I personally think he is our most important player, in spite of his poor finishing. More important than Parker, King, Bale, Lennon and to an extent Modric.
He isn't as good as some of those players, but he is so important to the way we play. To implement the passing game that suits our team, we need a striker who can hold up the ball, pass, dribble and can most importantly create holes for himself and others with their movement. These things, in my opinion, come before finishing.
Comparing this season to last, our great strength this year has been breaking teams down, crushing them into submission at some point over the 90 minutes. Our tepid attack of last term could not do this at all. We picked up about 5 out of 18 possible points against the bottom 3 last year. Despite playing well in games such as Blackpool away, we also were poor against teams like West Ham. We've scored for 20 games on the bounce this year.
Obviously Bale, Lennon and Van Der Vaart have been brilliant for us in this respect compared to last year, but I think that is mostly down to Adebayor. Parker and Sandro have provided a more effective means of winning back the ball, along with Kaboul's dominance in the air, but I think it is in the final third where the most difference has been made this year. Adebayor is almost the perfect striker, and despite looking like an increasingly awful finisher, the package of other ridiculous attributes he has have allowed Lennon and Bale to have freer roles, with Bale especially proving his worth through the middle while Lennon has looked devastating on the left wing. As the 'number 9', Ade is the reference point for all of this movement, it happens around him and because of him. He takes up opposing centre-backs and drags them out of possession, he changes the passing angles from our midfield that the opposing defensive midfielders have to block, he causes confusion as to who is picking him up - he often finds himself at central midfield or on either wing. All of this creates holes in more central areas which Bale, Lennon and VDV can all attack (as well as Defoe when he's playing), along with occasional bursts from Modric and Parker.
Last season, we had no such holes opening up, Crouch was a good target man, and as Harry said the other day, if you have him in the team you have to play to his strengths, hit him early with long balls and crosses. He isn't the sort of man to open up space for the more technical players in the final third, and that is exactly what we need with our personnel. The same can be said of Defoe and Pav. While Defoe is an excellent goalscorer and Pav a decent one, they are primarily concerned with playing in and around the box, and their movement is far less intelligent than Adebayor's. As a result, we look far less potent in attack if Adebayor isn't playing.
I also don't agree that Ade spends too little time in the box. People moan about his finishing and then expect him to take up more positions in the box? That isn't his game, and as evidenced by the hatful on chances he seems to miss and get slated for every week, he is still taking up his fair share of goalscoring positions. He is a player who gives others the space to finish, which is what we need because even though that part of his game is poor, Bale and VDV are pretty clinical (poor today though), along with Defoe and Lennon, who looks increasingly deadly also. We are 3rd for a reason, our attack has struck a very nice balance.
Who exactly could we get that is better than him? Who would give us what I've outlined above? Not many I reckon, although I certainly agree that we need to be in the market for a young player with similar qualities to Adebayor, but who is preferably a better finisher. I don't reckon they would be as good as Ade yet though.
