Adebayor gamesmanship has a place
Emmanuel Adebayor, Man City’s £25M summer signing from Arsenal, had an interesting weekend. Saturday’s 4-2 defeat of his former club Arsenal saw him taunting his ex-team-mates by prancing into the Arsenal half of the field before the kick off, then there was his deliberate stamp on Robin Van Persie’s face, and finally, there was that celebration.
And, make no mistake, that celebration was golden. Even if you like Arsenal — and I love them — that image is brilliant, iconic, exhilarating.
In this age of lifeless all-seater stadiums, the interaction between fans and sports stars is not something I would like to see discouraged. It is very unfortunate that a steward was hurt at Eastlands because of a few idiots, but I think this is the kind of moment that only augments football as a spectacle. I watched Eastbourne Borough vs. Chester City at the weekend and the ongoing banter between fans and players was an excellent addition to the game itself. (It was a 1-1 draw by the way; Boro gave away another soft penalty at home.)
The assault on Van Persie was obviously not something we want to see — I think there’s universal agreement on that — however, I wonder if we’re missing a trick here regarding Adebeyor’s gamesmanship and crowd interaction? If only people could learn than offence is taken and not given.
