Seems pretty slow this morning..

So i thought i would lighten up our Sunday morning with a little reminder of why De Jong ruined what could have been one of the PL's best players last season and why AP needs to get him on the pitch and get his yard of pace back!

[video=youtube;sLB5oz88umE]http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=sLB5oz88umE[/video]


N.B. The incredible wing play by our newly-appointed captain.

 

He looked sharper when he came on yesterday, I think it's only a matter of time before he is in the starting lineup again

 

I think someone needs to tell him he's got better players around him now and he doesn't have to do everything himself!

 

I don'w want to be THAT guy but I notice that he loses the ball a lot even when on form. However you can see he is potentially the best player in the league!

 

He is class, but needs to pass the ball. He did a class run yesterday where he got past about 4 players, then lost it. Reminds me of what Jonas sometimes does lol

 

Once his confidence is back to what it was and he has 100% fitness he could prove a match winner against ANY team

 

Colos close to signing new 5 year contract according to Sundaysun

 

"You're just a poor Gutierrez, just a poor Gutierrez!"? Haha

Looked better when he came on yesterday. Slowly getting there, but for gods sake man PASS

 

This on both accounts. I noticed it too when i watched it again but if you look who he had around him when he is bursting forward, Carroll, Nolan and Barton are so immobile compared to him that they rarely kept up with his attack! I'm just not sure how long it will take him to get this sort of confidence up. I for one don't mind him losing the ball a few times if he is going to shock teams into submission with attacking play like that, Everton were all over the shop at times!

Also, did he play on the wing at Everton?

 

Haha, thats what I said on my thread yesterday. Hatem, ****ing pass! lol.

Hope he starts to link up with Ba and that could well be a good partnership for years to come

 

He looked better, but so off the pace compared to last season. Lacking the extra yard that is detrimental to his game, im just not sure if its down to fitness, confidence or both.

 

Just watched Alain Pardeaux's interview after the match, was talking about him, said he affected the game with his strength and trickiness and how he's slowly getting back to his old self.

 

These

 

Would be fitting if he could make his first PL start at the Etihad in a fortnights time.

 

Yep and snap De Jong's legs

 

Benny has a lot of talent but seems like a raw Ronaldo. Has to work on his decision making; when to pass, dribble etc ... He has to realise that when he keeps the ball for so long, teams are able to reorganise their defense and shut him out ...

 

Yeah he played LW that day. Routledge was RW and Barton and Tiote were in the centre with Nolan acting as a AM with Carroll up top on his own.

 

Cheers. I'm not sure why we stopped this formation when Carroll left, Shola/best could both cope with being upfront on their own and Barton was quality next to Tiote in the middle.

 

Because we didn't have a right winger!

 

In reference to him losing the ball a fair bit, this is what a Marseille fan had to say on HBA when he signed for us last summer (ie before the injury):


"From a Marseille fan :


This guy has a bad temper, is a bit too inconsistent, not a good or efficient defender, but he is one of the most talented player I’ve ever seen.

He suffers too much from of form a media/fan hate towards dribblers. Fans, or media, are pretty harsh against players who takes too many risks, and then lose too many balls, when the team is not doing well. But the thing is that with players like Ben Arfa, he can lose 3 balls, but on the fourth one, he’ll be creating a goal all by himself (which he did a lot of times). Way too many people can’t take a step back, and look at the big picture : they’ll prefer a safe player, who loses very few balls but doesn’t create much, rather than a Ben Arfa, who might lose a lot of balls, but will create some very dangerous situations. ‘He’ll usually get booed the 3rd or 4th time he’ll lose possession). In a game that is being most of the time won by one goal, having a player able to change the side of the game in one moment is invaluable.

Marseille had some good dribblers recently (Nasri, Ribery, Niang, Valbuena), but none of them come close to Ben Arfa : he can effortlessly go past 2/3 players, like very few players in football. Newcastle fans, I don’t guarantee a good financial investment, but you’ll see the of the mos beautiful technical moves and fluent football you’ve ever seen"



Source/Sauce

http://www.tomwfootball.com/2010/09/22/an-idiots-guide-to-hatem-ben-arfa/#comment-1573