Thoughts on Arfa(pls give him time) and Obertan

Alright lads, I'm delighted the way we managed to come away with a victory on the back of a Cabaye special.....

I've said it before guys, I hope you guys can give Ben Arfa time... I've experienced a fractured Tibia, which is half the leg break Ben Arfa had( he had a double) and after a year out, and 3 months of playing, I've never been the same as before the leg break. There might even always be complications in such major bone problems, but what Ben Arfa needs now is time. And game time, loads of it.. before he can get nearly back to where he was(Everton match). He needs to be eased into the game and AP is doing such a wonderful job at the moment. So I implore you guys to lay off him for any performances until he gets back to his old self and hopefully he doesn't commit some horrible mistake(a la Perch).

As for Obertan, he looks more like a headless chicken to me, even though he does track back and help out very well when required. AP probably told him to send in crosses as much as possible(but he even sends them in when our strikers are not even in the box...). Let's compare that to Marveaux, who came on, and for that goal, he took the ball down, looks for an open teammate(Cabaye) and what does it result? The winning goal! I'd bet Obertan might've tried to beat his man and send in a cross which doesn't clear the first defender. I do not really wish to lay into Obertan but isn't it obvious that Marveaux is the better player?

 

Agreed on both points. Ben Arfa will need time to get back up to speed, it's been a whole year after all. He was a bit sloppy today but nobody should have expected him to return at full quality right away. He'll be back soon enough.

As for Obertan, I was all for giving him time to impress - he seemed like he needed a build up of confidence. But now he's had his chances and I've been far more impressed by the comparatively fractional amount of Marveaux we've seen on the pitch than anything from Obertan since day one. Hoping Pardew makes this change for the Stoke game.

 

Ben Arfa is still getting back into it all. Even though he wasn't at his best yesterday, we looked far more threatening once he came on.

Obertan is ineffective if you start him, you need to throw him on as a second half sub to take on fatigued players with his pace.

 

Marveaux has class written all over him. Great vision, great first touch, great work rate and not a bad shot. Very impressed with what I've seen of him.

Of course I'm still prepared to give Obertan time to show what he can do, I think at the moment he's trying too hard to impress and once he settles in he'll be fine.

 

I'm sorry but am I the only one who thinks that this is just a little bit contradictory?

I implore you to look at the stats, I bet Ben Arfa lost the ball 10x more than Obertan did!

I think Obertan was poor, I think Marveaux was far better and myself and the whole of St James' Park were correct in our calls for Marveaux (as he did more in 5 minutes than Obertan did in 75)...

BUT

I'm sick of people blindly ignoring poor performances! If we were playing a decent side (or if Tottenham had been more decisive) theres a fair few of Ben Arfa's failed runs, misplaced passes and dodgy shots that would've resulted in goals against us! Imagine if it had been Perch, or Smith or Best who'd have put in that performance, you'd all be calling for their heads!

Does Ben Arfa need time? Aye of course he does, but opposition aren't gunna stand back and say "ah weh, he's had a poorly leg, lay off him lads" so neither am I! Look at his performance today - if he'd had played a simple pass instead of trying to do too much yesterday we'd have kept possession - thats got NOTHING to do with a broken leg!

I love the lad, but lets be ****ing fair to the rest of the team eh?

 

If Perch or Smith were as good as Ben Arfa is and had just come back from a year long leg break injury, I'm pretty sure we'd all be saying the same ****. Ben Arfa made sloppy mistakes, as I said, but we're all expecting that he will warm back into it soon, what is so unfair about that?

 

Fair enough, I used Perch and Smith 'cause they were extreme examples, but the fact remains we're watching Ben Arfa with rose tinted specs on. He's clearly a great player but he is taking too long to release the ball and is choosing the wrong option, I think its unfair on the rest of the players that people are ignoring this!

Compare him to Marveaux - took the ball down, laid it off, set up a goal...Had that been Ben Arfa I genuinely think he'd have done a step over, tried to take on the defender and lost the ball.

Will he be better? Yes! Will he get back up to speed? Yes! Will I praise him when he does well? Yes! BUT I'm going to point out what he is doing wrong 'cause in my oppinion he is no more important than the rest of the squad!

 

I absolutely see your point, just feel it is perhaps a bit misplaced in this thread as nobody is particularly ignoring his mistakes here. It's very true though, he held onto it for too long at times and looked a bit greedy and sloppy here and there, but he did show a few flashes of the genius we know he can be, so I'm willing to forgive based on how little first team action he's had.

 

Aye fair enough, I think this is just a reaction to seeing the same thing too often...A little pent up! I want him to start against Blackburn, if he plays amazingly I'll be more than happy to point that out, but at the same time, if he plays poorly, I'll point that out as well!

 

I want him to start v Blackburn too. In mixed minds over Marveaux playing that game though, I get the impression that if he plays against Blackburn we'll have another Obertan game at Stoke.

 

Obertan is built to be a super sub if you ask me! I think Pardew is worried about knocking the lads confidence by dropping him. But it's plain to see Marveaux should be starting, he just has to be fitted into the team. Then around the 70 min mark bring Obertan on to run at tierd legs.

 

I hope not...I see this as the game Pardeaux can use as a way to change the starting 11 and still maintain the positivity in the changing room - If Obertan is dropped without Marveaux having a great game against Blackburn (which I think he will) then it just sends out a negative message, if/when Marveaux does play well, Obertan knows he's been dropped on the merit of his team mates!

 

Agree entirely!

 

Smith was pretty good before he broke his leg

 

Yeah, let's give him a few more weeks. He'll come good!

 

I think that is a bit unfair, yes Ben Arfa did lose the ball of a few occasions but he also ripped into their defence on a few occasions as well. He also did quite a few simple and first time passes, so I do not think he was as selfish as you say he was.

 

Well I know that he's not 100% fit but I think that he knows that too. Therefore he should just keep things simple, and not try to take on 3 players à la Messi. Also I've noticed when he's on the edge of the box, he's always looking to shoot. But the problem is that he's onefooted and he makes it too predictable for the opposition, who end up closing him down and making him turn around in circles...

 

For Arfa i reckon play him in cup game and some reserve matches to get his confidence up

 

thanks for telling me how to think and what to do abc, but i'll make up my own mind thanks. its just as well that what you've said is so breathtakingly obvious that i'll be doing it regardless

 

Both frustrated me but couldn't believe the treatment of Obertan, people cheering when he got brought off. Ben Arfa needs more time, he'll come good.