Adebayor is the example we need when we do not have the ball. He is the first line of defence. How many strikers in world football works like he can? How many strikers have his combination of power, pace and ariel ability?

UPDATE: Nasri has picked up a bloody injury! A thigh injury and they do not know how long he will be out for. Just great!

Frustrating isn’t the word. Why does it feel like whatever talented player joins Arsenal in the last few years, they end up on the treatment table. I hope this isn’t a problem for Nasri.

Emmanuel Adebayor has finally put pen to paper and has now extended his contract and is now tied down until 2012, so lets just hope that a majority of fans, love him or hate him can put this whole sage behind us. Adebayor has had an inconsistent pre season so far. He was dire against Stuttgart in his first pre season match then produced a wonderful display alongside Van Persie against Real Madrid. He started slowly against Ajax but came back with two goals in the second half to guide Arsenal to victory in the Amsterdam Tournament.

Against West Brom nothing went right for him from the start and it didn’t get any better for him. Adebayor can be one of the most frustrating players in world football. He can play a 5 yard pass behind his player or he can flick the ball around the opposition and drill it in from 25 yards out. He can do both things during one game so you do not know what to expect from him.

I have had a few comments on this site from fans who do not like him stating that they would rather Huntelaar, Villa, Santa Cruz etc etc but it is not as simple as that. Those strikers above are all different. It is not just about converting chances, or skill or price tags it is about partnerships. The question you ask is ‘how does this player fit into our team?’

Adebayor is the example we need when we do not have the ball. He is the first line of defence. How many strikers in world football works like he can? How many strikers have his combination of power, pace and aerial ability?

Adebayor has gained Arsenal points over the course of the previous seasons through work rate, running the channels and holding the ball up.

Replace Adebayor for Villa for just a moment, how would he be able to keep the ball upfront on his own when his strike partner is 20 yards away? Villa is the player you want playing off Adebayor not instead of.

I do feel like I am going over old ground so I will stop because I could probably go on for ages but make no mistake about it, Adebayor is key to the functionality of this team.

The media are giving their own interpretation of his wage packet, estimated to be from £60,000 to £100,000 per week and I guess we will not know the exact amount.

Arsene Wenger wants the fans to get off this back and help the team to success this season.

He said: “We have to get behind him and support him because he is a tremendous force and (is of) tremendous importance for the team – you want your own fans to be behind him.

“What happened in the transfer period did not always reflect his deep desire and there was manipulation from agents on both sides, but overall I am positive he will recover.”

Wenger added: “Every player needs to feel wanted.

“I think he is settled in his own mind. He has given a lot in the first two games.”

That is fair enough I suppose. I think Adebayor seems like the type of person who needs to have the belief of the fans.

Tomas Rosicky has been speaking about THAT terrible match at Birmingham.

Rosicky said: “I remember the Birmingham game and what happened to Eduardo. The lads were winning 2-1 but then in the last minute Gael gave away a really stupid penalty.

“At the same time, he played brilliantly all season. He improved immensely and turned into a great defender as a result. But he messed up that day.

He didn’t actually give away a penalty, the referee gave an incorrect decision. It would be interesting to know where the season would have ended up like had the referee gave the correct decision and we won the game 2-1. It is neither here nor there now, and I have to stop talking about last season but it is obviously still a vivid memory to most Gooners.

“We were leading and we even had another huge chance to score. I think it was Bendtner and Adebayor who were bearing down on goal, but Adebayor shot instead of passing and missed.

“There were an awful lot of other similarly negative things happening. Everything began with Eduardo’s injury. Then came Gael’s error and that thing with William.

I do not know if this interview is recent or rehashed but it shouldn’t be spoken about anymore, it is old news. It is time to move on and learn from our mistakes, collectively and individually.

Like many people, Rosicky has had a few thoughts on Theo Walcott.

“On the wings, we have myself, Nasri and Walcott. We can play anywhere, plus Walcott can easily play in attack even though Van Persie and Adebayor are the obvious choices if they’re fit.

“Walcott is terribly unpredictable with his speed. Occasionally he lacks a little calmness but people always forget he’s only 19.

“When he plays well, they say he’s like Maradona. Then he has two bad games and they write he’s not improving at all and that he is stagnating. The truth is somewhere in between.”

Theo basically has until Rosicky is match fit to prove that he can be kept in the starting eleven. I think he will gain his form back by then but having someone like Rosicky breathing down his neck can only be a good thing for Theo and the team. It will be interesting to see who plays left or right when/if Rosicky and Nasri are in the starting eleven together. I personally think Nasri looks a little more flexible and would do a better job on the right, although I think that both players would be more impressive coming from the left.

Moving away from Arsenal, someone in the comments yesterday mentioned that I didn’t say anything about the Tottenham game. In all truth, I got so wrapped up in Arsenal that I forgot to laugh at our neighbours. It may be a few days later but it is never too late to have a chuckle at those lot down the road who every close season have built a side ready to take over from us.

I watched Match of the day and was shocked to see them line up with a central midfield pairing of Modric and Jenas. That is more lightweight than Ramsey and Denilson. Then Bentley on the left just goes against his strong points. Quite funny really.

Have a good day. Drop your view in the comments.

Until tomorrow.

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