am backing Adebayour next season especially if he has good world cup . The sitters he missed were carelessnes -thats all . You and I could have scored what he missed , doubt it will happen again.

Now I'm not anti-Ade or anything and I think he does offer us the 'Plan B' option, but that statement is a huge understatement. I suggest you take a look at our Pompey away game again. And at the time, Spurs had just lost and it was a perfect game for us to close them down and put more pressure. Our performance in the Champions League was boosting our youngster's confidence big time.

In that game, Ade didn't just miss a few sitters, but every time our player passed to him, he would lose the ball with such abysmal touches that would make one think that he did it intentionally. I recall Wenger's post-game interview saying that he didn't think Ade purposely gave the ball away. That's how bad it was. I also remember Tony Montana saying those missed sitters by Ade may end up costing us the game. In the end, we drew and lost 2 points. If there was one thing that Ade did in that game, it was the one touch pass to Henry and Henry scored the goal with exquisite finishing skills. (The ball hit the post and went in, no chance for the keeper.) No doubt, it was an assist, but it was a 3 yard pass that even 15 years olds could've easily done. (Henry actually pointed his fingers with a direction so Ade would hit the ball in that direction.) We had so many open chances and we should've scored 3 goals at least in that game, but we only found the net once.

If I remember correctly, not many people have seen Pompey's away game because it was on a weekday and was only available on PPLive. Maybe that's why certain people are more ready to jump on Ade's back than others. In all fairness, I think Ade certainly deserves more chances and, considering the fact that he only had 6 months to adapt to England,I'd say he's done quite well.

Is his performance against Pompey a one to expect from him in the future? I hope not. But some people seem worried and I can understand where they are coming from.

P.S. It was a game in which Wenger also started Song in the midfield. He also drew a huge criticism from the fans after this game because of his apparent lack of composure on the ball....

Saw that game twice , he had quite a few oppurtunities to score , Tony was disraught about it . What I took from that performance and others , is that Ade always has several good chances to score , when he learns to be clinical he is going to be devastating. I have absolutely no doubt about it . None whatsoever.

based on the past few posts, wouldn't you say RVP and adebayor might strike up a nice partnership? after all, the qualities lacked in one is available in the other.

or maybe not...they have been partnered together before if i remember correctly...it turned out fruitless.

I cant beleive the stick Adebayor has got. I personally am well pleased with him. If people want to moan about him missing a few chances then what do they think of the shot shy Reyes?

Personally i'd back Adebayor to score in a game more then Reyes, who i'm sorry to say has not lived up to the money we paid for him.

His work rate is good i'll give him that, but he does not score enough and i get fed up of him losing the ball just outside the penalty area.He's not clinical enough.

But hey, let's all slate Adebayor......

Strengths:
Tall, deceptively quick, strong, gives us another dimension.

Weaknesses:
Woeful first touch, cant head the ball (considering he's a giant, that's no good), passing is quite poor.

That's it in a nutshell, although I probably missed a couple of things out. Luckily for him, he's only 21 so time is on his side and he can work on his game. He'll get a nice bit of experience at the World Cup, and he'll learn from Thierry on the training ground.

van persie wouldn't have missed those sitters...

at least thats the argument most have put up when highlighting adebayor's misses lol!

prove that on the game at old trafford and i'll concur without a doubt at all...

but perhaps that's just one of those times...

Difference being, RvP wasn't match fit, nor was he sharp, not to mention the ball flew past him. Ade's misses were atrocious, but like I said before, he has time on his side.

Personally, I'm quick to judge Ade because I like RvP, and I'm pissed off he isn't playing. All thanks to one of the many injuries we suffered this season. I honestly dont believe Ade deserves to start alongside Thierry if RvP is match sharp, fit, and confident. He'd be a good guy to bring on to terrorise tired defenses.

Great discusssion point GTD.

However regardless of the salient points that you make, some people on this forum are unable to grasp that it is not about individuals, but rather about the team. Some people prefer the either/or perception rather than embracing the virtues of both (and other) forwards that we have.

As stated previously, I do don't care who plays as long as Arsène believes that they are best equipped to do the job for the team!

Personally, I'm quick to judge Ade because I like RvP

bingo. this is probably the biggest reason adebayor gets so much stick.

personally i dont like ade and i have been one of those people tht have been slating him.
I dont think he is the mould to become an arsenal player he just doesnt show it in my opinion. Next season if he gets a first team slot ahead of Reyes or Van Persie then i will be a bit angry. But i would be willing to give him a chance, but i think we have already given him a chance.
I would loan him next season and bring in another striker like Owen and then have ade back when he is abit older and more familar to the english game.
But i really want him to prove me wrong.

Personally, I'm quick to judge Ade because I like RvP

bingo. this is probably the biggest reason adebayor gets so much stick.

