Sport
ADEBAYOR: OCCASIONALLY UNPLAYABLE, OFTEN UNSELCTABLE
ADEBAYOR: OCCASIONALLY UNPLAYABLE, OFTEN UNSELCTABLE
On Sunday afternoon, Tottenham Hotspur will take on Sunderland at the Stadium of Light with only one out-and-out striker in their matchday squad.
A failure to land Saido Berahino from West Bromwich Albion in the summer window leaves Harry Kane as the only recognised frontman for Mauricio Pochettino to call upon, meaning any injury to the England international could be fatal to Spurs’ aspirations of a top-four finish this campaign.
While new signings Clinton N’Jie and Son Heung-min are capable of playing up top, neither is a natural line-leader, something which could also be said of Kane, whose attributes suggest he would make a better second striker than a traditional No. 9.
Though there are few useable options beyond the 22-year-old, it is interesting to note that one of the Premier League’s most talented strikers is still on the books at Tottenham. Emmanuel Adebayor, a player who has 96 goals to his name for Arsenal, Manchester City and Spurs in the English top flight and netted five in 14 La Liga appearances during a short-term loan spell at Real Madrid in 2011, has been exiled from the group, left out of the north Londoners’ 25-man squad for the season and banished to the reserves.
In football terms, it is a tragedy that such a naturally gifted player has wasted so much of his potential. On his day, Adebayor is as good as almost any centre-forward in England, combining physical attributes with superb technical proficiency. Indeed, the Togo international is a fine all-round striker, strong in the air, quick across the ground and able to contribute in the build-up play by linking well with team-mates.
The problem for Adebayor is that his day does not come around often enough. His entire nine-year career in England to date has been characterised by wild inconsistency: at times the former Monaco man is unplayable, on other occasions he is simply unselectable. A poor attitude, lack of work ethic and absence of appetite have been levelled at him ever since his early days at Arsenal, and the latest episode involving him will not have come as a surprise to anyone who has followed the Premier League in the past decade.
Reports suggest that Adebayor priced himself out of a move to West Ham United on deadline day by turning down a £5 million pay-off from Tottenham that would have left him free to join the Hammers. Spurs, desperate to get his £100,000-a-week earnings off the wage bill, were purportedly prepared to offer Adebayor some sort of severance package, but the striker decided against it, in turn rejecting the chance to play regular football elsewhere.
Pochettino’s decision to exclude Adebayor from his 25-man squad says everything about the Argentine’s opinion of the 31-year-old. Tim Sherwood, Pochettino’s predecessor in the White Hart Lane dugout, seemed to get the best out of him for a period in the 2013/14 campaign, but Adebayor opted out of a reunion with Sherwood at Aston Villa after the Midlanders told him he would not be allowed to commute to training from London on a daily basis.
All of which means Adebayor remains a Tottenham player, even though he is extremely unlikely to represent the club this season. Spurs’ lack of depth in the forward areas is a concern, but it is telling that, even with such a shortage of options, Pochettino is prepared to leave out one of the division’s most talented strikers completely.
