I’d like to start this morning with a bit about Adebayor. Since the goals have dried up he’s been getting a bit of stick around the blogs and message boards.
I don’t know how many times I’ve read ‘Oh, he thinks he’s Thierry Henry now’ or ‘He’s started believing his own press and isn’t trying’. Frankly I’d call that lazy thinking, at best. Or not thinking at all. Or complete and utter bollocks. Take your pick. Now, regular readers will know that Ade did not impress me at first but this season he has improved considerably. He’s worked harder, played better, scored more goals. So far this season he’s scored 23 goals, nearly double the 12 he scored last season.
In terms of appearance he’s made 39 so far this term. Only Bacary Sagna with 40 tops that. For quite a number of those appearances he has been a lone striker and we know how much work that entails. From Dec 1st – Feb 11th he scored 14 goals in 14 games. Since then just the one, against Milan.
Now, I have no real objection if somebody wants to criticise his form. I think it’s a bit shoddy considering the contribution he’s made this season but there you go. People complain when I criticise Eboue after all he’s done for us this season so you can’t please all of the people all of the time etc etc. However, what does give me a pain in my hoop is people saying “He thinks this…” or “He believes that..”. How the fuck do they know what he thinks or believes? Do they really think a guy who constantly talks about how much he has to work, how much he wants to improve, would suddenly consider himself the finished article after a good spell? Is he that arrogant? Is he now so cocky that all the things he said beforehand can now be dismissed? Of course not.
The team is not playing well, Adebayor isn’t hitting the heights he did earlier in the season, but then he wouldn’t be the only one. To qualify this I’m not for a moment trying to suggest he’s by any means the perfect striker. I think he can improve, even he thinks he can improve (he said it, it’s not just something I believe he thinks), but we have to remember he’s just gone 24 years of age. At the same age age Didier Drogba was securing a move from Le Mans (after a whopping 12 goals in 63 appearances) to the mighty Guingamp.
So instead of vehemently insisting they know what he thinks, like sheep repeating so-called facts because they’ve read it enough times in enough places, perhaps it’d be better to step back and appreciate what he’s done for us this season. He’s led the line, scored vital goals and while sadly, unfortunately, he’s not scoring goals at the moment this may have as much to do with the midfield not giving him the same service as they were as it does with his own loss of form.
I don’t think he thinks he’s Thierry Henry. I don’t think he thinks he’s the world’s greatest striker because he had a hot streak. I think he’s been a big player for us this season and I think he deserves a bit better than some of the crap I’ve been reading. That is all.
There’s really not much going on this morning. We had players on international duty last night. Cesc, Bendtner, Gallas, Jens, Robin, Hleb, Senderos and possibly Toure and Eboue all played. There are no reports of any injuries yet so keep your fingers crossed that remains the case. The Mugsmashers will be sweating it after seeing Fernando Torres limp out of Spain’s game against Italy. Arsenal fans will be hoping he’s got some kind of minor tweak which keeps him out for a couple of weeks or so. What? It’s not like we’re wishing him some great malaise like you would with John Terry.
Speaking of injuries I’m a little worried that we haven’t heard anything about Bacary Sagna’s ankle. It looked a painful one on Sunday but we haven’t been told how bad it is or how long he’s going to be out for. That’s a worry. He would be a big, big loss considering the games we’ve got coming up.
And that’s really about it. Tune in tomorrow for the Arsecast which will feature the Mugsmasher as we ramble about the upcoming games between us.
Till then.
