But for all his failings, Redknapp isn’t afraid to take a gamble and back his own judgement. Few managers would have gone near Paolo Di Canio when Redknapp did and even at Portsmouth, he resurrected the careers of Glen Johnson, Defoe and Crouch by instilling the players with the belief and bravado necessary to coax out whats locked inside. Once again with Adebayor such demonstrations of faith are reaping rich reward.
His two goals against Aston Villa on Monday night shifted Spurs up to third in the table and even though talk of a title charge is premature, both player, manager and club are in a happy place. Spurs have the striker they crave and Adebayor is once again enjoying his football – and it tells.
Operating as the lone frontman in Spurs’ 4-4-1-1 Adebayor offers so much more than any one of last seasons striking quartet. He has the pace and mobility that Crouch lacked, the aerial presence and strength that Defoe was missing, the clinical goalscoring that was absent from Keane’s game and overall he’s a better version of Pavlyuchenko. Adebayor also occupies whole back four which none of his predecessors was particularly good at thus creating space in other areas of the pitch for the rest to flourish.
Seeing Adebayor operate against Villa also makes you recognise how hard he works, his long legs eating up the ground to hassle and harry full-backs and deep lying midfielders, but this work rate only comes about because he wants to. When Adebayor is motivated and playing well he is a real asset to any side, the dexterity of his forward movements means he’s a handful for defences and his energetic approach sees him expand a lot of good energy for a communal cause.
However, when things aren’t going well then Adebayor can quickly become a liability, and Redknapp’s biggest task with Adebayor was not getting him to play well, but rather maintaining his interest and application over the rigours of a whole campaign.
Should the remainder of the season stay on a firm footing between player and club, theoretically there is no reason why Adebayor couldn’t resettle in north London in front of an appreciative crowd and manager. His time at Manchester City is all over bar the shouting, but there are a few caveats Spurs must consider before opting to make Adebayor’s switch a permanent one.
For a start, the bean counters at City still mulling over £195m losses will have noticed his form for a team that want and need him, so may decide to add on a couple of million for good measure, and then there’s the financial aspects of luring Adebayor too.
Tottenham’s buckling to Luka Modric’s wage demands means they are now susceptible to agents demanding top-dollar for their clients, and although Spurs have no chance of matching his pay at Eastlands, Adebayor’s men wouldn’t settle for anything less than parity with Spurs top earners.
Regardless of what he brings to the party and how well he is doing at present, there is a huge difference in signing Adebayor on the cheap at reasonable wages and paying an inflated fee on £100,000 a week. Given his history and the fact he never settles anywhere for long and largely chases the cash, an Adebayor permanent move to Spurs might not be a match made in heaven, but as it is, it’s definately a marriage of convenience.
Follow John Baines on twitter @bainesyDiego10
Written by John Baines for FootballFanCast.com
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