I didn't even notice him on the left, when did that happen?
Against Chelsea on Saturday
I didn't even notice him on the left, when did that happen?
Comparitavely speaking, when Dempsey was on the left he didn't even bother trying to take anyone on. Pienaar Mk II at the moment.
At least Defoe picked up the ball and tried to make things happen.
Comparitavely speaking, when Dempsey was on the left he didn't even bother trying to take anyone on. Pienaar Mk II at the moment.
At least Defoe picked up the ball and tried to make things happen.
from another view, chelsea chose to focus on shutting out dempsey on the left, but allowed defoe to try his luck.
Think about it - (1) shut down a proven goal scoring midfielder; while (2) allowing our top scorer to go out wide to try and play provider.
definitely not brilliant coaching - its textbook stuff.
If we sold him we'd have to pay up the remainder of his contract or reach an agreement with him. History tells us that could be tricky, long winded and cost us a fortune.
from another view, chelsea chose to focus on shutting out dempsey on the left, but allowed defoe to try his luck.
Think about it - (1) shut down a proven goal scoring midfielder; while (2) allowing our top scorer to go out wide to try and play provider.
definitely not brilliant coaching - its textbook stuff.
Defoe wasn't trying to play provider though. Cutting inside and shooting is not playing provider in any way shape or form.
Dempsey was never a wide-left player, thus he kept on coming inside to the traffic. Much better when we switched around second-half...
I used to think that myself but a recent stat showed he started more than 20 games as an AML last season
Was told by a mate of mine who is a footballer and knows a few PL players that apparently there is truth in the Adebayor rumours. He's been playing up in training and been told he won't be sold which has got his back up even more
I think his body language, poor cameos and lack of smile this season all seem to confirm this. I suspect his "injuries" may not be all that they are made out to be either.
His performance at home to Liverpool (and to a lesser extent Saudi Sportswashing Machine) last season were amongst the finest examples of leading a line I have seen in person. He now needs to extract a digit and get down to letting his football do the talking. The player is undoubtedly talented but someone needs to get his head in order.
Was told by a mate of mine who is a footballer and knows a few PL players that apparently there is truth in the Adebayor rumours. He's been playing up in training and been told he won't be sold which has got his back up even more
Any specific examples of this? Would you be saying the same if not for the media reports?
I think he's looked happy when he's come on so far. Pretty much like last season, energy, running, wanting the ball and always a big grin ready.
Considering how poor Adebayor has been for us in 2012, I am not really sure he is in any position to sulk. We had a terrible run of results earlier this year, and a lot of those results we missed out on wins or draws by the narrowist of margins. And during that run of results so many good attacks broke down through Adebayor (not to mention some of the sitters he missed) allowing the opposition to get behind the ball. For a big man his hold up ability is very poor, I'd say even Defoe is better than holding the ball up than Adebayor.
It's strange that Adebayor has started his career off superbly wherever he seems to go but then tails off after a few months. I hope that Villa Boas can shake that out of him and we can have the Adebayor of 2011 back up top for us. We surely do need him.