In this week’s insider, we weigh up the pros and cons of introducing into your team the Premier League’s in-form striker, Emmanuel Adebay-score.
It’s amazing how fickle football fans can be at times. Liverpool fans, for example, greeted the recent news that Lucas may miss the rest of the season as disastrous, whereas only a couple of seasons ago, they would have been delighted.
Look at the sheer vitriol that the name Carlos Tevez evokes amongst Manchester United fans, or how our own Giovanni Trapattoni is now hailed as a hero by the same fans that were baying for his blood only months ago.
Perhaps the best example of fan fickleness, however, is the way in which Emmanuel Adebayor is viewed. Once so derided by Spurs fans that they coined a tune with absolutely sickening connotations about his parents, he has been warmly welcomed into White Hart Lane since the start of the season, even more so because his biggest haters now reside on the red side of North London.
A lot of things have contributed to Spurs’ magnificent start to the season – Luka Modric staying, signing Scott Parker, Ledley King staying fit – but Adebayor has arguably been the biggest success story, showing the sort of form that would normally interest Manchester City if they hadn’t already ruthlessly cast him aside.
Seven goals and six assists in ten games is a pretty good return for any forward, but the question regarding Adebayor is whether or not he has the consistency to merit a place in a fantasy team in the long run.
Six of his seven goals have come in three games against Liverpool, Aston Villa and West Brom, games which accounted for more than half of 75-point total to date. Between the Liverpool and Villa games, Adebayor went six games without a goal despite playing over 80 minutes in every single one.
It wasn’t all bad, however, as he filled that void with five assists in six games and when you throw 13 bonus points into the bargain, there have only been two occasions in ten games so far when he has failed to score more than the obligatory two points.
The other thing Adebayor has on his side is his price. At £8.9 million (and rising), he is far away from the £11-13 million bracket populated by Rooney, Aguero and Robin van Persie, and he compares very well with strikers of a similar price range.
For all Luis Suarez’s good displays this season, Adebayor is three goals, four assists and 22 points better off and half a million quid cheaper, while although Edin Dzeko (£8.5 million) has the same amount of points, it is nigh on impossible to predict whether or not he will be in the City starting line-up.
Unless he gets injured, that’s not an issue with Adebayor as he is very much the number one at the Lane at the moment. You’d imagine that Spurs’ good run can’t go on forever, but as long as it does, Adebayor is your man.
Now if we could just get himself and Gareth Bale to stop that awful, awful dance routine celebration.
JOE’s Fantasy Football Picks:
Top Dollar: Robin van Persie (£13.1 million). Didn’t score against Fulham last weekend, but don’t let that put you off. Wigan provide the opposition for the Gunners this weekend and Van Persie will be smelling blood from a mile off.
Mid-Range: Emmanuel Adebayor (£8.9 million). Having lavished him with such high praise above, it would be remiss of us not to give Ade another mention. With four goals and 27 points in his last two games, he’s flying and has Bolton at home on Saturday. ‘Nuff said.
Bargain Basement: Heidar Helguson (£5.2 million). If you’ve a combination of the likes of Van Persie and Aguero up front, a striker on the cheap side comes in handy and Helguson isn’t a bad man to fill the vacancy. Five goals all season, including three in his last three; he’s a decent shout to hit the net at home to West Brom at the weekend.
Irish Pick: Seamus Coleman (£7.0 million). Coleman’s form so far this campaign has been a far cry from last season, but he is showing signs of improvement every week and could go well against a Stoke side notorious for poor performances immediately after playing in the Europa League.
Captain’s Pick: Sergio Aguero (£11.3 million). Probably not hitting the highs of earlier in the season, but he’s still impossible to ignore and keeps on banging them in. The Norwich defence haven’t kept a clean sheet all season and we don’t imagine they will at the Etihad this weekend.
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