Adebayor fuels feel-good factor

ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE: Arsenal 2, Manchester City 0

EMMANUEL ADEBAYOR is an impatient patient. The hamstring that kept him out of action for two months until Saturday has healed but Arsene Wenger may have noted the Arsenal striker is still suffering from a deeper affliction. He is sick of feeling hollow. He demands a rapid cure. That means a medal – soon.

Though he was recently voted African footballer of the year, the Togolese is painfully aware the only award he has ever won with a club was in a youth tournament with Metz when he was 15, which was 10 years ago. That he has not added to that since arriving at Arsenal in 2006 rankles.

“When I joined this club, I was told by most of my friends and team-mates that I had a great chance of winning something but for the last three years I have gone on holiday having not won a trophy and with an empty heart,” he says. “Now it’s the time to achieve things. Maybe I want it more than the others, I don’t know. There are always players who are more happy when you win things, that’s normal, but the desire is there for everyone.”

For Arsenal that ambition could be construed as a threat. If the club go a fourth consecutive season without silverware, Adebayor is unlikely to be the only player to be tempted by a move away. Robin van Persie and Theo Walcott have yet to sign new contracts as they seemingly await reassurance their glory-lust can be satisfied at Arsenal, and the captain, Cesc Fabregas, is being publicly serenaded by at least one suitor with a recent record of success – Barcelona.

As Wenger pursues honours both for their own sake and, perhaps, in order to prevent the disintegration of the team whose cultivation has been a labour of love, the manager admits he has, for the first time in his long career, banned all transfer talk until the end of the campaign.

“I believe it can be distracting,” said Wenger, whose team will contest seven matches in the next 21 days if they overcome Villarreal to reach the Champions League semi-final. “What I mean is this is a period when you have to be completely ‘in’ to be successful. You cannot be half in and a little bit out, or even 90 per cent in and a bit out, because you can miss that 10 per cent at an important moment of the game.

“We have taken this approach because we have a tight schedule, we know that every game is decisive for us. We have to show maturity and get rid of all the talk that is not helping us to win the games. We are playing matches every three days, so we cannot sit around and talk with the players. To be professional is to know what to do and when.”

At least in terms of injuries timing finally appears to be on Arsenal’s side. Their campaign has been hamstrung by serial casualties but on Saturday Adebayor, Fabregas and Walcott all returned from enforced lay-offs and all were in dashing form.

Thanks to diligent back-up work by Denilson and Alex Song, Fabregas thrived in a more advanced role than he has been accustomed to and teed up Adebayor for two goals that were taken with relish.

Walcott should have scored too, wayward shooting marring an otherwise vibrant performance. Such was the England winger’s vim and thrust that Manchester City’s Pablo Zabaleta twice felt the need to clatter him. Though Wenger said afterwards he was a “little bit worried” Walcott might have aggravated the knee injury that had sidelined him for the previous five weeks, the player himself said he would be “fine” for tomorrow night’s tie in Villarreal. With Van Persie and Eduardo also in line for returns, Arsenal’s creativity and firepower are being reinforced on cue.

Defensively they remain vulnerable, however. For a spell City, despite being depleted by early injuries to Wayne Bridge and Vincent Kompany, exposed a lack of coordination in the home back line. The most notable lapse was when Shaun Wright-Phillips cantered forward and rolled a ball into the path of Gelson Fernandes, who shot against a post as William Gallas and Kolo Toure looked for someone to blame. City, however, were neither confident nor coherent enough to stress the point and soon Arsenal enjoyed spending the remainder of the game on their preferred front foot.

“There is a feel-good factor back again and the fans are very pleased to see us back playing well, with fast movement and good football,” said Adebayor. “Now we have a fit squad, we are very well placed. We need to give our all.”

Guardian Service