IT’S easy to name signings Liverpool have made over the last few years that we immediately felt the need to try to justify, writes NEIL DOCKING.
There are those of us who are naturally more sceptical and emphatically voice reservations about a player from day one.
But for many being a football fan relies on a healthy dose of blind optimism. And when a questionable transfer comes along, we adopt the default stance of attempting to convince ourselves it’s a clever coup. Sometimes it’s a front when talking to rival supporters. “Yeah, £35million is a lot, but we had money to burn from selling Torres and he’s the next Alan Shearer.” Other times it’s pouring over statistics to regurgitate to our mates: “He got seven goals and seven assists for Villa last season and £20m is the going rate for an England winger.”
Sadly, nothing any of us could say about Andy Carroll or Stewart Downing could lessen the impact of the sheer disasters they turned out to be. There are plenty more to add to the list, too — Dejan Lovren, Charlie Adam, Robbie Keane — take your pick. I’m still waiting on Mario Balotelli to back up my assertion: “If nothing else he’ll smash one in from 30 yards in the derby.”
This summer the potential signing that’s had lots of Reds frothing at the mouth is the seemingly imminent arrival of Christian Benteke. I’ve found the reaction bewildering, especially when reading tweets along the lines of “we’ve undone all our good work signing Firmino” or the blunt “he’s not good enough”. On this occasion I just don’t feel like we should need reassuring.
Putting my neck on the line — because we all know in modern football there is nothing worse than being WRONG and I’ll be reminded of it forever if he flops — here’s why I’m excited about Benteke pulling on the Red shirt.
Let’s set to one side the way he’s repeatedly terrorised Martin Skrtel and friends (not the toughest achievement admittedly) because impressing against Liverpool was a reason for signing half the flops I listed earlier. Firstly, Benteke scores goals. Lots of goals. Loads of goals. Goals galore. The priceless commodity every Liverpool fan was crying out for last season. Years before Messi and Ronaldo redefined scoring statistics with phenomenal feats, we always talked about the mythical ‘one in two striker’. Well that’s what Benteke has been for Aston Villa. He’s notched a whopping 49 goals in 101 games for the Midlands outfit over three seasons (while setting up a further 14).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VlX5mejnjOI
He’s managed this tally despite the fact he’s spent most of that time playing in a relegation-threatened side under Paul Lambert, a manager so negative Villa once went 10 hours without scoring. Should the blame for that barren spell be laid at Benteke’s door? Well, he was their main striker, but seeing as he was recovering from Achilles surgery, it would appear harsh.
And given the fact he started banging them in again once Tim Sherwood took over, it’s fair to say Lambert’s dire defensive tactics were the primary problem.
It’s not like he had a lot of support. Just imagine how many goals Benteke could rack up if he was being supplied by Coutinho, Firmino, Henderson and co, instead of N’Zogbia, Richardson, and Delph.
Secondly, look at the type of goals he scores. This is not a man, as has been portrayed in some quarters, who relies solely on crosses to convert headers. They’re all there. Whether he’s turning his man on the edge of the box and slamming it in the top bin, delicately placing the ball in the side netting, lobbing the keeper, taking one touch and drilling it hard and low, bending in a free kick, or calmly slotting a penalty.
Don’t get me wrong — he does score lots of great headers — including some fantastic diving efforts. He’s brilliant in the air. But that’s far from the only string to his bow.
50 – @bentekechris20 has been involved in 50 PL goals for Villa since debuting (Sept 2012), 43% of the team's total in that time. Departing?
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) July 16, 2015
Thirdly, his all-round play is impressive. He displays a lovely touch and good close control and effortlessly brings others into play with either a simple lay-off or deft flick.
While he can work wonders as a target man bringing a lofted ball down or bullying defenders in an aerial duel, he also shows intelligent movement and picks up positions where he can best hurt the opposition. Note to Mario: He’s not just unmarked because he decides to stand by the corner flag.
Lastly, Benteke is not slow, nor a lumbering, lazy lump. We’ve been burned by Carroll, Lambert and Balotelli, but he categorically does not lack mobility or pace.
