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Emmanuel Adebayor is hogging the headlines after the game against his former club Arsenal but for all the wrong reasons, the 4-2 scoreline in favour of City is but a minor detail it would seem.
The spotlight was always going to be on the big Togolese striker in his first match against his old club after a £25 million transfer to Manchester City.
Tensions were running high and the Arsenal manager will be privately seething after Adebayor’s reckless display went more-or-less unpunished.
First there was the very late, very intentional tackle on Cesc Fabregas, early in the match. Referee Mark Clattenburg thought he’d try and defuse the situation with a word in his ear, it seemed to work, for five minutes at least but for the rest of the afternoon, Adebayor let his emotions control him.
While he had another poor, mistimed tackle late in the game on Sagna, the real talking point came in the 70th minute.
As Arsenal striker Robin Van Persie slid in to pass the ball off the deck in the middle of the park, Adebayor appeared to try and block the ball. Play continued for around 30 seconds as the Dutchman lay motionless at the scene of the crime.
As television replays revealed why RVP hadn’t gotten to his feet, the commentators in their neutral capacity, speculated that only Adebayor “knew what his intention was”, but it was clear for all to see.
With his leg already extended for the block, he shifted his weight and put in an extra extension to rake his book at Van Persie’s head and he managed to catch him beside the eye.
Adebayor can count himself lucky that it wasn’t seen by the officials as it was a red card offense and RVP has already stated he feels lucky to still have 20/20 vision with the contact being so close to his eye.
Van Persie left the field for treatment and didn’t retaliate, nor did his teammates, instead he released a statement post match condemning Adebayor’s action.
It was only when Adebayor scored and ran the length of the field to celebrate in front of the Arsenal supporters that he finally received a booking.
Mark Hughes defended his striker saying “he wanted to share the moment with the fans in the corner with whom he has a special affinity. It is the same area that the Arsenal fans were in so there is the potential for people to see it as the wrong thing to do.”
Rubbish, he had no interest in the Man City fans as he was looking directly at the Arsenal block the entire time.
For all the talent the 6’3 Togolese striker possesses; a deft touch for such a big man, pace and power and a fantastic shot, it’s the mental side of football where he continues to have his problems.
Firstly blaming Arsenal fans for his lack of form last term is a good indicator of his weak personality. The fans have nothing to do with a player not having a good season, maybe, and that is a big maybe, one bad match, but Adebayor looked a shadow of his former self for the entirety of the last campaign.
Then there was his ongoing squabble with Niklas Bendtner which boiled over in a cup match against Tottenham in 2008. Adebayor lost his cool and Bendtner had to receive treatment to a cut on his forehead and let’s not forget, they were not only teammates but strike partners.
No-one said they had to be friends but they are professional footballers, personal differences aside they needed to perform together.
Adebayor took a shot at Bendtner again this week, obviously upset that the Dane was afforded more luxury being bought through Arsenal’s academy, only he doesn’t seem to realise that he should move on and focus on his game rather than his former teammate’s academy careers.
Van Persie’s statement will undoubtedly trouble the Togolese hitman, that was his intention after all, knowing how frail minded he is it was a clever piece of mental warfare, only Adebayor may have a bigger problem if the officials reviewing the match decide to retrospectively punish him for his actions.
Mark Hughes obviously knows how to unleash the mean streak in a player, its time though that he got Adebayor to grow up and concentrate on using his immense talent rather than constantly bickering, everyone is tired of it.
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