dont like im.
Benteke - BOOOOOO the puns
- Thread starter mxtravs
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dont like im.
*waits for the "liverpool sign bent...eke" thread* ....
Given the right circumstances anyone can finish in the box. However, we ofte isolate a guy in the box for three defenders to easy take care off, hence they struggle to finish. We need to attack as a unit where pace and movement is combined with technical ability and skills to hold on or release the ball accurate.... Thats how we open a defence. Iam unsure Benteke will help us there....
When you get to my age, even finishing in the box is not a given ...
SUAREZ PLEASE COME BACK !!!!!!! All is forgiven !
So they can have Balotelli plus £12m or Balotelli plus Borini and £3m. Best deal.
Familiarity breeds contempt (or impotent to be precise)
https://www.reddit.com/r/LiverpoolFC/comments/3bjl5z/clearing_up_some_misconceptions_surrounding/
I've been a Villa fan for a long time. Benteke is one of the most exciting players I've ever seen here. Having watched every single minute of his Villa career so far, either in person or on screen, I feel many of the comments on here misrepresent him. I'll keep it short. This will either deter you further or help you see what kind of player he is. It's a little difficult to find video samples that exemplify my case, but I gave it my best shot with the limited amount of Villa footage that exists online.
Let's settle a few things first:
"Benteke does not press": This conclusion is drawn from the fact that Villa, under Lambert, never pressed the opposition in their own half. It wasn't our gameplan. In 12/13, for example, we were a primarily a counter-attacking team in a 4-3-3 formation. We sat back with 8 players and lured the opposition to our box, allowing them to commit players forward and thus leaving their defence isolated with the pacey trio of Benteke, Agbonlahor and Weimann to deal with once we broke. The front 3 were never really expected to press. It's not that Benteke doesn't press, it's that he wasn't supposed to. He's not as ferociously fast or tenacious as Suarez, but he's is not a lazy cunt either. He will press and harry as much as he can, if that's what you ask of him.
"Benteke cannot pass the ball": This assumption must come from his passing completion stats, which are inevitably woeful because he was used as a target man in the 13/14 season by Lambert. I believe, at one point, Guzan to Benteke was the most attempted pass in the league. He invariably wins the aerial duel, but successfully knocking the ball down to a team-mate is far more difficult and could easily skew his stats. In reality, Benteke is a perfectly adequate passer and often makes the kind of incisive forward passes that he himself would benefit from. With better players around him, he would excel.
"Benteke is just a target man": This is an idea again borne out of Lambert's limited tactics. Lambert never used a playmaker or #10. He preferred to bypass the midfield entirely when attacking. Our makeshift wingers - Agbonlahor and Weimann - were industrious and pacey, but not creative. He's a big lanky bastard (I use that term endearingly) and his aerial prowess encourages neutrals to relegate him to the Crouch/Carroll archetype. He is capable of playing that role but, for a big guy, he also shows remarkable close control, ball retention, dribbling skills and in general is pretty good with the ball at his feet.
I have compiled just some of his goals below. Villa clips are hard to come by, so the video quality is shit in some of them. Many of them are rather simple finishes too, but that's what makes him so brilliant. He's clinical.
