Ben Arfa...

Ben Arfa did well I thought, looked sharp in some aspects of his game and rusty in others which is completely understandable having been out so long. He also seems just a little too eager to impress his manager and the fans and showed a little bit of ball-hogging but I can deal with that, much better than him not caring. If he's still doing it three quarters of the way through the season then that would be a cause for concern.

The lad just needs to beef up a little, continue to impress in training and Pardew will make sure he gets his full chance. He will be amazing for this football club and one of our most entertaining players since the good old Keegan days of yore.

 

That'll be the key to seeing the real Ben Arfa return. Now he is fit they can start to build his frame back up. He looked very weak yesterday and got buffed about a bit. But he did ghost past people with consumate ease and once you have him firing, I really think he could be a massive creative force for us.

 

It's also worth remembering what a difficult role it is to play, in behind the striker - wingers only face 1 full back and 1 opposition winger when attacking, a CAM, if you will, faces a defensive midfielder who is probably man marking him and two centre backs. He added a whole new dimension to our play, as we had only previously attacked on the wings and I thought he linked up with Jonas very well.

Not to say he didnt give the ball away or anything, as has been said he needs to get match fit before we judge him.

 

100% agree with you.

 

ffs

 

I'd like to see him get the first 45 mins against wigan along with marv. Hopefully get a comfortable lead with an attack minded game plan. Change it to 442 with obertan and best coming on if we're not in front. Only because I can't see Pardew going for that kind of attack away against Blackburn. Whilst they have been poor I think game time for fringe and returning players would be too risky.

 

He's just come back from a double leg break, and he's gotten too eager to score or do something spectacular in the 15 minutes he had on the pitch.

 

out for a year. confidence destroying injurys. plays a hand full of minutes on the pitch and people already trying to pick holes in his game play already (not aimed at the OP). our board is starting to border on the ridiculous with this.

how many people on here have suffered a serious leg break, and know how ****ing long and hard it is to recover? let alone being a professional footballer expected to perform... he came on hes played well.. hes progressing, and his fitness in terms of injury and niggles looks to be very good.

Judge him at the end of the season.. judge shola at the end of the season. judge obertan and the rest of the team at the end of the season.

 

Whatever else, Ben Arfa has loads of class and it seems he's got a good work rate and is eager to please.

I'm quite happy to bide my time and see the real Ben Arfa whe he's fully match fit and raring to go.

 

A positive trait which was evident against Spurs, although he did seem a bit too keen to please. He is evidently talented, I just hope he doesn't try and take on the world by himself in order to prove his worth. As you say though I'm happy wait until we see the real HBA.

 

He has a team that can match his ability and needs as a player now. The big thing for him is to calm down and play his game, not rush in and try to impress instantly by being spectacular. When he does this, we will be in a different class, which considering how well we're doing right now, is frightening.

 

For **** sake the lads just come back it will take perhaps a year before he gets back to his best. **** off with the negative **** and just support the team.

 

I fail to see how I was being negative.

 

I thought when he came on and started occupying that space between the midfield and defence, that Cabaye suddenly started stringing one or two fantastic passes through to him, totally bypassing the Spurs midfield. A sign of things to come I hope...

 

Dunno why some people are being so defensive. We're entitled to our opinions.

Imo Ben Arfa already looks quite up to speed, however, he was just being over-excited with his first game back and ended up being disposessed a few times. That should stop when he calms down. He should cause havoc against the lower teams defences. I'd say give him a long run-out against Wigan. Hacking away at their poop defence would not only help him get more match fitness, but it should also help with his confidence.

 

Look at Wigan's last league line-up.. http://www.football-lineups.com/match/104549/

Al Habsi
Boyce Caldwell Alcaraz Gohouri
Watson
Moses Jones Diame McCarthy
Di Santo

The only player who I see there who could cause us problems is Moses, apart from that they look very average.

Obertan/Guti/Best/Ba could have a field day with that defence! Looks so slow and prone to mistakes.

 

Not the worst players, but they're just playing awfully with no team spirit and no fight.

It's a bit like our starting 11 during the relegation season. On paper it was decent, but with no fight and no decent team play, we plummeted. Unfortunately, Wigan don't have any fight AND they have a fairly poop team.

 

lets not get arrogant lads we don't like it when other teams fans do.

 

Agree. Let's keep our feet on the ground because you never know with Wigan, but seriously this season I don't see them surviving the drop.

 

It would be typical for us to lose against Wigan. Really, really typical. In fact, I'm half expecting it.