Arsenal: Adebayor Statements Give Eden Hazard Too Much Credit

Arsenal has recently been heavily criticized by Emmanuel Adebayor, of all people, but his argument is so fundamentally flawed around Eden Hazard.

Arsenal should be used to falling under criticism, but most of the time, that criticism is coming from talking heads who may or may not just want the air time (I’m looking at those people claiming that Alexis isn’t world class).

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But to get criticized by a treacherous has-been is a different category of criticism. It may do well just to ignore what Emmanuel Adebayor had to say, but the simple fact of the matter is that everyone else is talking about it, so why shouldn’t we?

I already covered it in general yesterday, but there is one tragic flaw of Adebayor’s argument that I wanted to highlight more.

The basis of his argument comes from comparing Alexis to Eden Hazard at Chelsea. He says that if Hazard is out, Chelsea can turn to someone else. They can put in Willian or Victor Moses and be just fine.

The flaws are abounding. First of all, Hazard is not on Alexis’s level. The numbers and history prove it. Hazard has completely disappeared. Alexis will never succumb to that level of disappearance. He is a much better player than Hazard, so saying that Chelsea can replace him when Alexis can’t replace Alexis is giving too much credit to the Belgian.

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Not only that, but as I covered yesterday, it’s not like the Gunners are Alexis or bust. Willian and Moses can cover for Hazard? Of course they can. But he’s inferring that they can do the same thing and Chelsea will be fine. Again, that’s not true.

Arsenal can employ the Ox or Iwobi to cover for Alexis and be just fine. It would suck and we would have to acclimate, but so would Chelsea if Hazard was out.

It’s a more apt comparison to look at what Chelsea would do without Diego Costa. They do not have proper cover for him. Michy Batshuayi could fill in, but without Costa, Chelsea would struggle.

Alexis is that at Arsenal. The fabled most important player that is hard to replace. Every team has one. Adebayor just chose to highlight the Gunner’s as if it is a situation that is completely unique to them.

Which, again, is another one of the tragic flaws of his argument. Manchester City would struggle without Kevin De Bruyne (and they have been). Chelsea would struggle without Costa. Tottenham would struggle without Kane.

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And the Gunners struggle without Alexis. It’s that simple.