Headers:
Towering header vs. Sunderland
Headed goal in the Capital One Cup
Brilliantly placed header vs. Tottenham
Another one against Sunderland
Dominating Everton
Decent jump vs. Southampton
Thumper for Belgium
Running at the defence:
Charging at Liverpool
Doing it alone vs. Palace
Scores vs. Malaga and breaks the defender's collarbone in the process
Keeping it simple:
Debut goal vs. Swansea
Decent take vs. Rotherham
Simple finish vs. Bradford
Good positioning and combination with Weimann vs. Reading
As above, against QPR
Poacher's finish vs. Sunderland
Neat take for the hat-trick vs. Sunderland
Perfect placement vs. Chelsea
Slips it under De Gea
Decent finish vs. QPR
He enjoys playing against Sunderland
Good anticipation vs. Everton
Wembley vs. Liverpool
Neat finish for Belgium
A bit further out:
Perfectly placed vs. Liverpool
Belting it home vs. Liverpool
Another against Norwich
Control and finish vs. Blackpool
Moments of magic:
Sublime goal vs. Man Utd
Improvising vs. Norwich
Out of nothing vs. WBA
Exquisite combination with Weimann
Destroying Chris Smalling vs. Man Utd - or here
Under pressure:
Beautifully composed finish against relegation rivals QPR
Scores 3rd goal with a free-kick to drag us back into the match in the dying minutes against QPR
Last minute penalty in one of our most important matches of the season vs. West Brom
I don't know how your club intends on playing this season but Benteke is one of the best forwards available right now. £32.5m sounds extortionate but any Villa fan would tell you he's worth it. I wouldn't bother considering any potential "chemistry" with Origi because this isn't FIFA, after all, but Benteke will thrive with good players around him and he's good enough to lead the charge at the top end of the table. My fellow Villa fans will know what I mean when I say it always feels like something is about to happen when Benteke gets on the ball, because it usually does.
I've been a Villa fan for a long time. Benteke is one of the most exciting players I've ever seen here. Having watched every single minute of his Villa career so far, either in person or on screen, I feel many of the comments on here misrepresent him. I'll keep it short. This will either deter you further or help you see what kind of player he is. It's a little difficult to find video samples that exemplify my case, but I gave it my best shot with the limited amount of Villa footage that exists online.
Let's settle a few things first:
- Benteke has made 101 appearances in 3 seasons, scoring 49 goals. That's a ratio of 0.485, or just about 1 goal every 2 games. That's fucking fantastic for a team as devoid of creativity and guile as Lambert's Villa were. We have no flair players or playmakers.
- Benteke is not injury prone. He sustained a hip flexor injury during the first half of the 13/14 season and an achilles injury from a bad tackle in training just before the World Cup. He struggled to build momentum during that season. Other than that, he has remained injury-free.
- Guzan, Vlaar and Delph certainly played their parts, but Benteke was the driving force behind Villa for 3 straight years. In a team of dross and low quality imports, Benteke elevated us to the status of competitors at least.
- His agent, Eris Kismet, is pulling the strings. He and Benteke forced the move from Genk to Villa in 2012 and tried to force a transfer to Spurs in summer 2013. Ultimately he agreed to stay, got a big pay rise and all was forgiven but Kismet, as agents do, is always looking for the next big move. You guys know what I'm talking about, considering recent events with Sterling.
- Under Lambert, Villa flirted with progressively less exciting playstyles as time went on. At first we were a counter-attacking team. Then we persevered with a rugged long-ball game which limited Benteke. Finally, we settled on a possession-based style with no end product which rendered Benteke useless. Lambert was sacked, Sherwood arrived and Benteke thrived once again.
"Benteke does not press": This conclusion is drawn from the fact that Villa, under Lambert, never pressed the opposition in their own half. It wasn't our gameplan. In 12/13, for example, we were a primarily a counter-attacking team in a 4-3-3 formation. We sat back with 8 players and lured the opposition to our box, allowing them to commit players forward and thus leaving their defence isolated with the pacey trio of Benteke, Agbonlahor and Weimann to deal with once we broke. The front 3 were never really expected to press. It's not that Benteke doesn't press, it's that he wasn't supposed to. He's not as ferociously fast or tenacious as Suarez, but he's is not a lazy cunt either. He will press and harry as much as he can, if that's what you ask of him.
"Benteke cannot pass the ball": This assumption must come from his passing completion stats, which are inevitably woeful because he was used as a target man in the 13/14 season by Lambert. I believe, at one point, Guzan to Benteke was the most attempted pass in the league. He invariably wins the aerial duel, but successfully knocking the ball down to a team-mate is far more difficult and could easily skew his stats. In reality, Benteke is a perfectly adequate passer and often makes the kind of incisive forward passes that he himself would benefit from. With better players around him, he would excel.
