Emmanuel Adebayor has chosen Jose Mourinho, over Arsene Wenger, as the best manager he has worked with, while also rating Tim Sherwood and Mauricio Pochettino – both of whom he played under at Tottenham Hotspurs – highly.
It was at Arsenal, under Wenger, that the Togo international made his biggest mark.
In 2006, the striker was bought from Monaco by the Frenchman and went on to score 46 English Premier League goals in 104 appearances during his stay at the Emirates outfit.
However, the İstanbul Başakşehir hitman’s short spell under Mourinho at Real Madrid, on a short-term loan from Manchester City in 2011, left a big impression on him such that he labelled Portuguese a ‘top’ manager.
“No, Mourinho is a top, great man who creates a unique empathy with the team, but I can’t help but mention Sherwood: he was a second father to me at Tottenham, and now there is Pochettino, one of the best in Europe. His future is written: in a short time, we will certainly see him with one of the top clubs,” Adebayor told La Gazzetta Dello Sport.
Things never went well with Adebayor after he secured a big move to join Manchester City from Arsenal, with the 34-year-old having strong reservations towards his then manager Roberto Mancini.
“Together with Mancini at City, a relationship never took off, I never liked him, both as a person and as a tactician, and his training was so boring: how much more tactics.”
Adebayor, now plying his trade in the Turkish Super Lig, has been a huge influence in Başakşehir’s season so far, helping Abdullah Avcı’s side in their push for a first top-flight honour.
The 34-year-old has scored 12 goals in 27 league appearances for the Fatih Terim Stadium outfit, third in the log after 30 games with only a point adrift of league leaders Galatasaray.