He’s not a speed demon like Daniel Sturridge, but he’s fast, able to play on the shoulder of the last defender and latch onto a through ball, and capable of covering ground quickly and pressing a defender.
Perhaps he’s been wrongly categorised by some observers in the way discussed in the FSG bible Moneyball. Because he looks like (and definitely is) a big, strong unit, fans may unconsciously judge the player on his physique, not his true ability. This then leads to them mistakenly attributing inaccurate deficiencies to him, like a perceived lack of pace.
Think back to those who saw Peter Crouch as a big lanky beanpole with limited technical ability, when in reality he could pluck a ball out of the air and was a master of bicycle kicks.
Another common gripe is the size of the transfer fee, as fans are unhappy with Liverpool matching the 24-year-old’s £32.5m release clause. As pointed out on TAW, it’s the going rate. Romelu Lukaku, a then 21-year-old who scored every other game for West Bromwich Albion and Everton, cost the Blues £28m. Wilfried Bony, a 26-year-old who scored at a rate of one in two for Swansea, cost Manchester City £28m. If £28m is the standard price, then I have to say I don’t mind Liverpool spending £4m or so extra to ensure a key target is secured.
There are valid concerns and one I share is his injury record. Sturridge is seemingly permanently crocked, so do we really need an expensive pal to keep him company on the treatment table? I read an interesting piece written by an Aston Villa fan, who pointed out that Benteke isn’t really ‘that’ injury prone. His point was the Belgian sustained a hip injury during the first half of the 2013/14 season and an Achilles injury from a bad tackle in training just before the 2014 World Cup, but other than that, has remained relatively injury-free while in England. This also doesn’t appear to have been a problem for him while playing for KRC Genk in Belgium.
The chief concern among those who put forward a reasoned case why Benteke doesn’t belong at Anfield is that he’s unsuited to our team’s “playing style”. I can see where they’re coming from. However, after three seasons on Merseyside, I’m still not sure whether Brendan Rodgers has a defined playing style, other than a broad commitment to attacking football. He certainly hasn’t settled on a formation.
Clearly we’re all still mourning the loss of Luis Suarez, amplified by our failure to adequately replace his goals last summer. But are we willing to write off *any* top striker, unless he plays in a manner comparable to El Pistolero?
The endorsement of a goalscoring legend is no guarantee of success — presumably Kenny Dalglish thought Carroll would be a hit — but Robbie Fowler recently told the Echo he believes Benteke would be “perfect” for the Reds. He said: “In terms of all-round play — strength, speed, physicality, finishing — I think Benteke could be the main man for Liverpool. I’ve watched him a lot and he’s not just a target man. He can hold the ball well and bring others into play but he’s also mobile and keeps defenders on their toes.
“I think he’s ideal for the way Brendan wants to play. It’s probably what we lacked at times last season. We had forwards who wanted to drop deep to get involved with the play and we always had that gap up front. With a Benteke type, you have someone who will stay up there and stretch defenders. He scores goals, he’s a threat and a real handful for defenders.”
Contrary to what Robbie says, my impression of Benteke is that he does like to drop deep to collect the ball and run at goal. But he’s right that under Tim Sherwood he appeared to relish playing as far forward as possible, and it reaped dividends.
Unlike anyone at Liverpool bar Sturridge — for whom we desperately need an alternative — Benteke is comfortable being deployed as a lone striker. Our plethora of attacking midfielders would surely love the chance to exploit the spaces he would create.
Best of all, they’ll soon know that if they serve up an opportunity for Benteke, the likelihood is the back of the net will bulge. And nothing convinces doubters like goals.
[rpfc_recent_posts_from_category meta=”true”]
Pics: David Rawcliffe-Propaganda Photo
I share Melissa Reddys view that while Benteke is a good striker he may not be the most suitable choice for us. It is extremely important we get this striker signing right so obviously there will be concern. However now that we’ve signed him he’ll have my full support. He was our first choice striker and we brought him in. No more excuses for Brendan, he’s been backed massively this summer by the owners.
