Christian Benteke: Scout Report

Christian Benteka

What do you expect from a striker? If you have Benteke in your team you can get pretty much everything you expect. His harmony of both the physical and technical style of football makes him a marvellous choice to be your main striker. Benteke can be played in different variations in the attacking third, but through the middle as a centre forward is his best suiting.

Something that I have noticed in Benteke’s play is the calmness & composure he displays inside the box, when most young strikers would let their nerves get the better of them. We saw it against Norwich, Holland and many other teams. At such an early age, it’s an important characteristic. He doesn’t hurry, he makes his move and generally a decent finish follows.

A good finisher, with an excellent heading ability, Christian Benteke is your perfect centre-forward. He’s a strong player and knows how to use his strength to open up spaces for his teammates or protect the ball. He utilises his strength to hold up the ball, allowing his team-mates to advance forward before picking out an attacking pass. We saw against Liverpool at Anfield that he has good long shots and he demonstrated how to protect the ball against defenders. His aerial ability and height are the main parts of his game style, making him a prime target for crosses. This also enhances his ability to be used as a traditional number 9. He lets his team use the wings more often and efficiently. He showed his aerial ability this past season scoring with two great headers against Everton and Sunderland (he scored a brace and a hat-trick in those games respectively). Also, he has adequate talent with the ball at his feet and is a real threat inside the box. He usually keeps himself available and it predominantly gives midfielders a chance to play him a through ball in every attack. He can spread the ball to his teammates when he plays as a target man, especially for wingers and attacking midfielders. What I have observed about his game is his first touch when he is inside the penalty box.

We can consider his forward runs as one of his weaknesses. He is a bit slow in terms of speed and can’t make a decisive final decision on his forward runs. Acceleration, speed and agility are his apparent physical weaknesses. After this stage of his career, it is hard to improve these factors as his core football values have already set in.

Defensive contribution of Benteke is limited, and also needs to improve his work-rate in the defensive part of the game. Despite winning 89% (16/18) of his duels, he doesn’t have enough contribution. He wins a decent amount of headers but when you compare his stats to Peter Crouch & Andy Carroll, it gives you a different picture. Their average headed duels won is 65% while Benteke’s is a mere 57%. He has the willingness to defend for his team, but sometimes he may lose his defensive position on the field and can’t press effectively.

His discipline, as already mentioned, is another weakness that could restrict his game time and put off potential suitors.

Quotes

“He’s been fabulous. He has a big, big career in front of him. For a lad of 22 he has played a lot of high-pressure games for club and country. The crowd here love him and I can’t speak highly enough of him. As long as he keeps his feet on the ground he can have a big career.”

—Paul Lambert, Aston Villa manager, quoted by BBC.

“He is still young, and I’d describe him as an ‘English’ kind of striker – good in the air, timing his jumps well, strong and improving technically. I think he’ll only keep improving, and I am really happy for him.”

—Thomas Vermealen, Belgian national team-mate, quoted by Villa’s official site.

“He scares opponents. You can see that in games. When Brad Guzan kicks a long ball a lot of time they don’t even bother challenging him because he’s so strong so he takes it on his chest.”

—Ron Vlaar, Aston Villa team-mate, quote by Daily Mail.

Transfer Situation

After such an amazing season at Aston Villa, there are lots of rumours about his future at the club. Tottenham, Liverpool, Manchester City, Dortmund, Fiorentina, Arsenal and Atletico Madrid have all been linked with him. It’s hard to say if he is going to stay at Aston Villa, given his track record of moving around.

According to rumours, Villa are ready to open talks with Christian Benteke to secure his place at the club with £20,000-a-week pay rise, but if a serious offer comes from top clubs, it will be hard to keep him at Aston Villa.