Tactical Twins: Internacional's Leandro Damiao and Villa's Christian Benteke

In our latest look at tactical twins, B/R checks in on two strikers who are revolutionising the target man role.

Christian Benteke was procured from Genk for a cool £7 million in August 2012, via The Mail, and Aston Villa have reaped the benefits of his size, speed and all-round play.

Leandro Damiao is of the very same ilk, and it feels like a matter of time before an English Premier League club takes the plunge on the man currently plying his trade at Internacional.

Not only are they similar, they're also changing the role of the traditional target man—setting a standard for others to follow.

Physical Attributes

First things first, they're both hulking great men.

Damiao measures in at 6'2" while Benteke comes in at 6'3", and both have the appropriate size and muscle to use that tall frame well.

They can hold the ball up in offensive areas, shrug off challenges with ease and back in well to make ground—all the tasks any target man worth his salt can carry out.

But that's not what makes them desirable, £20 million-plus prospects—it's the less traditional aspects of their game that make it so.

Technicians

Rather than flicking the ball on endlessly, both Benteke and Damiao are adept at playing up front on their own and using their chests to control.

There was a time when a big man would have to be paired with a small man, but those days are gone and the best strikers are those who can pull the ball out of the air.

The footwork both boast is incredible: A confident Benteke does step-overs and drag backs as he pulls defenders out of position, while Damiao does this:

The old-style target men—Duncan Ferguson, Andy Carroll, John Toshack—would stack it if they tried half of what these two do.

Benteke's short passing game was rusty up until February, but is now able to drop deep and set players free with accurate, arced deliveries. Damiao's linkup play and ability in tight spaces belies his size.

Fit for a Spur

Both Benteke, according to The Mirror, and Damiao, via The Guardian, have been continuously linked to Tottenham, and for once the links make perfect sense.

It's one or the other for Daniel Levy, and both represent the type of player Andre Villas-Boas' side is crying out for: a technical target man, a well-rounded forward and a viable option for goals aside from Gareth Bale.

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