I dont’ know whether to admire him or despair with him.
After last season, stoke and this seasons fixture list. Rodgers has got it all to do. Arguably you could say he is on borrowed time with a majority hostile fanbase. Surely he must know how underwhelmed the fanbase are with Benteke as the marquee striker we are crying out for. It is like he is asking to be beaten with a stick.
This just sounds like a new manager in 6 months and him sold next summer for 18 mill. Even worse could be a manager who wants to build a team around him.
It makes no difference how big a name someone is 5 games into the new season. If he scores and we win no one will care. If he was a big name like Falcao and didn’t do anything everyone would be on the managers back even more.
This striker you’ve described sounds like some player. It definitely isn’t the player we’ve all watched for the last 3 years though. He doesn’t ‘play on the shoulder’. In every game I’ve seen him play he drops into the midfield to pick up the ball and play 5 yard passes. Really going to complement our attacking midfielders that isn’t it. There’s a good reason fans kick off at some signings and, with the exception of crouch, I can’t remember us being proved wrong by too many others.
IMO he’s all wrong for us, but we’ll just have to hope for the best. I won’t be holding my breath.
I wasn’t trying to give the impression that he always plays on the shoulder mate – I was trying to say that he can fulfil that role. I agree he often drops deep and prefers to run at defenders from that position. But what was interesting under Sherwood (I’m sure he made reference to it in interview) was that he instructed him to play higher up the pitch and do what I’ve described and it got them goals and results.
My worry is that he led the league in getting caught offsides in 12/13 and 14/15. In 13/14, he was out a great deal to injury, so he fell to 2nd place. We’ve been spoiled by strikers with excellent timing. We may have to get used to frustration again.
Nice positive piece, Neil with some great points.
While my stance has softened a bit since my original article (recruitment of Firmino helped with that as his qualities make a difference to the forward line) I’m still a little worried.
Benteke is a superb striker when you play to his strengths. I don’t think his strengths and LFC’s match (he prefers direct – as admitted by himself and Sherwood, while Reds like to build play). What he possesses though is a lot of attributes that we don’t have and as such if we can supply him to his liking, then goals x goals x goals.
My other concern is that his weaknesses: defending from the front, passing, timing of runs, being able to keep possession are very vital aspects of LFC’s play.
If he can sharpen those areas of his game and if Liverpool can feed him effectively, then very happy days. Crossing everything that he stays injury-free as well because our treatment tables are overused!
Loads of ifs above, but if both parties are determined to make it work then it should…
Thanks Melissa. I agree Firmino is something of a game changer because he gives us something different in the final third.
I actually think we’ve been at our best under Rodgers when we played direct, counter attacking football in 2013/14. There wasn’t much patient or possession based about the way we demolished Arsenal and Everton for example. It was swift and direct – like Kolo’s long ball for Sturridge.
I think hopefully we can blend Benteke in so that we’re capable of two approaches. My biggest fear is he’s another injury prone player that we can’t rely upon. Like you say fingers crossed!
I’ve shared reservations about Benteke but the truth is I’ve been jumping on the bandwagon. I thought, all these people can’t be wrong. Then I read all the comments about Sterling :)
I’ve got a mate who’s been bombarding me with messages about how good he thinks he’ll be. I’m in his camp now. Benteke will score goals. That’s what he does. He’ll give us options too. I’ve suddenly become really excited about this move. I’m not alone there though. Seems a lot of people think this could be the straw that breaks the camels back for Rodgers and they’re in a no lose situation. Either he scores or he doesn’t and both have positives. I really hope we can put all those people back in their boxes this season. I’m not sure I can take another season of all the bullshit.
I’ve just put Benteke in my fantasy team.
P.s Apologies for this, Neil, but —-
Does anyone have any good tips for the fantasy football. I’m ok at it when the season gets going but can’t afford to start badly. I’m in a £100 each league and a £50 a man league and it matters to me. Would appreciate any suggestions. My tips are Walcott and Milner for midfielders (gambling Walcott will play up top before the others). Sakho of West Ham as a cheap option up front and I’ve gone with Rooney over the other big name strikers. Is Azpilcueta likely to start still? What about Depay? Is he a good choice as a midfielder? Looking for cheap surprise candidates though more than the obvious ones.
