Christian Benteke is a prolific target man. With 49 goals in 101 games for Aston Villa, he is a very capable player – so why is it not working for him at Liverpool?
At Villa, Benteke was the main man; the likes of Paul Lambert and Tim Sherwood had rightly made the decision to build a team around him. They used the likes of Andreas Weimann and Fabian Delph to do all the leg work for him, be it hitting him with a long ball or running off him.
If one thing typifies the best performances under Klopp, it is the pressing nature of the game. The games in which Liverpool have done their best pressing are the outstanding performances at Man City and Southampton. This pressing has come from the front on each occasion; those front three players pressing high and not allowing the opposition to settle on the ball, even in their own defensive third.
Benteke will not be allowed to play the style he wants to for Liverpool. He does not press from the front and create chances that we saw made in abundance in the games mentioned above. We are talking about a striker who averages nearly 20 goals a season when he is fit and getting the games. However, he is still a player who needs a team built around him. He needs to feel like he is the superstar, which is arguably why there was such a notable spike in his form when he first arrived and then when Tim Sherwood arrived at Aston Villa. He got the backing from his manager and for Sherwood last season he produced six goals in as many games and rescued Villa’s season.
At Liverpool, you can argue the case that Coutinho and Sturridge are the leading lights, players around which a team can be built. The magician when on form makes the team tick and plays the incisive balls in the final third, and in addition to this, his pressing at the Etihad directly led to the first goal. His willingness to chase back and pick Bacary Sagna’s pocket set the tone for the team.
Benteke, for all his quality, does not do this. He chooses to drift in and out of play and stay on the shoulder of the last man. He produced some neat little passes in the wide areas against West Brom but often found himself being pushed wide out to the edges of the 18-yard box. He, being the towering, powerful centre-forward he is, does not need to be on the side of the box, he needs to be working across the width of the six-yard box in the penalty area, dropping off and finding space in the central areas. All too often he seemed keen to drop off and receive the ball in space and play a nothing pass before moving away again. A game in which he contributed nothing for large spells, he is not going to fit into the Klopp method of playing football.
Unless Benteke comes in line with Klopp’s approach very quickly, he will struggle to stay in the team. Given two strong performances by Divock Origi, including the instant impact he showed against West Brom, the days may well be numbered, even more so when Sturridge is truly back in the team. The Sturridge and Origi partnership showed great potential even in a short period of time against Southampton, and the writing could be on the wall for Benteke.
