Earlier this week, Crystal Palace boss Alan Pardew added some much-needed experience to his attacking contingent by snapping up Emmanuel Adebayor on a short-term deal until the end of the season.
Discussing his move with the club’s official website, the 31-year-old admitted he’s had a frustrating time since being released by Spurs last September but reckons that Palace’s style of play will be tailor-made for his talents:
“I was born playing football in Africa so it was hard not playing. I just have to get out there and enjoy myself again. Anyone will tell you that when I’ve had momentum I’ve always been laughing, so let me laugh and bring that into the dressing room and hopefully the team will follow and we will get on well together. Palace have been playing the football that I like and they’ve got a few players that are my friends so all of those made me want to come here. I don’t know much about the club but it’s better to learn so I’ll be going on Google and finding out more about them. I look forward to going to training ground as I know a few players like Zaha, Bolasie and Puncheon so I’ll go there and figure out how the team is playing and adapt myself to it, but I have been around the block so that shouldn’t be hard to do.”
The History
The six-foot-three frontman was spotted playing youth football by French outfit Metz in his native Togo and was subsequently acquired back in 1999. Over the course of two seasons, Adebayor bagged 15 goals in 44 appearances for his new club before making his way to Monaco in the summer of 2003.
Adebayor was moderately successful during his three-year stint with the Ligue 1 side, producing 18 goals and one assist in 78 league matches, before Arsene Wenger came calling in January 2006.
After bagging 12 goals and ten assists in his first season-and-a-half at the Emirates, Adebayor rose to prominence as a major Fantasy asset by racking up 24 goals and four assists in 36 appearances back in 2007/08. The following campaign was somewhat curtailed by injury, restricting the frontman to 10 goals and seven assists for the Gunners before making his way to Man City in the summer of 2009.
Adebayor wasted no time in settling in at the Etihad, with 14 goals and five assists in 26 league outings. Again, injury halted his progress, producing just one goal from eight appearances, whilst a short loan stint at the Bernabeu saw him score five times in 14 matches for Real Madrid.
A season-long loan move to Spurs saw the target man return to form with a bang in 2011/12. Adebayor delivered an eye-catching 17 goals and 12 assists, earning himself a permanent move to White Hart Lane the following season. Unable to replicate his stunning form, Adebayor managed just five goals and two assists in 2012/13 and fell out of favour under Andre Villas-Boas. The Portuguese manager’s dismissal during the following season allowed him a first-team reprieve, though, and with Tim Sherwood at the helm, he ended the campaign with 11 goals and five assists in 21 league outings. After bagging two goals and as many assists last season, the Togo international found pitch time hard to come by and was released from his contract just one month into the current campaign.
On the international stage, Adebayor has bagged a goal every other game for Togo, finding the net 28 times in his 56 appearances.
The Prospects
Adebayor’s arrival comes at the perfect time for Palace, offering Pardew’s charges a welcome boost in the final third. Incredibly, their current batch of strikers have notched an abysmal one goal between them all season, with the club’s top scorer, Yohan Cabaye, netting three of his five strikes via the penalty spot.
Indeed, Palace have scored just once in the last six Gameweeks, with frontmen such as Connor Wickham, Dwight Gayle, Fraizer Campbell and Marouane Chamakh all hampered by a combination of injuries and lack of form. Whilst there will be doubts over Adebayor’s match sharpness as a result of his inactivity, there’s no question that the new boy boasts a Premier League scoring record that is simply unparalleled when compared to his rivals for the lone striker role in Pardew’s preferred 4-2-3-1 set-up.
Having defeated the likes of Chelsea, Liverpool and Stoke on their travels, Palace have proven capable of holding their own under Pardew this year. Adebayor’s height and experience could be the ideal solution in their search for a target-man type and the likes of Wilfried Zaha, Cabaye, Jason Puncheon and Yannick Bolasie (when fit) could all benefit from having the Togo international lead the line.
Arguably, Pardew’s man-management skills could be key here – as evidenced by his showings under Sherwood, Adebayor is clearly still capable if he has the right guidance and is playing with a smile on his face. Indeed, there’d be no real surprise if he was handed penalties by Pardew in order to boost his confidence further.
Priced at just 5.8 in Fantasy Premier League (FPL), it remains to be seen whether how quickly he’ll get up to scratch but Adebayor’s top-flight know-how looks a vital weapon for the Eagles as they look to arrest a run of form that’s brought just two points in the last five rounds of fixtures.
Reports in the local press reveal that Adebayor is now set to undergo an intensive fitness regime over the next week or so in order to get up to scratch. The striker is certainly hopeful he will soon be in consideration for a return to to-flight action:
“Fitness on the pitch will be a little bit hard in the first week coming back to a professional environment, but apart from that I have been working out. That’s why if you ask people at Arsenal, Manchester City and Tottenham, they will all say I have always done that, and that’s why I have managed to do what I have done so far in my career. I have been playing in Africa – don’t get me wrong, it’s not the same level, but the way I played out there was as if I was playing in the Premier League. Maybe next Tuesday and the following Saturday, we will all know where I am. I have kept myself fit so I don’t think it will be a problem playing here. I just want to get out there again, enjoy myself and play my football.”
Discussing the new boy’s fitness in his weekly press conference, Pardew conceded that Adebayor won’t be in his starting XI to face Stoke in the FA Cup tomorrow, though refused to rule him out altogether:
“Ade will not start on Saturday. Whether he will be involved or not we will have to wait and see, that is a decision I will make with Ade over the next couple of days. Our initial look at him has been good. We are buoyed by that. He looks good in training. He looks fine. He does not look too far away. He is very focused on integrating with the guys quickly and getting up to speed. That is an issue that is going to be difficult to assess. When is he going be up to speed? How do I integrate him to get that level?”
Providing he can prove his fitness, Adebayor’s appeal is heightened by a fine upcoming schedule that is rated second most favourable by our Season Ticker over the next six Gameweeks. With clashes against Bournemouth, Swansea, Watford, West Brom, Sunderland and Liverpool over that period, the Togo international has the chance to immediately hit the ground running in his new surrounds.
