Arsenal’s inspirational skipper, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Emmanuel-Adebayor-c12526, but mentioned that he had decided to step up to the challenge.
The Dutch footballer has been in a remarkable form this season and is currently the leading goal scorer in the Premier League. His 41 appearances for the Gunners this season saw him score a staggering 33 goals, including 26 scalps in the league. He was also
appointed the skipper of the North London side after Cesc Fabregas opted to move to http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Barcelona-c38604 earlier in the season.
His phenomenal run in the last two years has seen him become the leading striker for the Gunners, a position he claimed he never envisaged.
"I was hoping to play as a second striker. I never thought I would end up as a main striker," he revealed while talking to reporters.
"We only tried it when Adebayor went. The boss didn’t buy anyone else. He was convinced I could do it but I wasn’t."
Adebayor left http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Arsenal-c38429 for Manchester City in July 2009 for an estimated cost of about 25 million pounds. Currently, he is playing on-loan for Tottenham Hotspur.
Van Persie mentioned that he found it difficult in the beginning, in the absence of the Togolese striker. He observed that even though he was playing passes to the other players, he was unable to find the back of the net. However, he said that he regained
his confidence after scoring his first goal as the main striker.
"In my first five or six games I was making assists but I didn’t score and I thought, 'I am a main striker now, I need to score. When I scored my first goal I then scored seven in seven, with seven assists.” He added.
The 28 year old also described the difference between his previous and current roles, explaining that a second striker does most of the running in order to close people out, while a main striker puts his all out in different intervals of the game. He went
on to say that a main striker can afford a lose spell of a couple of minutes during the game, and can redeem himself by one moment of brilliance.
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