Benteke Needs Confidence

Christian Benteke has come under fire over the last couple of weeks due to poor performances since joining Liverpool in the summer.

The former Aston Villa hitman developed a fearsome reputation for scoring regularly when he was at Villa Park. However, he has struggled to find the coherence needed to score in an attacking team like Liverpool.

Many initially questioned the desire of Liverpool to sign a player like Benteke, who was more suited towards a physical team rather than a team looking to play the ball on the ground. However, former manager Brendan Rodgers went ahead with the signing.

A return of seven goals in 22 appearances does sound mediocre for a player who has cost club more than £30 million.

He was once again unable to convince his doubters in the 3-0 win over Exeter City. Sheyi Ojo, Joao Teixeira, and Joe Allen were the scorers for the club, in an FA Cup match that ws so hotly anticipated by fans of both sides that it completely sold out on 1st4Footballtickets.com.

Owen was regarded as a great striker during his time. He sees one major problem in Benteke’s game – lack of confidence.

The former United and Liverpool striker believes that Benteke will be back to his best once he gets some confidence back. Lack of scoring coupled with manager Jurgen Klopp not showing a lot of belief in the player appears to have dented his confidence, even if the German does claim that Benteke has a long-term role at the club.

“No question about it he’s got a lot of quality but he’s got so many gaps in his game that need working on if he’s going to be a top-class player around these parts."

"That last chance was just typical of what he’s going through at the moment, total lack of confidence. The team don’t play to his strengths in many ways and he should be scoring at least one or two goals in a game like this – he certainly had the chances," said Owen.