Emmanuel Adebayor Must Learn The OffSide Rule

Credit to Adebayor for scoring his first goals of the season but after watching the game yesterday I again noticted the amount of times out attacks got brought back due to Adebayor getting caught offside.

Last season Adebayor had the most minutes per offside in european football (Football:Opta stats)

I ask what is it with him and getting caught offside?

Its all about timing your runs and having the vision and awareness to read the game and anticipate the pass. Some players are very good at this Van Nistelrooy is the best i have seen, He sits on the last man and looks along the line and makes his runs just as the ball is passed. Anelka is the same as Adebayor, Both players just think about the pass and the runs they are going to make without looking across the line and playing off the last defender. TBH if a player is a pro he should learn this skill. Ive seen park players do it perfectly and its not a hard thing to learn.

Ade should make his runs from deeper in midfield as it is easier to beat an offside trap like that.when you are playing on the shoulder of the centre back and a pass is about to come your way,all the defender has to do is take a step out and you’re caught offside.But if the run is made from deeper it makes this alot harder for defenders to do,also its easier to steal a couple of yards on a player when you are running and he is stationary.Remember the runs Ljungberg used to make?

I don’t understand why he doesn’t pay more attention to the line… he’s thinking about his run not timing the pass or watching the line. The amount of time he was offsides yesterday was ridiculous. Then again, he scored a hat-trick and now has 42 goals in 83 games with Arsenal.

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31 Responses to Emmanuel Adebayor Must Learn The OffSide Rule

  1. robert says:

    I think its good that he always is on the line because the centre backs have to watch him not the game….. I can tell you have not played mutch footy in your day :O

  2. Al says:

    Have to agree! Just dont understand what Adebayor’s problem is as he continually does it. It not good enough

  3. Mattc says:

    “Ade should make his runs from deeper in midfield as it is easier to beat an offside trap like that.when you are playing on the shoulder of the centre back and a pass is about to come your way,all the defender has to do is take a step out and you’re caught offside.But if the run is made from deeper it makes this alot harder for defenders to do,also its easier to steal a couple of yards on a player when you are running and he is stationary.Remember the runs Ljungberg used to make?”

    Ljundberg was a midfielder, so no comparison.

    For Adebayor, what Wenger requires him to do is to stay as far up the field as possible, and push the defenders back so that they cannot get to the halfway line. Henry pretty much invented this art, and if Adebayor hasn’t yet perfected it, he’ll learn over time.

  4. thegoonerforum says:

    Robert. I played and did no the offside rule, If i could learn it then im sure a pro player on £70k a week can pick it up

  5. brdgunner says:

    He is only young and in time will improve, I was very frustrated with him yesterday and even spoke about how he is really hard to take to. However, he did get a hat trick and looks dangerous almost whenever he plays. I do hope he works on the off-side rule. We could be alot more dangerous as every free kick given to the opposite team gives them the chance to send a high ball at our defence. COME ON THE GUNNERS

  6. thegoonerforum says:

    Only young? He is a pro player mate, Ive seen under 16s play the offside game better them him

  7. shotta-gunna says:

    This unfounded criticism of Ade reminds me of the Big Lie and Nazi propaganda. The mantra seems if you keep repeating the Big Lie then it must be true, oft forgetting the Nazis lost the war and many of their leaders were hung after Nuremberg. It is patently clear from the past season keeping Ade pushed up is a deliberate team tactic. With today’s offside rule, it is in the strikers interest hang in line with the last defender. Not only does this present many one-on-one chances with the last defender, it also keeps the center half from creeping up to the half line to aid the opponents offense. Ade’s last goal yesterday was a perfect example of the success of this tactic. One other observation; this season Ade no longer charges back out of offside and help the defenders…clearly he is conserving energy for a long season. Seems he is learning from last year when by the last third of the season he was a spent force.

  8. Rizal says:

    Somehow I found this to be funny 🙂

    “Ljundberg was a midfielder, so no comparison.”

  9. Rob says:

    Ade is the most talented moron I have ever watched. His football skills have never been in question, but he has a brain of a two year old when it comes to intelligence on the pitch. I mean come on! even in the sunday league you will never find a striker getting caught that often times without learning!

  10. thegoonerforum says:

    Well said Rob

  11. naz says:

    Robert…what a muppet…

  12. Gooner Man says:

    u gay fans dissing ade no credit what so ever for his hat-trick and his superb team play.

  13. thegoonerforum says:

    Gooner Man, did you not see the first line of the article?

  14. AusGunner says:

    as you point out, his goalscoring record for us at the moment is frankly excellent for a player entering the prime of his career so I think having a moan about this is a bit churlish if you ask me.

    That said, in his defence, a large number of the offside calls given against him last year were incorrect. Sometimes he is the victim of his own pace. Thankfully his all-round game makes up for it, and of course when he does pull clear you tend to back him to score.

  15. aladin says:

    ade has to stay at the defenders shoulders causing concern for the defenders and creating space for the midfielders. him dropping deep would make it much easier for them to defend. we are already compact in the middle and adding ade there would be of no benefit. i do agree though he sometimes lack intelligence and its frustrating to witness. people who play football will know what im talking about

  16. Man United Killa says:

    Who cares if he is always offside…do you have any idea how many goals we have scored just because some stupid defender thought Ade was offside…come on man….he got us a hat trick by being an offside striker….lay off now

  17. GunnerX says:

    Ade just needs to understand that the opposing defense will always ‘step up’ just as the ball is played, once he learns to anticipate that movement, he should be ok.