"Benteke is just a target man": This is an idea again borne out of Lambert's limited tactics. Lambert never used a playmaker or #10. He preferred to bypass the midfield entirely when attacking. Our makeshift wingers - Agbonlahor and Weimann - were industrious and pacey, but not creative. He's a big lanky bastard (I use that term endearingly) and his aerial prowess encourages neutrals to relegate him to the Crouch/Carroll archetype. He is capable of playing that role but, for a big guy, he also shows remarkable close control, ball retention, dribbling skills and in general is pretty good with the ball at his feet.
I have compiled just some of his goals below. Villa clips are hard to come by, so the video quality is shit in some of them. Many of them are rather simple finishes too, but that's what makes him so brilliant. He's clinical.
Headers:
Towering header vs. Sunderland
Headed goal in the Capital One Cup
Brilliantly placed header vs. Tottenham
Another one against Sunderland
Dominating Everton
Decent jump vs. Southampton
Thumper for Belgium
Running at the defence:
Charging at Liverpool
Doing it alone vs. Palace
Scores vs. Malaga and breaks the defender's collarbone in the process
Keeping it simple:
Debut goal vs. Swansea
Decent take vs. Rotherham
Simple finish vs. Bradford
Good positioning and combination with Weimann vs. Reading
As above, against QPR
Poacher's finish vs. Sunderland
Neat take for the hat-trick vs. Sunderland
Perfect placement vs. Chelsea
Slips it under De Gea
Decent finish vs. QPR
He enjoys playing against Sunderland
Good anticipation vs. Everton
Wembley vs. Liverpool
Neat finish for Belgium
A bit further out:
Perfectly placed vs. Liverpool
Belting it home vs. Liverpool
Another against Norwich
Control and finish vs. Blackpool
Moments of magic:
Sublime goal vs. Man Utd
Improvising vs. Norwich
Out of nothing vs. WBA
Exquisite combination with Weimann
Destroying Chris Smalling vs. Man Utd - or here
Under pressure:
Beautifully composed finish against relegation rivals QPR
Scores 3rd goal with a free-kick to drag us back into the match in the dying minutes against QPR
Last minute penalty in one of our most important matches of the season vs. West Brom
I don't know how your club intends on playing this season but Benteke is one of the best forwards available right now. £32.5m sounds extortionate but any Villa fan would tell you he's worth it. I wouldn't bother considering any potential "chemistry" with Origi because this isn't FIFA, after all, but Benteke will thrive with good players around him and he's good enough to lead the charge at the top end of the table. My fellow Villa fans will know what I mean when I say it always feels like something is about to happen when Benteke gets on the ball, because it usually does.
I read that a couple of days ago, & whilst it's definitely optimistic, part of me was thinking 'Yeah, but he's a Villa fan, they have had even lower expectations than us for decades now'.
Has anyone seen him play much for Belgium... was thinking that might be a bit more representative of how he would look playing for us, assuming our playing style is more similar to that of Belgium than Aston Villa.
Regardless, if we're going to sign him I'd rather just get it sorted as soon as possible and get on with it... I don't have all that much confidence that he's right for us (of course I don't think Rodgers is right for us at this point either and we're stuck with him), but getting him in as soon as possible can only help him settle in to the way in which we want to play... whatever the fuck that is.
Regardless, if we're going to sign him I'd rather just get it sorted as soon as possible and get on with it... I don't have all that much confidence that he's right for us (of course I don't think Rodgers is right for us at this point either and we're stuck with him), but getting him in as soon as possible can only help him settle in to the way in which we want to play... whatever the fuck that is.
Wilmots, the coach, recently called him (and Lukakau) "poles" for all the movement they created.
This has the so-called Downing DVD about it.
He will show great Character and bring wonderful desire to the team..
Outstanding.
So did Nigel Farage.
Is he a great technician and will he fight for his life?
Well no matter what he can't be as bad as Ballotelli but I don't think this signing will solve our problems against the better sides.
Alright, this has gotten to the point of fucking boiling point for me.
