Adebayor has had a stop start season due to injuries and a new midfield that had been starved of its creativity for periods throughout the season, even with those two facts his goal return wasn’t too shabby

It looks like the Emmanuel Adebayor and Arsenal love affair is about to become history. Manchester City’s cheque writing owners are attempting to create a 2009 version of Roman Abramovich’s Chelsea.

Emmanuel Adebayor is said to be speaking to Manchester City about his personal terms which vary from £130,000 to £170,000 per week depending on which print you read. So after a very successful 2007/2008 season at Arsenal what went wrong for the striker many were calling the new Drogba?

As supporters, we often do not know exactly what is going on behind the scenes with our players and managers. Many rows, arguments and fights happen and get resolved all away from the cameras and the microphone. That is why I enjoy listening to former players talking about how life was in the dressing room.

Because of the private nature of Arsenal football club the supporters and the media get on with guessing, assuming putting digits together and attempting to create the right answer.

The Adebayor and Arsenal saga has been one of those situations where everyone is trying to get towards the truth. Emmanuel Adebayor wanted a better contract at the beginning of last season and he alongside his agent fought tooth and nail for big money. Adebayor is not the first and will not be the last to do this, especially in the crazy world of huge financial investments in the game these days.

Adebayor played hardball with Arsenal and that has grated on many supporters and it is this that is the problem. Speaking in public about how many clubs are interested in his services may not have endeared himself to the Arsenal faithful but I do believe that it was his strategy in gaining a better personal contract. Adebayor’s intentions were to stay with Arsenal first and foremost.

Adebayor continued to publicly commit himself to Arsenal but this was ignored. The media twisted much of what he has said and gave the negative spin that many Arsenal fans swallowed. They have done this to Cesc Fabregas time and time again but the Arsenal golden boy is always given the benefit of the doubt.

Adebayor has been critised for asking for a pay rise but stayed, Flamini is begged to come back by a section of fans after refusing a contract for higher wages elsewhere.

Adebayor’s level of contribution dropping off appears to be the straw that broke the camels back to some fans.

The change in his work rate is often thrown at Adebayor and although I tend to agree in parts. I feel it is unfair to single out Adebayor alone. Many times during last season I was very disappointed with the lack of fight and willingness to chase the man in possession. I can go through many of our players and point the same finger. Fulham away, Hull City home, Sunderland away instantly spring to mind. Crowd favourites such as Cesc, Van Persie in earlier matches, Theo Walcott are players have not always pulled their weight when we need to get the ball back so just blaming Adebayor is not really being honest.

Don’t get me wrong players not working hard enough is one thing I personally wouldn’t tolerate as a manager, you can read my overreaction after the Sunderland game at the stadium of light if you can be bothered to look through the archives. I went completely over the top but complacency shouldn’t happen at our level of football.

Maybe juggling self confidence and complacency is more difficult that we think it is.

The facts are that Adebayor has had a stop start season due to injuries and a new midfield that had been starved of its creativity for periods throughout the season, even with those two facts his goal return wasn’t too shabby.

He has scored 62 goals in 142 games, that is a very decent strike rate but I shall not demonstrate a presentation on stats because this debate could swing a completely different direction.

I am often asked what my take is on Emmanuel Adebayor, and this is my honest view. I grew up on the likes of Ian Wright, Nicolas Anelka and then the great Thierry Henry so that type of striker is my favourite, it is the type of forward that I would have in my team if I was to build a team, with creative passer behind that type of striker then they will score many goals with balls slid down the side and the striker allowed to latch onto the pass and finish. As much as I love that type of forward, they are limited and they limit you tactically. You cannot successfully play Ian Wright or Nicolas Anelka as a lone forward. Thierry Henry is not going to fight the center back, climb higher and direct the ball past the keeper. Nicolas Anelka isn’t going to chase down the central defenders and force them into mistakes. Ian Wright wasn’t going to fight off two defenders, regain control and play the ball out wide.

