Keeping cool over Adebayor

EMMANUEL Adebayor’s show-stopping antics at the weekend got plenty of tongues wagging.

Everyone had an opinion following the Manchester City striker’s extraordinary display against his old club Arsenal.

It was as brilliant as it was unsavoury. From the moment he stepped out onto the pitch, milling around mysteriously in the Arsenal half before kick-off, Adebayor was determined to revel in the fact that he was the centre of attention.

It was certainly entertaining. And I am not entirely sure he deserved as much criticism as he got in the build-up to the match.

You could easily make a case that the ex-Gunners striker had been harshly treated by the Arsenal fans. So he said that he would quite fancy a move to AC Milan last year — so what? Cesc Fabregas did exactly the same with regard to Barcelona, but nobody reacted with such anger towards the Spaniard.

Over at Manchester United a year ago, Cristiano Ronaldo was revered as a hero despite virtually getting on his knees to beg for a move to Real Madrid.

Adebayor’s other crime was apparently a lack of effort. Clearly, scoring 30 goals in a season — as he had two years ago for Arsenal — has to be followed up by at least the same amount in every consecutive year, lest you get called for not putting the requisite effort in.

Despite the peculiar level of abuse thrown at him on Saturday, sprinting the length of the field and sliding on your knees in front of away fans frothing at the mouth probably wasn’t a good idea.

There really wasn’t much malice in it, though — certainly not as much as the old cupping-hand-to-ear routine while running the gauntlet across the away stand that so many players perform.

It is impossible to defend the in-form City striker’s stampy tackles, though. Doing the rumba on Fabregas’s ankle before fox-trotting on Robin van Persie’s cheek, the gangly Adebayor was dancing on (thin) ice and few are expecting the FA to ignore his actions when, by now, everyone in the country has decided that he should be banned forever.

Asking passionate football fans for a bit of perspective is like requesting that Andy Murray crack a few jokes in the press conference after losing a Wimbledon final. It isn’t going to happen, ever — but it would be nice if everyone managed to just calm down a little bit at times like these.

mattchambers@oldham-chronicle.co.uk