  18. indian gooner says:

    point well taken . for someone who has improved so much in other areas it does seem a bit odd that he gets caught offside so often.just out of curiosity , if ade had the most minutes per offside wouldn’t that mean he had a great record of not being offside ? shouldn’t it be least minutes per offside , that would make more sense 🙂

  19. toure tribe underboss says:

    actually the team need to stop passing to him when he is offside,he is doin an henry/van nistelroy,if kolo had any brains he’d stop knocking balls over the top and try hit them wide for theo to chase!

  20. toure tribe underboss says:

    ps u blog writers secretly love old ade for keeping you lot nice with something to write about eh,scores a hatrick then told to learn the offside rule by a blogger,without the summer speculation you would have been sucking his cock this afternoon eh

  21. useroz says:

    it just shows not all pro footballers are intelligent; it’s about education too however much they received, or care to learn… supposedly fabregas is doing ‘a-level’ equivalent in Spain??

    similarly, denilson, eboue and may be a couple could fall in this (ade) category of ‘brain power’ that they bring onto the pitch.. it’s more than just experience!

  22. Fabregas' Dad says:

    For those of you who are saying crap like ‘u gay fans dissing ade no credit what so ever for his hat-trick and his superb team play’, try and remember that these are just ways in which he could improve. He scored a hat-trick which is great but considering the fact that it was against a horrible defence and he was playing for a team that create bucket loads of chances, it’s not as great an achievement as it could be.

    Oh and yes he does that to push the defenders back but the whole point of that is that he will be available to pass to high up the pitch. This becomes useless if he’s offside and we just end up conceding possession and Arsenal is all about keeping possession. Keep in mind that he’s spent the most minutes offside in the whole of Europe, surely that merits some improvement for someone who’s meant to be one of the best strikers in Europe?

  23. GoonerXM says:

    Really frustrating the number of times the guy gets caught in an offside position. Wenger needs to work on the guy – many goal scoring opportunuties are lost as a result of this weakness. Come on ADE, learn, learn and practise, practise the timing of your runs.

  24. arsene knows says:

    i totally agree with the articule the thing is no one knows how much it has costed us games while attacking it gives away the possesion to the other team all the time allowing them to form a attack of their own, I would really rather love to play bendtner even tho so many arsenal fans dont rate him he really is the real deal if given a run of games.

  25. Jezzman says:

    1 game, 3 goals. Stop moaning… I’m sure there’s things you could do better at work as well. Ade scores… and he scores many goals and he scores at places like OT and WHL (i.e. big games). The Arsenal are beginning to roll… stop your whinging

  26. Patrick - Malta says:

    I don’t blame the average Arsenal suposter for criticising Ade for his numerous offside infringments, although Henry did not lag far behind in this particular “crime”. But of course Henry could get away with murder… The truth is that this is the first time Arsenal have had a centre forward like Ade, playing on the fringes, always ready to get away. Most of the time it is not his bad timimg causing the offside but the assist-man delaying the pass just that fraction of a second enough to play Ade offside. That’s the way Ade plays. That is the characteristic. He puts away one on five. But he CREATES five occasions. Others who don’t stay so much on the fringes create perhaps two chances in comparison, and then they would not have gotten away as they would be to far onside to be a threat. So Ade plays that way, at the cost of getting caught out relatively often. But at the gain of creating more opportunities. Anyone ever seen Inzaghi play? He is the master of the same game Ade plays.

  27. toure tribe underboss says:

    half the time he aint even offside,his pace decieves linesmen often

  28. Ron B says:

    If there’s something to debate here, it’s the point/merits of the article….by telling ppl not to whinge/moan while we’re winning/losing (whichever suits ur fancy) u’re completely missing the point of the article….discuss what’s been presented or just click on that ‘x’ at the top right/left of ur browser n bugger off…..

    it’s true that EA25 gets caught offside too often….like it’s been said over and over, we create chances by the bucket-loads and it’s the responsibility of our attackers to put those chances away….. we didn’t pay the price over the weekend against b’burn but i’m certain we will when pit against sterner opposition, just like we did last season…. we lack clinical finishing n the ruthlessness to conquer all.

    EA25 scored a hat-trick but he, imho, is by no means a natural goal scorer……Bendtner IS (go ahead n flame me on that, c if i care)…..and of course more so is Eduardo.

    EA25 has plenty to improve on and i fully agree with the author when he says EA25 is shite at beating the offside trap…BUT, considering that – as shit as he is – he’s still slotting home 30 a season, that offers some measure of hope and reason for optimism…. now let’s just hope he improves or, for his kind of salary, i’d flog him off after this season….. hate me all u want… 😛

  29. khoune says:

    the world class striker must be solve every problems include offside problem

  30. charlie says:

    HA.. HA…HA… he is offside all the time….yet he can still score a hatrick. What an anomaly. Don’t you think. Tell me what can he learn from you bloggers. Stay onside and score a goal or none. Does that make you guys any happier???? Choose, if a those who criticise have the brains to do so.

  31. 5s this cubts convention of a sight still going?

    Fuck me, how fuckin full of pathetic twats is it?

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