Crystal Palace’s Christian Benteke will once again be heavily relied upon in the club’s upcoming 2017/18 Premier League campaign. The Belgian found the net 15 times for Palace last season as they battled tooth and nail to stay out of the relegation zone. If the South London side want to avoid a relegation battle this season, Benteke needs to be hungry for goals. And his supporting cast must provide him with more clear cut chances.
Christian Benteke Crucial to Crystal Palace’s Success
Clinical finisher
Benteke looks to be back in goal-scoring form after his disappointing stint with Liverpool in 2015/16. Prior to that, he enjoyed his time with Aston Villa finding the back of the net 42 times in three seasons with the club. Now at Crystal Palace, the 26-year-old is trying to solidify his spot as one of the Premier League’s most dangerous players in front of goal.
The Eagles’ top scorer – by eight goals, Benteke has proved his destructiveness in the 18-yard-box. His undeniable finishing ability is crucial for Palace. The Eagles’ top scorer by eight last season, Benteke proved he still has a nose for goal. A truly old fashioned centre-forward, 14 out of his 15 goals last season were first time finishes.
In whatever formation Frank de Boer settles on this season, Benteke will be expected to make the biggest impact in the attacking end. However, this stat line does show that there is a reliance on Palace’s creative players to provide quality chances for the Belgian international.
“There’s no ‘I’ in team”, or Benteke
The reason Benteke saw so much success with Villa was because the entire squad played to Benteke’s strengths. Being the focal point of Villa’s attack, his teammates did spectacular to create chances and whip in crosses whenever possible. This wasn’t the case at Liverpool. He struggled to fit in at Anfield, as Liverpool were hoping Benteke would be their long-term solution to losing Luis Suarez. Then manager Brendan Rodgers stubbornly insisted he’d be the right fit. Unfortunately poor movement and his incapability to make the sort of runs which Suarez was so renowned for ultimately led to his undoing at the club. With Palace, he’s no longer a square peg in a round hole.
Being the target-man, he needs chances. When the chances don’t come, Benteke looks invisible. This was entirely the case during the club’s horrible mid-season slump. The midfield seemed largely dis-organised and struggled to do much of anything with the ball in the attacking third. Frustration loomed over much of the squad effecting them both on and off the pitch. Unfortunately for Benteke, this led to a massive goal draught.
Palace need to stay strong and motivated this season to avoid another miserable run of form. A sense of confidence going forward will lead to an influx in chances. For Benteke, all he needs is a split second to strike. He’ll rely on the likes of Wilfried Zaha, Andros Townsend and Yohan Cabaye all season long. If they’re up to the task, we should see a resurgence in Christian Benteke.
Competition
One thing the club lacks at the moment is competition for Benteke. With Connor Wickham still recovering from injury, there’s nobody to challenge the Belgian for his spot. Signing a striker wouldn’t just give de Boer depth in that role, it would also motivate Benteke to work harder and maintain consistency. With Arsenal shopping Lucas Perez, Kelechi Iheanacho seemingly on his way out of Manchester City, there are plenty of options for Palace to find some healthy competition upfront.
There is no doubt that when Benteke is in form and playing in a side suited to is strengths, he can be as disruptive as any big-bodied centre-froward in Europe. As long as Benteke can stay healthy, and his teammates have a more consistent season, expect him to be around that 15-20 goal mark once more.