-52% of his goals either headers or penalties
-Injury record is poor = misses 1 in 4 (Sturridge misses 1 in 3)
-Caught offside more than any player in the EPL at 1.2 per game (second worst is 1.0 per game)
-Passing accuracy 66.7% (beyond pathetic – ranked 252nd in league)
-Fouled 0.8 per game (awful – Hazard best at 3.0, Sterling second best at 2.7)
-Aerials won = best in the league at 6.5 per game (second best is 4.8) but we will hardly be lumping balls to him the way Villa did.
His pressing off the ball is absolutely non existent. He makes 0.1 blocks per game and 0.1 interceptions per game.
He’s not slow, but only in the same way Balotelli and Emre Can isn’t slow, ie. it takes them an age to get going but when in full flow he can reach good speed. The problem here is his sharpness – it takes him too long to turn. His speed of movement from stationary is poor.
His feet aren’t great either. His first touch with his feet tends to be very average, with 2.3 unsuccessful touches per game joint 6th worst in entire league). He is much better with his chest, one of the best in the league. But again, we are hardly going to lump it up to him.
I said Carroll was a disaster when we signed him. I hoped he’d prove me wrong. He didn’t. Im saying Benteke will do a bit better but not by much. I hope he proves me wrong.
Based in reality as I am (and not fantasy as many on here are) and given the fixture list, I find it hard to believe we won’t be 8th-10th come November with Rodgers in the middle of another meltdown and us in the middle of another wasted season.
Looking at the stats and also with the eye, the inevitable signing of Benteke boggles the mind. At the very least Rodgers has got (will get) his man, just as he did with Lovren, so he has no transfer committee to hide behind this year. If we do poorly its 100% on him and not even his apologists can deny it.
Classic case of damned statistics by someone trying to twist them to suit their own prejudices. Which site did you pull them from by the way Leanne?
What kind of statistic is the 52% of his goals are headers or penalties? How many were penalties and how many were headers? From all the highlights I have been watching of him (and I think I have seen all his PL goals now) this didn’t seem right. So I checked it out and of his 42 PL goals 13 were headed and 6 were penalties, meaning 45% were headers and penalties. So not a million miles away from 52% so perhaps over his whole career it is possible. But put another way, only a 36% of his goals from open play were with his head. Doesn’t fit the narrative that he is just a big target man who can only score from crosses now does it?
1 in 4 out with injury you say, but ignoring the bad luck with his achilles injury he has only missed 5 out of 96 PL games. Hardly the next Daniel Sturridge.
Being caught offside is an interesting statistic with which to judge a striker. To my mind the only strikers that are likely to get caught offside are the ones playing on the shoulder of the defender, not classic target men. Mario might be an exception as he is just plain dopey, but I don’t think this statistic backs up your argument either.
As for his passing accuracy and fouls per game I think you need to put them in the context of similar forwards. What is Harry Kane’s passing accuracy for instance. Comparing his fouls per game to Hazard is just ridiculous. No one is expecting him to be Hazard so why compare them?
Finishing up again with the obligatory dire predictions of Rodgers doom and the impending implosion of the club. Get the fuck over it. FSG have made their decision and no matter how based in “reality” you think you are, you can’t see into the future, so why don’t you get behind the team and stop caring about your football predicting ego?
I’ve got a few points in response to this post.
Firstly, from what I gather about 40% of his goals are headers, which you would expect because he’s great at heading. I don’t see this as a negative. Around 60% of his goals are therefore other strikes, including about 10% penalties. That’s not a problem as far as I can see. It’s handy that he’s good at penalties – we don’t have an established specialist penalty taker in our first team now. It’s great that 50% of his goals are all manner of shots.
