Wednesday 15 August 2012

Adebayor must reset the priorities

Take your mind back,  three summers ago....... yes, where were you ? and more specifically can you recall who made this statement :

" I was born to play football, and that is what i want to do.
   I have come here to make  history for this Club and
   those supporters ".........

That was Emmanuel Adebayor after he had just signed for Manchester City exactly three years ago. He obviously was caught-up in the euphoria and vanity some contemporary footballers find themselves when events are going their way.  Just like they kiss the Club badge after they have scored a goal ; at that moment, it seems like a  scene from a romantic movie. Adebayor goes on to allude to a mutual convergence of ideas with Manchester City's owners about winning things. Well, all of what Man City have won so far, they have done to the exclusion of their £25 Million Togo International. After Mark Hughes got sacked by Man City's owners, Adebayor became superfluous to new Manager Roberto Mancini, and after a few altercations between the pair, the Manager wielded his powers and banished him. As a friend would say : " just to remind him who is in charge ".
Adebayor's transfer to Manchester City from Arsenal  is the product of slanted demand and supply economics that is afflicting certain sectors of the game. As good as he is, he was never worth that transfer valuation, and the concomitant remuneration of £175,000 a week. Yes, of course, not his making, but with his present predicament, if he sees it that way, the facts are well worth pointing.

TEMPERAMENT : You see, with this whole saga, in my opinion, Adebayor has suffered significant reputational damage, and might not realize he is tempting fate with his career as well. Arsenal Manager Arsene Wenger had spoken of Adebayor's "resentful " attitude at not being able to secure a move in his last season at Arsenal. The Arsenal Boss was measured, and prevaricating when talking about Adebayor's last season with him, but the conclusion was easy to draw even a million miles away. Once AC Millan publicly flirted with the idea of signing him from Arsenal in the summer of 2008, Adebayor got absorbed in conceit. He scored a goal in  Manchester City's home clash against Arsenal in the september 2009, and performed that ill-advised, and provocative knee-slide as a taunt to Arsenal supporters. Preceding his time in England, he had issues at Monaco in France. Just before his move to Arsenal in january 2006, he went  AWOL, prompting Jean Luc Ettori to declare he would be "severely punished". Suffice to say, he had given monaco officials so much headache, they were delighted to see him on the channel heading for England. I have read a lot of Adebayor 's comments in his six years in England, and you just get that feeling he is a double-edged sword.  A Rebel for the wrong cause, and choleric.  On the other hand, it's symptomatic of an understated desire  to be loved and be regarded.

CAREER : I believe it's fair to say, after spells with Metz and Monaco in France, he made a wise career move leaving for England in 2006. West Ham were seriously Interested, but obviously Arsenal was an easy choice once they became interested. He was a  broadly  raw 22 year old at the time,  an apposite protege and foil for Thierry Henry. Adebayor, then was tactically naive, and erratic with his finishing in front of goal. When Henry departed for Barcelona in 2007, Arsene Wenger chose Adebayor to lead Arsenal's attack, and the big Man truly delivered. He was in scintillating form that season ( 2007/2008) taking his game to a whole new level in all aspects, and his 30 strikes in 48 games did not flatter him. He was one of the best strikers in the premier league that season. That should have been the defining point of his career, a bounce to take him in a new direction. He was at the right Club, with the perfect manager who had the track record of burnishing young talent,  and he supposedly had just made a statement of intent with a bag full of goals. AC Millan's approach in hindsight, turned out to be the antithesis for Adebayor and his Manager Arsene Wenger.  The six feet three striker has not  gotten his bearings right from then on. He blatantly angled for that move to Milan, and even though Arsenal practically trebled his wages to  assuage him,  he remained restive in the 2008/ 09 season, griped by the fever of a potential move away from the Emirates. It boiled down to the need to better his wages, which is reasonable, but Adebayor did not juxtapose wages and career decisions. In effect, such anachronism has arguably dented his image. He has been repeatedly asked to lower his wage demands to facilitate a move out of the Etihad, but has not budged. His calculations can be implied as taking an obdurate stance against conventional wisdom.  Brave Man.

THE MANICINI FACTOR : While Adebayor's wage- demand recalcitrance has been an impediment to his exit from Manchester City, Mancini's refusal to rehabilitate, and embellish his employers £25 Million asset has not exactly been helpful. He is nonchalant in rendering it into a liability. Sad. The Manchester City Boss implied a few days ago Adebayor had no chance of playing for him. I know City need to clear-up some of the clutter to make way for fresh faces, but it is arguable in my opinion that Adebayor is actually better, or at least as good as Edin Dzeko. And, if Carlos Tevez could get a reprieve after all the  hullabaloo he caused them last season, then surely Adebayor should be considered hard done.

PRIORITY : Emmanuel Adebayor ought to get his priorities right and leave town. We are are talking about a player as talented as Didier Drogba and Samuel Eto. Players who have gone on to the pinnacle of  European Club Football. He must ask himself why his career has come unglued at his present location, and if it hurts.... if he has a modicum of professional pride, he should be scampering out of the Etihad to resurrect and reconstruct his career. He was on loan at Spurs last season, and overall his play is even better than ever, especially on the tactical side; to add to that, his 18 goals in 37 games is enviable. Bar Drogba and Eto, there is hardly any other African striker with his name recognition and pedigree. In other words, with the aforementioned pair in the twilight of their careers, Adebayor should be the African continent's foremost marksman.  These are much more noble quests to pursue - A career, history, a legacy,  a reputation, and the opportunity at salvaging some self respect, which beckons...... It's about time Adebayor weighed the circumstances and his options rationally.  He needs to land on both feet. Those quotes of his when he joined Manchester City should be a self-fulfilling prophesy, and not the kiss of death for his career.

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