Ghost Posted July 30, 2023 Share Posted July 30, 2023 One of my favourite Villa players in my time supporting the club. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don_Simon Posted July 30, 2023 Share Posted July 30, 2023 7 hours ago, TheMightyVillans said: Legend. If the club was in the current state it is now all the way back then he would have definitely stayed. Unai + Emery would have been magical Crazy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KMitch Posted July 30, 2023 Share Posted July 30, 2023 The best striker I've seen for Villa since I started following football in 2006. Benteke was a monster who could create something out of nothing better than anyone except Grealish and Young in his first spell for us. He kept us up for several years on his own before we sold him off to Liverpool. That transfer never made sense to me at the time because Benteke won more aerial duels than any other forward in Europe for us in his last season, but went to Liverpool, who crossed the ball the least of any Premier League team under Rodgers. Tactically, it didn't make sense to try to slot him into their system and you could see his confidence drain completely after a dozen games when Anfield became fed up and would groan every time he mistouched the ball. When he went to Palace you'd have bet on him to rediscover his form, but he looked like he completely fell out of love with football all together. No idea why some Villa supporters don't include him in their "greatest players" lists because he's in that conversation for me. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Demitri_C Posted July 30, 2023 Share Posted July 30, 2023 I still have loves for tekkers. Im not bitter at all that he left. He made a mistake leaving and im pretty sure he regrets it on reflection. That performance where he destroyed liverpool at anfield is one of my favs 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KevinRichardsonsMoustache Posted July 30, 2023 Share Posted July 30, 2023 5 hours ago, KMitch said: That transfer never made sense to me at the time because Benteke won more aerial duels than any other forward in Europe for us in his last season, but went to Liverpool, who crossed the ball the least of any Premier League team under Rodgers. Tactically, it didn't make sense to try to slot him into their system and you could see his confidence drain completely after a dozen games when Anfield became fed up and would groan every time he mistouched the ball. When he went to Palace you'd have bet on him to rediscover his form, but he looked like he completely fell out of love with football all together. No idea why some Villa supporters don't include him in their "greatest players" lists because he's in that conversation for me. Your comment on the reasoning behind the Liverpool transfer got me thinking. It was a funny time for them really: Comolli as their DoF left following the failure of the big money signing of Andy Carroll, but it felt like they were always desperate to sign a forward who would bully defences. Brendan Rogers was clutching at straws: Enter Benteke. When Klopp came in, he clearly didn’t rate Benteke. Presumably didn’t feel he could work in the high pressing front three he had in mind. As much as the media faun over Klopp, the fact he refused to try to get a tune out of Benteke shows that he’s not quite the man manager that they make him out to be. Benteke was still physically a beast at that point (barring his Achilles problem at Villa, his string of injuries hit him at Palace) so it makes you wonder how good he could’ve been if manager properly. He really was a fabulous player for us. I still think a player of that type would rip it up in the Premier League. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keyblade Posted July 30, 2023 Share Posted July 30, 2023 22 minutes ago, Demitri_C said: I still have loves for tekkers. Im not bitter at all that he left. He made a mistake leaving and im pretty sure he regrets it on reflection. That performance where he destroyed liverpool at anfield is one of my favs C&B specs off, his mistake was not jumping off the sinking ship sooner. I imagine he had more suitors than just Liverpool after his barnstorming first season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaChris Posted July 30, 2023 Share Posted July 30, 2023 1 hour ago, Keyblade said: C&B specs off, his mistake was not jumping off the sinking ship sooner. I imagine he had more suitors than just Liverpool after his barnstorming first season. He was actually going to Spurs in summer 2013 but then changed his mind and signed a new deal. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post picicata Posted July 30, 2023 Popular Post Share Posted July 30, 2023 2 hours ago, Demitri_C said: I still have loves for tekkers. Im not bitter at all that he left. He made a mistake leaving and im pretty sure he regrets it on reflection. That performance where he destroyed liverpool at anfield is one of my favs His mistake was not leaving, his mistake was leaving for the wrong club. