Tag: Benteke

Aston Villa manager Paul Lambert has heaped the praise on striker Christian Benteke after the Belgian international scored two goals in the 4-1 win over Norwich during the weekend. The striker was subjected to much transfer interest in the summer after he scored a spectacular 23 goals in his debut season with the club last season. However, he rejected the opportunity to move to clubs like Chelsea and Tottenham and decided to stay with Villa. He even signed a new five-year contract, which was rumoured to double his wages.

Benteke began the season in extraordinary fashion after scoring five goals in as many games. However, he suffered a hip injury just a few months into the new campaign. Since then, his form nosedived and he went without finding the back of the net for 12 matches. Now, though, he seems to be finding his form once again and the Norwich match showed the best of the striker. He scored two goals in the space of just three minutes to setup this impressive win.

After the match, Lambert praised Benteke to http://www.ftbllr.net by saying that the striker could become a world-class player if he manages to reproduce the form from last season. Tottenham were rumoured to be ready to pay around £ 25 million for the striker, who was signed for just £ 7 million from Genk in the summer of 2012.

“I think if he does over the second half of this season what he did last season then we’re talking about having an absolute world-class player on our hands. This season was always going to be hard for him. He’s only been in Britain for a year and a half, and I think people forget that, and they forget his age as well. He’s got the ability to be a top, top player,” said Lambert.

During Belgium’s friendly match against Colombia, Christian Benteke picked up a knee injury that saw him leaving the playing ground on November 14^th which forced him to be absent during his national team’s friendly encounter against Japan and still not certain if he will be available to play in Aston Villa’s upcoming Premier League match against West Bromwich.

Although the medical staff of Belgium did however notify Paul Lambert and said that the injury is not as bad as initially suspected and Benteke is expected to make a full recovery just in time for the Premier League.

Taking into consideration that Christian Benteke is Aston Villa’s main goal-scoring player it will be a big blow if they have to cope without him in such important matches of the league.

Last season Aston Villa’s Andreas Weimann managed to scored 7 goals for his club while in this new season he is going through a dry run after only finding the back of the net in 1 occasion out of 10 appearances.

Even failing to make any kind of impact for his national team after 3 World Cup matches for Austria but he did say that the only thing he needs to boost his performances is 1 goal and from there on out everything changes.

“If I get one goal, I feel I can go on a run. I certainly have that mindset. It can set you off. Your confidence starts to rise and you feel you can’t miss.”

“I will start scoring soon. I know it. I am not worried. I am getting in the right positions.”

So far in this season Aston Villa has conceded 12 goals and scored 11 goals, so it would be very appreciated if Weimann can boost their tally of goals and get into higher spots of the Premier League.

Aston Villa have been dealt a blow with the news that striker Christian Benteke will miss the next few weeks due to an injury. The Belgian international suffered a hip injury during the 1-0 win over Norwich. This victory helped bring a run of three consecutive defeats for the team, while also helping them move closer to the top half of the table. Benteke is currently the top scorer in the division with four goals to his name already. Aston Villa went to great lengths to keep him at the club after he handed in a transfer request in the summer.

Manager Paul Lambert, though, has said that he is quite satisfied with the news that Benteke has always injury at the stage where the next two seasons will be dedicated to international matches. This means that the injury blow will be softened a lot for the team. Villa have a number of players on the injury table and the sooner they get Benteke back from this layoff will be better for Lambert and his men. The likes of Gabriel Agbonlahor, Gary Gardner, Charles N’Zogbia and Ashley Westwood for on the sidelines for the club, which narrowly avoided relegation last season.

Villa will be hoping for a much better campaign where they could finish in the top half this season.

“It’s not as bad as we feared it was going to be. It’s maybe four, five, six weeks or so. You have that international break which certainly helps us. But he’s feeling a lot better to be fair. We will have to wait and see. We spoke to the medical people before and they give the best and worst case scenarios. You are never quite sure until you hear from the professor to find out how it is,” said Lambert.

Aston Villa recently managed to convince striker Christian Benteke to extend his spell at the club. The Belgian striker was signed from Genk only last summer for £ 7 million, but an impressive season in the Premier league has led to him being linked with every big club in England. Chelsea and Tottenham have been linked with a £ 25 million move for his services. The striker handed a transfer request to Aston Villa after just one season at the club. He still had three more years left on his contract that he signed upon his arrival.

However, manager Paul Lambert managed to convince him to stay at Aston Villa because it is a crucial time that could determine his passage into the 2014 World Cup. Belgium are currently one of the favourites to qualify for the 2014 World Cup. Lambert has said that Benteke will struggle to get into the Belgian squad if he does not play regularly in the coming season. He has said that the prospect of regular first-team opportunities is good only at Aston Villa. The striker scored close to 20 goals for the club last season as he helped them avoid relegation.

His huge physical presence has made him a force to reckon with in the Premier league.

“He’s not even at his peak yet. But he has quickly become a cult hero. The big thing for him is to go out and try to do what he did last year,” said the manager after the player signed a new four-year contract with the club. Benteke revealed that he has decided to extend his Aston Villa stay after extensive conversations with Lambert. He has also said that he is extremely thankful of the Aston Villa players and fans, who have been supportive of him in the last one year.

Aston Villa manager Paul Lambert praised Christian Benteke after the Chelsea match and he has said that the team definitely missed him in the second half. The Belgian striker scored the first goal in the match to surprise the visitors, who were chasing a Champions League spot. He proved to be a major thorn for the opposition, as they found it difficult to contain his pace and power. The goal against Chelsea was his 23rd of the season, with 20 of those coming in the league. He was signed for just £ 7 million in the summer, which is proving to be a bargain.

Frank Lampard, though, scored two goals in the second half to send Chelsea to a victory, which almost sealed a Champions League spot for the team. The big decision came in the second half when the referee sent off Christian Benteke for his second yellow card. However, Villa manager Lambert has said that he will not be toning down his striker, who has been hugely influential. As a result of the red card, Benteke will miss the final match of the season against Wigan. Villa appear to be relatively safe, although it could be confirmed if Wigan are defeated against Arsenal in the midweek action.

“No. I won’t curtail that. The ‘Big ‘Un’ takes some himself, he’s not a shrinking violet, that’s for sure. If you take that away from really good players you lose a bit of them. We’ll miss him, but we’ve got to go there full of confidence with the way we are playing. We’ve got to just pick ourselves up and go again,” said Lambert. Villa are currently 16th in the table after 37 matches. The team have 40 points on the board and they have 2 wins in the last 5 matches.