Christian Benteke has dismissed Tim Sherwood’s criticism of his reliance on crosses, claiming he can adapt to different styles of football.
Benteke also insisted his revived form at Aston Villa last season was not entirely down to the manager joining the club – and rather, a result of his own return to fitness. “I don’t believe that and I told him,” Benteke said of the talks between the pair after Villa’s manager suggested before Benteke’s move to Liverpool: “There’s no point going to a club where they don’t cross the ball.”
“I said football has changed and the football now is modern and I can adapt,” Benteke added. “It is not just about crossing. I can score normal goals, too. I told him, I am not afraid about it. If Liverpool bought me, then they know how to use me.”
Benteke has also given his view of his return to form just as Sherwood was appointed. “People don’t understand. It was a bit frustrating. It was like I had never been injured. He came in at a good time, when I was getting fit and getting better, so it was like a good time for both of us: the right time for him and for me.”
It is only when Benteke is questioned about Sherwood’s assessment of his qualities, that he deems it necessary to respond with the kind of force that characterises his play.
Without Benteke’s goals, Villa would probably have been relegated in each of the last three campaigns. There were criticisms during his time there, however. Roy Keane, Villa’s assistant manager for a few months, declared that Benteke needed to train harder if he wanted to emerge as a centre-forward in the world-class bracket.
“I have nothing to say about it, he can say what he wants,” Benteke insisted. “I don’t want to be arrogant but since I came to England I proved I wasn’t a bad player.”
Benteke has an earnest smile and he is trying to be polite. It is possible that he is a touch nervous, hemmed in by 10 Merseyside journalists. But if the yes and no game were a serious championship, it is fair to say that on this meeting alone when his Liverpool future is discussed, the outcome for him would be a crushing defeat.
John Toshack was once told by Bill Shankly that he was “moving from Sunday school and into church” by joining Liverpool from Cardiff City and there are parallels with Benteke. It will be how he deals with the expectations at Anfield – sharpened by the £32.5m transfer fee – that will define him.
“I think it is not about money,” Benteke said. “I knew if I joined a big club I would have some pressure, so I am ready for this challenge. I will work hard and not worry about things. I think the pressure will bring the best out of me.”
Gradually, the conversation tails off. Maybe Benteke’s restraint is because he does not want to say something that will burden him in the future, having become the second most expensive player in Liverpool’s history. Or maybe he will prove it when he contends that he prefers to be judged by what he does on the pitch rather than what he says off it.
Ask why he has performed so devastatingly against Liverpool in the past, he has no answer. “I don’t know, I don’t know,” he said. And what of Liverpool’s pitiful display in last season’s FA Cup semi-final against Villa? Did it prompt doubts that Anfield was the right place for him to go? “No. None.”
Benteke will make his Liverpool debut on Sunday at Stoke, the scene of their 6-1 thrashing in their last competitive game, on the last day of last season. Benteke is adamant that Rodgers has already clearly outlined how he plans to incorporate him into Liverpool’s favoured slick passing style.
“Yes,” he concluded. “That is between me and him.”
http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/christian-benteke-brushes-off-criticism-from-former-manager-tim-sherwood-10444552.html