Yeah, probably, but do you honestly believe he's the second best striker we have?

He's what? over 6ft tall, and I haven't seen him aim a clean header on goal. His first touch really pisses me off, it's just so bad. Any player at that level should have a great first touch, and to be honest, my younger brother has a better first touch than him and he's 12. He has strengths RvP doesn't have (apparently :p joke) and vice versa. I'm sure Wenger knows who's to pick, I just hope RvP is in good shape at the beginning of next season.

^ i can sympathize. i really do believe that either reyes or van persie should partner henry based on talent alone. thing is, when it comes to things like these i believe in synergy. the whole must be better than just the sum of its parts and the henry-adebayor partnership is quickly looking like a very productive one.

Personally, I'm quick to judge Ade because I like RvP

bingo. this is probably the biggest reason adebayor gets so much stick.

Same reason I'm quick to judge Ade.

My main argument against Ade is that pompey game. That could have ,and nearly did, cost us the 4th spot. He was absolute **** in that game and showed that he still has alot of work to do. He needs to improve on a number of areas as Tegh pointed out.

I'm not saying he should be sold, but I don't like all the praise he gets. 4 goals 4 assists, fine. But they weren't brilliant goals or assists were they? The one against spurs was class, but other than that what has he done? For each of the goals he scored, he had about 5 missed chances. Its not a case of gelling with the team or anything. Thats expected from any noobie. Its a case of getting the fundamentals wrong. He's been one on one on the keeper so many times, and has missed from that position so many times. That has absolutely nothing to do with his team mates. From the first 6 months, we haven't seen much of him at all. During the first few months of Reyes and RvP we saw glimpses of what they are capable of. I've seen absolutely nothing from Ade.

He shouldn't be shown the door, thats just an absolute waste of money. He needs to put his head down in training and drastically improve. I haven't seen anything yet that suggests that he can be the next Kanu (other than the fact that they look identical)

Quality post mate.
You've hit the nail on the head for most of us who don't see Ade as anything special right now. I don't think we should sell him either, as it would indeed be a waste of money, and the more competition we have the better. Hopefully RvP will work hard to get his spot back once he's fully fit.

P.S. For the assist against Spurs, he raped that Lee guy (somehow got away without a freekick being given - deserved after their poor sportsmanship) and he even managed to scuff the pass!

We have to keep Ade, absolutely. He was bought in January and thrown in at the deep end. "Here you go son partner Theirry henry, he's the best striker in the world but he gets grumpy as **** if his strike partner doesnt do it exactly as he wants. Dont worry though, just go out there and play"

Yet Henry thrived on him. I know people say Henry was in good form anyway or he'd have doen it regardless but Henrys confidence was boosted having Ade with him. Im damn sure Henry wouldnt have scored as many or played as well with Robin along side him. And that upsets me a little cause I want Robin to partner him, they are our 2 best strikers. But in the same way you couldnt have Fab and Rosicky in the midfield together in a 4-4-2 you must pick the best TEAM and not the best players. Henry and Ade work, and they instantly worked. Given a whole preseason and the few months he's already had Ade and Henry will grow to understand each other more. Robin and Theirry just arent on the same wavelength.

We paid 7 million for a lanky git to play the big man role up front. Liverpool did the same. Look at how long it took Crouch to even resemble a good footbnaller for Pool. And I believe Ade is already better than Crouch for Pool. And Crouch played in England all his life. Ade is also younger. Give him 3 years and I believe he'll be as good as Drogba(unpopular I know but if you dont realise how effective Drogba is you needn't reply as you dont understnad the game).

Right now Ade has 3 qualities that make him perfect for us.

1. He's quick. He can run into space liek all our forwards must, he can break quickly with the rest of the team and he can usually beat his man in a race for the ball.

2. His hold up play. Probably his greatest strength and something most of our team either over do or dont do at all. Where Hleb will hang onto it too long or Robin wont wait for play and trys to take on the defense Ade is a natural hold up player. He's good with his back to goal and usually see's the pass for Henry or a mid running into attack. On the other hand he doesnt hold it up if its not the right choice, he has played some lovely one-twos with Henry.

3. He's good in the air. Obvious bonus for any player. Yes, yes I know he missed an easy header against Pompey but he was missing everything that day, I was angry at the time but Ive reflected and every player is allowed a bad day. With Kolo in defense and a lack of a Vieira like midfielder we need another player who can head the ball, especially for set pieces. it may not be our main area of attack but when you have someone whos fouled as often out wide as Reyes is you need guys to stick their heads on the cross from the free.

I really dont think the lads done too much wrong bar the Pompey game. Ok he didnt instantly become the new Henry but then it even took the great Frenchman a while to adjust to life in the premiership.