Christian Benteke is still struggling for goals at Crystal Palace.
Pundit Paul Merson has told Sky Sports that he thinks Christian Benteke’s decline since leaving Aston Villa for Liverpool in 2015.
Palace lost 4-0 at Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday afternoon, and Benteke offered another toothless performance as a substitute in their defeat.
The 28-year-old is without a goal so far this season, and that’s after scoring just one in the entirety of last season and just three goals in the season before that.
Benteke has proven to be a huge waste of money for Palace, given that they paid a staggering £32million to sign the striker from Liverpool in 2016 (Independent).
The Belgian seems completely bereft of confidence, and his performance against Spurs has garnered criticism from pundit Merson.
Merson feels that Benteke was ‘unplayable’ at Aston Villa, which is more than fair given that he smashed 49 goals in 101 games for the club before joining Liverpool.
Now, Merson thinks Benteke’s decline is ‘unbelievable’, feeling it’s a shame to see him slip so far from the player who was such a dominant force at Villa – and you have to feel that he’ll never be able to hit those heights again.
“You feel for the lad,” said Merson. “You’re talking about a lad who was unplayable when he was at Aston Villa, now…he’s that low, he could walk under a snake with a top hat on. It’s just unbelievable at the moment, unbelievable. It’s a shame,” he added.
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