So, of fucking course there are videos and vines and images of him "LOOK, HE'S NOT SCORING WITH HIS HEAD!!!" because you know, there are videos and vines and images of every single player on Earth scoring with their feet. Do you know Duncan Ferguson scored more goals with his feet than his head? It's true. Same for Les Ferdinand, Andy Carroll, and Peter Crouch.
And they were all far more yer 'big fucking target man you swing crosses into' than Benteke ever has been. Same goes for short arsed non-suitable strikers too. Have you ever seen Rob Earnshaw's youtube compilations? No, neither have I, but I bet you it's an endless array of him burying chances time and time again.
It's not the fucking point.
Rickie Lambert and Balotelli can bury chances too, and have years of demonstrating it, but they didn't get a fucking kick for us BECAUSE THEY DIDN'T SUIT THE PLAYERS AROUND THEM AND THE WAY WE PLAY.
Which is absofuckinglutely what's going to happen with Benteke. If the last two seasons have taught us anything, it's that we need forwards who don't sit in isolation from the rest of the folks around them. There's no use in having Lallana, Coutinho, Sterling, Markovic, etc buzzing around Rickie Lambert. Just in the same way that the best we ever saw from Raheem Sterling was when Suarez and he were spitroasting defences. How adding Benteke into the mix alongside Firminho, Lallana, Coutinho and Ibe is going to work is beyond me.
He doesn't get involved in build up play, he doesn't drop deep, his game in tight positions is average, and his link up in the gaps between midfield and forward aren't top level. He is the archetypal centre forward, which is what Daniel Sturridge and Luis Suarez were not. I watched Benteke 2 weeks ago for Belgium against France. He had Hazard, Witsel and that other cool cunt that plays on the right buzzing around him, and Benteke never got a fucking touch. Never came near them. He just stood up front and got joined by Fellaini whenever a cross came in. That's his go. Last line waiting for a cross or a through ball.
It's not how we play. We need someone who can lead, join, and be part of the entire build up. It's the team and style that Brodge has built.
We're missing a massive opportunity here.
So, of fucking course there are videos and vines and images of him "LOOK, HE'S NOT SCORING WITH HIS HEAD!!!" because you know, there are videos and vines and images of every single player on Earth scoring with their feet. Do you know Duncan Ferguson scored more goals with his feet than his head? It's true. Same for Les Ferdinand, Andy Carroll, and Peter Crouch.
And they were all far more yer 'big fucking target man you swing crosses into' than Benteke ever has been. Same goes for short arsed non-suitable strikers too. Have you ever seen Rob Earnshaw's youtube compilations? No, neither have I, but I bet you it's an endless array of him burying chances time and time again.
It's not the fucking point.
Rickie Lambert and Balotelli can bury chances too, and have years of demonstrating it, but they didn't get a fucking kick for us BECAUSE THEY DIDN'T SUIT THE PLAYERS AROUND THEM AND THE WAY WE PLAY.
Which is absofuckinglutely what's going to happen with Benteke. If the last two seasons have taught us anything, it's that we need forwards who don't sit in isolation from the rest of the folks around them. There's no use in having Lallana, Coutinho, Sterling, Markovic, etc buzzing around Rickie Lambert. Just in the same way that the best we ever saw from Raheem Sterling was when Suarez and he were spitroasting defences. How adding Benteke into the mix alongside Firminho, Lallana, Coutinho and Ibe is going to work is beyond me.
He doesn't get involved in build up play, he doesn't drop deep, his game in tight positions is average, and his link up in the gaps between midfield and forward aren't top level. He is the archetypal centre forward, which is what Daniel Sturridge and Luis Suarez were not. I watched Benteke 2 weeks ago for Belgium against France. He had Hazard, Witsel and that other cool cunt that plays on the right buzzing around him, and Benteke never got a fucking touch. Never came near them. He just stood up front and got joined by Fellaini whenever a cross came in. That's his go. Last line waiting for a cross or a through ball.
It's not how we play. We need someone who can lead, join, and be part of the entire build up. It's the team and style that Brodge has built.
We're missing a massive opportunity here.
Ha ha! He doesn't 'deep deep' is my favourite bit. Awesome summary though chief.
Ha ha