In the past we have been accused of not having a plan B, another way of scoring when our passing game wasn’t working. In 2007/2008 Adebayor changed that. Many games stand out such as the AC Milan match away in the Champions League he was superb, pace, strength, technique the pulled Milan all over the place and allowed the creative players behind him to work to their strengths. In the day and age when teams flood midfields Arsene likes to combat that by matching up numerically. Adebayor is the only forward we have at the club who has successfully proved that he can play that role.

I love Eduardo Da Silva, I love his ice cool finishing and his calmness in the box, a calmness that Adebayor will never get in my opinion. I often wonder about how many goals Eduardo would score if he played 38 Premier League games. As we know football is not just about goal scoring, it is about team play, team work and gelling as a team. It is about balance and tactics.

When we are finding it hard to get into a game and create chances away from home at Chelsea, I cannot imagine Eduardo stretching the opposition. I cannot see him striking fear into Rio Ferdinand at Old Trafford unless the ball pops up at his feet in the penalty area.

People often suggest that Nicklas Bendtner will replace Adebayor after the Dane has shown big improvements on the pitch with his attitude and I will argue that although physically they could be classed as similar front players, in style they are completely different.

Bendtner wants the ball to feet, he wants to drop off and play someone through as apposed to running onto a through pass. Like Eduardo, Bendtner is not fast enough to play that role.

Van Persie is everything as a forward apart from pace. In my opinion pace as a striker is vital. You cannot play two strikers who will not run the channels who cannot get into a floated pass over the top from Cesc Fabregas, who will not pull on the shoulder of the last defender waiting for Arshavin to slide a pass through. Adebayor is the only forward with experience who can do this.

Perhaps in future Carlos Vela and Theo Walcott will provide that outlet but at the moment Adebayor is the only available forward who can play in this role.

His offsides frustrate you like crazy, sometimes his first touch when the ball is played up to him makes you scratch your head, Adebayor hitting the goalkeeper when he should place it into the corner makes you bang your fist against your lap but his positives when focused and happy bring so much to the team. He pulls defenders around like no other we have in our squad, he wins headers, he holds the ball up, he runs channels, he chases defenders and more importantly he scores goals.

I am not convinced that he is only leaving Arsenal for money, I think if the vibes about him was the same as the season before then Adebayor would still be an Arsenal player and would be preparin
g himself for the upcoming pre season games. With players such as Rosicky, Arshavin, Walcott, Cesc and Nasri behind him he could have had an even better season than 2007/2008 but it looks like it is not to be. If it was only about the money he would have been playing for another club at the start of last season. I personally would not be working in a company where you are abused and not appreciated.

We will have to readjust the way we play from now on because Adebayor was not just a squad player he was a first teamer, this could be a good change long term but like myself I am sure many do not want more transition, in a season that is likely to be very important for the future of some of our more popular first team players.

One thing is for certain is that Adebayor is by no means bigger than the club and if he wants to leave Arsenal for whatever reason then he should go and we will continue on our path towards domination.

I am not asking for our fans to love him or that we will not stand a chance without him, all I am suggesting is that a) Adebayor has been unfairly treated and b) Tactically we could be losing a key figure in our squad.

There are many players I like more over Adebayor. Eduardo and Van Persie being two in the same position but you cannot simply declare that he is a waste of space and of no value to our current squad because I believe that is wrong.

Chamakh seems to be the replacement that has been shouted the loudest so far and we would have to wait for him to get up to speed with the English game. If Adebayor does leave then hopefully the boss can reinvest in other areas of the team to help us in our quest for silverware.

Emmanuel Adebayor

If he is to leave I just hope he can score goals against our rivals and have off days against us but I have the feeling that he will have something to prove when he faces us.

Should he leave I will remember the positives, the solo front display at Old Trafford when we won 1-0 thanks to a proded finish from the big man. His commanding display at the San Siro, his flick and volley against the Tottenham at White Hart Lane, his amazing leap against Aston Villa at Villa Park and his acrobatic finish against Villarreal. Good luck for 36 Premier League games next season.

PLEASE NOTE: I expect many to disagree with my views, but they are only my views. Please be respectful when commenting. Thank you