His injury record isn’t great, I think we all know that. It’s a legitimate grounds for concern. But I’m not sure how it can be that he misses every one game in four. He made 34 PL appearances in 12-13, 26 in 13-14 and 28 in 14-15. So he played in 88 out of 114 league games, about 77% of Villa’s matches. Doesn’t that mean he misses one in every five games? That’s not as bad as suggested.
Passing accuracy. His passing completion stats are clearly skewed because he was used as a target man by Lambert. At one stage apparently Guzan to Benteke was the most attempted pass in the league. You’ve shown more often than not he wins the aerial duel, but successfully knocking the ball down to a team-mate is far more difficult and could easily skew his stats. A flicked on header that goes to an opponent counts as a misplaced pass.
The fact he isn’t fouled often is awful? I think that’s a strange interpretation of a stat. He’s a monster, it’s not easy to foul him! And he’s not a diver like Hazard or Drogba. That stat is neither a particularly good or bad thing in my book. Sterling was fouled a lot last year. I don’t think it was particularly beneficial to us.
As you say, he wins the most aerial duels in the league. That gives us another option whether we’re utilising direct balls or set pieces.
You say his pressing off the ball is absolutely non existent and that he makes 0.1 blocks per game and 0.1 interceptions per game. That’s not a surprise. Villa under Lambert never ever pressed the opposition in their own half. They were a counter attacking team who sat back deep. Benteke was never asked to press – it wasn’t his job. So of course his ‘pressing stats’ are unimpressive. It stands to reason. Will be interesting to see how he fares when he’s asked to press.
The point about his speed appears to be a subjective observation. I don’t agree with it. I think he’s pretty fast.
The stat about his first touch being poor is interesting – sounds like a genuine concern. I’ll be intrigued to see when he joins Liverpool whether that is borne out or not.
Well, that’s pissed on those stats. Great points. I think the lesson we’ve learned here is a little knowledge of the subject combined with some research always trumps a ‘quick Google search’.
I’m coming around to Benteke now as well, he knows where the back of the net is, and for a striker, that’s all that matters.
I wouldn’t say i’m great at Fantasy Footy, but i’ve gone for Deeney (Norwich) and a couple of Bournemouth players, Wilson and Ritchie, who can apparently all score goals – decent stats from last year, and they’re very cheap.
Will there be an Anfield Wrap league ? Given that we all think we know about football, it seems an obvious fit.
haha, good idea mate.
Or do those headed goal stats simply prove Villa cross lots and Benteke is good in the air. #statsswanker
I can see why Rodgers wants Benteke, as there are two things he’s always coveted at Liverpool: a robust, goalscoring “10,” and a “mobile target man.” He’s finally got his goalscoring “10” in Firmino, after Lallana failed to deliver the goods on that front (and Mkhitaryan, Sigurdsson & Dempsey never agreeing to sign). Now he’s got his ‘mobile target man,’ the player he thought he purchased when opting for Balotelli instead of Eto’o last summer, and desperately wanted when we were linked with Bony. Rodgers has always used target men: Danny Graham at Swansea and he forked out cash for Grzegorz Rasiak at Reading. I suppose with Sturridge soon to come back, Origi on the books (the raw “Sturridge-lite” we wanted with Remy?), and Ings (his new “Borini at Swansea”), Rodgers wants someone who can play against teams that park the bus – a common occurrence against us – and condense space in behind their back line. Playing “on the shoulder” will only get you so far against these teams. Lazar, Firmino, Ibe, & Lallana (and, to a lesser extent, Milner & Henderson) will look to burst beyond the defensive line as Benteke drags opposition centre halves out of their comfort zone.
One issue, though, is that our current best player, Coutinho, does not like breaking beyond the man and wants runners in front of him; he doesn’t want to be the “runner.” I don’t see how Benteke gets the best out of Coutinho, unless we move Phil back into the midfield and let him spot the wide runners – Lallana/Ibe/Lazar/Firmino/Sturridge(?); however, with the reports of Milner pairing Henderson in midfield, Coutinho’s time in CM might be done for the time being, and I don’t like him in a front 3 with Benteke.
