Adebayor is third in Player of the Season poll

“Give him the ball and he will score,” sing the Arsenal supporters about Emmanuel Adebayor. We’ll admit the Togolese targetman does not hit the net every time but 30 goals was certainly a very satisfying return in 2007/08. That tally helped him finish third in Arsenal.com's Player of the Season poll with 20.19 per cent. Editor Richard Clarke officially opens Adebayor Week with his reflections on the big man’s big contribution.

Emmanuel Adebayor may have taken third spot in the Player of the Year poll but, in many ways, he is still underrated by Arsenal fans.

When the side stumbled towards the end of the last campaign it was the Togolese targetman who seemed to bear the brunt of any criticism coming the team's way. Let's not overblow this, no-one was booing him from the stands or persistently berating him on messageboards but, going on the strength of callers to Arsenal TV’s Friday Night Forum, there was a sense among some that the team needed something or someone better in his position.

Quite rightly, Tom Watt and the panel were left scratching their heads.

Adebayor has been the mainstay of the attack for the past two seasons. In that time he has been partnered by Henry, Reyes, Van Persie, Bendtner, Eduardo, Baptista, Ljungberg, Aliadiere and Diaby yet the statistics tell us goals have not really been a problem. He deserves much of the credit for that.

The other thing worth remembering is his age. At 24, he could still be four years away from his peak. Certainly, it is easy to plot a graph of improvement since his move from French football in January 2006. Let's look at just one example.

Towards the end of that 'Final Salute' season, Arsenal went to Portsmouth in need of three points to keep them in pole position for the fourth and final Champions League spot. Whisper it quietly but Tottenham had spent most of that season above Arsène Wenger's side and this was a crucial game in hand. Thierry Henry gave the visitors a deserved lead but, either side of half-time, Adebayor missed simple chances put them in the comfort zone.

When Lomana Lua-Lua forced a draw, the Arsenal striker was in the firing line. It is strange to think it now but he may have struggled to recover if Arsenal had not pipped their rivals on Final Salute Day itself. Compare that underconfident performance with the one at White Hart Lane last season or the wonderstrike at Newcastle.

Adebayor is not built to be the poacher, the six-yard box merchant who waits for this chance. His game is far more versatile than that. Yet last season’s goal return of 30 (24 in the Premier League) is comparable with one of Henry's better years. Say no more.

One of the most exciting sights in the current Arsenal side is seeing a sprinting Adebayor go one-on-one with the last defender. Suddenly the 6ft 4ins striker seems about 9ft 6ins as his cowering opponent has to decide whether the forward will outsprint, outthink, outskill or outstrength him.

The briefest of trawls through the memory banks brings up some telling highlights of last season - those volleys against Spurs and Newcastle, cruising past John Terry at Stamford Bridge leaving the Chelsea defender in his wake, the cleverest of knockdowns for Eduardo's goal at Manchester City, hitting hat-tricks home and away against Derby and scoring 11 times in nine straight games around the turn of the year.

Can any other Arsenal player match those individual achievements last season?

The other thing that many supporters won't know is Adebayor's character. While Emmanuel Eboue is THE song and danceman of the Arsenal camp, his namesake is certainly next on the bill. The former Monaco man is always chatty, always positive and, crucially, always up-for-it.

When Adebayor arrived at Arsenal, the side were being bullied out of certain games. As a result I now have a pathological hatred of the M6 motorway; partly because it does not move that often but mostly because I have travelled back on it from countless games with a sense of injustice after Wenger's boys had slipped to another disappointing defeat on the road.

That does not happen anymore. Arsenal are big enough in stature and heart to fight for their right to play. Adebayor has been key to that transformation.

He may come from a place that most would struggle to locate on a map but actually you could argue that Adebayor is a classic English striker. Tall, combative and powerful. But that is not the whole story. He is really Wenger's version of the classic English striker - tall, combative and powerful... and fast and technical and capable of scoring beautiful goals.

Third place and 20 per cent of the votes is the least he deserves.

Source:arsenal.com