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 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.
Now I'll try to dispel a few misconceptions:
"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.