Also, the Achilles rupture is a question mark. Is he the same player he was in 2012-13? Because I’d be all for us signing that version of Benteke. However, I’ve seen people comment that his Achilles tear – an injury known to significantly hamper athleticism – has made him more of a traditional “target man,” without the “mobile” qualifier. I can say if these opinions are true – I haven’t watched him enough this season to say – but if he prefers the ball to feet and isn’t willing to run the channels or exploit space in behind, that’s certainly not ideal.
As for his “pressuring” or ability to fit into a “pressing” team: I don’t think Rodgers really wants him to “pressure” the centre halves, particularly when he’s the lone striker. Basically, we seem to be promoting a “three-quarter press,” which, from my understanding, means we pressure/press the opposition once the ball is played into their midfield options. It’ll be interesting to see how this (potential) philosophy translates into the 4-1-2-1-2, with Sturridge up top. Could Ings / Origi do Benteke’s pressuring? I don’t imagine Sturridge will be too keen.
As for the price, sadly £32.5m seems to be the going rate for a 1 in 2 striker with three seasons in the PL.
Anyway, I think it could potentially work out, though there are better players available for slightly more than Benteke’s asking price, players who would thrive with Firmino and Coutinho feeding them through balls and can dribble (for example, Lacazette); simply put, I think it can work but he wouldn’t be my choice. I don’t think he fits the ideal mix we have here, or what the fans want to see (2013-14 reincarnate, or a poor man’s Barca 2014-15), but I’m relieved we’re getting Rodgers’s main target, the guy he’s a massive fan of, so we don’t have to hear the tedious excuses if things don’t work out. We haven’t missed out really on a single target this window (outside of Depay, I guess? And we might have got a better player anyway in Firmino – or, at least, certainly a more proven player), so no excuses now: Make it work.
If I were to put a number range on it, I predict he’ll score 12-15 league goals.
Sorry mate but it was only emphasized that Benteke is ‘ALSO’ able to play off the shoulder.. He’s seen more comfortably using his strength, pace and ball control to find space in the 18 yard to select a shot.. And as you can see, his finishing is on point..
Your assumption on what the little magician ‘does not’ like is least accurate. It is a matter of preference. Trust me when i say Coutinho will strike if necessary and his flair is more than capable to get him behind lines especially if the defense is drawn out of position (in your scenario) .
P. S. Lallana would play perfectly at CAM behind benteke if a 4-5-1 is to be employed.
There’s a saying where I work — if you put 10 engineers in a room and ask them to evaluate a design for a new lightbulb, 9 of them will give you all the reasons why the design will fail. The one who thinks it will succeed turns out to be right, and a whole new form of luminescence is unleashed.
I’m convinced that many of the fans ranting against Benteke are the same people who want Rodgers gone, the same people who were Klopping us all close to madness during June. Well, they were all wrong then — Rodgers is not gone; FSG is backing him solidly in this transfer window; he identified his targets long ago (Benteke has been scouted by LFC for about a year) and the Transfer Committee obviously supported his choice and Ian Ayre is carrying out the negotiations nicely; and as far as Klopp goes — he was never even approached by FSG. Klopp is likely taking time off because he had no viable offers.
So, Benteke it is. The fact that he scored 43% of Villa’s goals over 3 years against the same competition we’ve been facing during that time is a stat worth paying attention to. Like Robin Crimes, I’m getting excited about the strong possibility of again seeing the ball in the back of our net — after seeing the likes of Sterling run his socks off but rarely be able to finish, and seeing Mario achieve next to nothing all last season.
If I could have one football wish granted it would be that our fan base be rid of all those who shroud their negativity and cynical pessimism and defeatism beneath a cloak of ‘just telling the truth’. Their poor attitude is a dead drain on everyone’s energy.
Amen!
Of course, I don’t wish anyone harm, but I think I may have found the best indication of what we have on our hands: Benteke nutmegging one defender, breaking the collarbone of the next, then coolly slotting the ball into the net.
http://streamable.com/um3u
As a bonus, here is Benteke destroying Chris Smalling:
http://streamable.com/aflf