Crystal Palace striker Christian Benteke must do more, says Jamie Redknapp
Saturday 17 December 2016 19:11, UK
Jamie Redknapp thinks Christian Benteke must do more after a lacklustre performance in Crystal Palace's 1-0 Premier League home defeat by Chelsea on Saturday.
The Belgium international struggled to assert his authority on the game up against Gary Cahill, David Luiz and Cesar Azpilicueta as the Blues secured their ninth clean sheet in 11 games.
And Redknapp, who was speaking on Sky Sports, compared Benteke's performance to that of Diego Costa, saying the Crystal Palace strike is too passive at times.
"We watched a game today where we saw Diego Costa for one team and Christian Benteke for the other," Redknapp said. "The impact Benteke has compared to Costa is chalk and cheese.
"Benteke is so passive at times and you think he wants the ball into feet, he wants to play nice football, he's 6ft 3" and he never really puts himself about enough for me.
"When I see Diego Costa and I look at the types of goals he can score, I just don't see Benteke scoring them."
Ashley Cole, who was also in the Sky Sports' studio at Selhurst Park, also thought Benteke could have done more despite being up against a solid Chelsea back three.
"He's a strong player," the former Chelsea defender said.
"In this game, I think it's difficult to try and judge him because you are playing against David Luiz, Cesar Azpilicueta and Gary Cahill, who are all strong and like the physical aspect of the game.
"However, he might look back at the game and think he should have done a little bit better."
When it goes up to him, rather than get a perfect ball sometimes you have to fight for the ball.
Wales manager Chris Coleman was the final guest on Premier League Live and he thinks Benteke should go back to basics and fight for the ball in a bid to help Alan Pardew's side move away from the relegation zone.
"Benteke has got a bit more to offer, especially when the ball is wide," Coleman told Sky Sports.
"Just stay in between the sticks because with the size of him, his leap and his power any decent ball into the box he's got a good chance of scoring.
"I've seen him play better and I've seen him be more involved," he added. "He's got frustrated because Palace are deep a lot. When it does come up to him he's waiting for support and maybe he doesn't always get that.
"Certainly when it goes up to him, rather than get a perfect ball sometimes you have to fight for the ball. You have to fight for the 50/50 balls and that's what Diego Costa does.
"That's what Christian can do because we've seen him do it. When he does it he is a handful, make no mistake about it."
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