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Villatillidie95 Posted July 30, 2023 Share Posted July 30, 2023 gosh it was a crazy time that summer in 2015 when he left, it was kind of a precursor to the grealish saga that was to come 6 years later....we all knew he wanted out and he wasnt shy about it, remember when Ty teebee bracey phoned his agent pretending to be brendan rogers lmao....and then the next month delph leaves, i suppose it was inevitable that we would go down at that point but none of us was prepared for the absolute shambles of a season that was to come and the rough few years after.....so happy we are on solid ground with great prospects now but also sad we didnt get to see this absolute beast in our current side Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulC Posted July 30, 2023 Share Posted July 30, 2023 The first season he played for us i tho8ght we had thr best center forward since Peter Withe and he wouid go on an be a great striker for Belgium. For whatever reason that never happened but Klopp or no manager can be blamed for that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaJ100 Posted July 30, 2023 Share Posted July 30, 2023 I thin Rodgers bought him partly cos he kept destroying his teams whenever he played them Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mantis Posted July 30, 2023 Share Posted July 30, 2023 Will always remember that game against QPR in 2015 where he scored a hat-trick. He single-handedly dragged a crucial point out of that one. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zatman Posted July 30, 2023 Share Posted July 30, 2023 5 hours ago, PaulC said: The first season he played for us i tho8ght we had thr best center forward since Peter Withe and he wouid go on an be a great striker for Belgium. For whatever reason that never happened but Klopp or no manager can be blamed for that. Klopp is supposed to be a great man manager and through Benteke away immediately Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulC Posted July 30, 2023 Share Posted July 30, 2023 14 minutes ago, Zatman said: Klopp is supposed to be a great man manager and through Benteke away immediately It's about the team though not individuals Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zatman Posted July 30, 2023 Share Posted July 30, 2023 2 minutes ago, PaulC said: It's about the team though not individuals Then he should have man managed him for the team Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post villa4europe Posted July 30, 2023 Popular Post Share Posted July 30, 2023 (edited) To be fair to him klopps style was all about that high press which he was never going to do Firmino isn't fir to lace Bentekes boots but in that system he works where Benteke doesn't Its crazy this goal isn't more famous though That's better than the one Rooney shinned in Edited July 30, 2023 by villa4europe 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulC Posted July 30, 2023 Share Posted July 30, 2023 35 minutes ago, Zatman said: Then he should have man managed him for the team Do you think he was of the level to play champions league finals and win titles. They did pretty well without him to be fair. Benteke could have been a top top player but I think it's down to himself that he never became one. His best days were early 20s with us. Mainly downhill after that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Keyblade Posted July 31, 2023 Popular Post Share Posted July 31, 2023 On 30/07/2023 at 16:10, villa4europe said: To be fair to him klopps style was all about that high press which he was never going to do Firmino isn't fir to lace Bentekes boots but in that system he works where Benteke doesn't Its crazy this goal isn't more famous though That's better than the one Rooney shinned in It also reminds me of the hilarious Martin Tyler commentary. It was the same game Martial scored his first goal for United (possibly his debut?). He kind of stumbled his way through defensive stalwarts such as Martin Skrtl, and the way Tyler screamed "OHHHH YESSSSS ANTHONY MARTIAAAAAAAL", you would think Martial had a hand in Tyler being accepted into heaven or something. Just few minutes earlier, Benteke did that and he's just like "oh yeah, what a goal by Benteke". I don't know if it's bias or that the media really had to hype up the 54m signing of some French 20 year old to justify the crazy fees being spent by clubs like United, or what it was but it's just so funny. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulC Posted August 2, 2023 Share Posted August 2, 2023 No doubt he was an incredible talent. If you had his talent and Watkins desire and work ethic you'd have a striker to compete with Haaland. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidcow Posted August 3, 2023 VT Supporter Share Posted August 3, 2023 Who was the defender who tried to shoulder barge him off the ball but rebounded like he'd just tried to shoulder charge a steel girder and actually dislocated his shoulder? Hilarious moment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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