Crystal Palace face Bournemouth on Monday Night Football from 7pm on Sky Sports Premier League
Monday 1 October 2018 18:34, UK
Christian Benteke scored 15 Premier League goals in his first season at Crystal Palace but he has only managed three in 34 appearances since. Ahead of Monday Night Football, Nick Wright looks at what's gone wrong.
Christian Benteke ghosted past Emre Can, checked his run and stooped to head the bouncing corner past Simon Mignolet. It was April 2017 and Crystal Palace had come from behind to lead Liverpool 2-1 at Anfield. The win all but ensured their Premier League survival, and the decisive goal capped a cathartic afternoon for Benteke, who had scored the leveller too.
Benteke had proved a point to his old club. The Belgian never looked a good fit for Liverpool, who sold him to Palace for a £5m loss after a difficult year on Merseyside, but it had been a different story with his new side. By the end of that season, he had scored 15 Premier League goals. It was an impressive return given the turbulent circumstances.
Benteke's career seemed to be heading in the right direction again, and while there was reported interest from Chelsea and Everton that summer, the overriding feeling was that he was already in the right place for the progress to continue. "I feel really, really good at Palace," he said. "I've rediscovered my confidence, and that leads to good performances."
Eighteen months on from that memorable afternoon at Anfield, however, and things have unravelled spectacularly. Last season, he only scored three Premier League goals in 33 games. In the current campaign, he has yet to find the net in four. Benteke should be in his prime. Instead, he has lost his place in the Palace team and his future is uncertain.
The statistics make grim reading. According to Opta, Benteke has converted just four clear-cut chances out of 27 since the start of last season, giving him the lowest conversion rate of all 77 Premier League players to have had more than five in the same time-frame.
That profligacy cost Benteke a place in Belgium's World Cup squad during the summer, and the situation reached a nadir when he missed a string of glaring opportunities in Palace's 2-0 loss to Southampton at the start of September. Roy Hodgson described his poor form as "difficult for me and for the team" in his post-match press conference.
"He's certainly trying his best to get that goal but somehow it won't fall for him or when he does get an opportunity he narrowly misses or the goalkeeper makes a good save," he added. "Really, all we can do is keep working at it and encourage him to keep his game going but, of course, psychologically these things do matter and do have an effect on players."
Benteke is not just in the team to finish off chances, of course, but the psychological burden has become heavier with every misfiring performance and he has struggled to cope. Hodgson's comments after Palace's 2-1 loss at home to Liverpool towards the end of last season underlined the striker's fragile confidence.
"I have been very pleased with his performances lately but unfortunately, after today people will just focus totally on the fact that two chances came his way that he didn't take," he said. "It did affect his confidence, there's no doubt about that. You can see after the second miss for a period of time he was not as involved in the game as he had been before."
Benteke might argue that service is the bigger issue. Palace ranked second in the Premier League for crosses during his 15-goal 2016/17 season, but they fell to 13th last year and they rank 17th in the current campaign. The towering Belgian is at his best when balls are whipped into him at head height. Is Hodgson failing to play to his strengths?
The crossing statistics are food for thought but the fact remains that the only players to have had more clear-cut chances than him since the start of last season are Mohamed Salah, Harry Kane, Gabriel Jesus, Sergio Aguero, Romelu Lukaku, Alvaro Morata and Raheem Sterling. Palace may not be crossing as much but Benteke has had plenty of opportunities.
Perhaps one goal is all he needs to turn things around, but patience is understandably wearing thin and his long search for form is clearly impacting the team. Since the start of last season, Palace have won just 21 per cent of the games in which Benteke has started compared to 48 per cent of the games he has missed.
Benteke has been sidelined by a knee injury since that dismal afternoon against Southampton, missing a run of two wins and a draw, and while he has walked back into the team on previous occasions, his starting spot no longer looks secure.
The centre-forward position has been filled by Jordan Ayew in his absence, and while Palace remain worryingly dependent on Wilfried Zaha for goals, it was perhaps telling that Hodgson used his press conference after last week's draw with Newcastle to shower the summer signing with praise.
"I thought he was excellent; really, really good," he said of Ayew. "He must be delighted with his performance. I'm sure the fans will be going home thinking 'We've found a centre forward here' because that's certainly our thoughts on it."
It is ominous for Benteke. Eighteen months ago, it seemed the striker had rediscovered the form that made him one of the most feared strikers in the Premier League at Aston Villa. Now, however, the memories of that cathartic afternoon at Anfield grow more distant by the week.
Watch Bournemouth v Crystal Palace live on Monday Night Football from 7pm on Sky Sports Premier League
