Yeah me too. I think he was just trying to emphasize that he would cost a hell of a lot of money. Though there is a few on your list that couldn't IMO. Not if he's back to being consistent. A consistent Ben Arfa is one of the best players in world football. It was an interesting read though.
I'd say what excites me most is that he seems to turn defence into attack so quickly. Just a pass from chessy to him out of defence and 10 seconds later a goal scoring opportunity, this is what we've been missing.
Totally agree. Most of our goals come from nice tidy build up, crosses and set pieces. Now I can see us scoring goals where we really open up teams.
Yep and as such teams could play a high line and squeeze the life out of us. If they play a high line now then we have the players to make them regret it.
lol, I never really thought of that, can you imagine any PL team attempting to play with a high line against either or both of HBA and Ramirez, that really would be fun to watch
Pretty much crosses and set pieces. Tidy passing up to the area tends to fizzle out. Someone to produce a final ball or even threaten with a shot from outside the area has been lacking.
Oh aye, totally, just as comfortable, and he can go round the full back or cut in from either side for fun. That's the thing that put the ****s up a full back too, not a clue which foot to try and push him on to. We've seen more of his best work off the right as he loves to cut inside to shoot and, although it's nitpicking, his left foot is slightly better (imo), with a little less backlift. Don't have the stats to check, but I don't recall him missing the target much from there either.
I don't know if this been posted already, if it has, apologies, I just thought it made really interesting reading, regarding a player that many of us are looking forward to seeing play, and it seemingly stems from the period that P45dew had deemed him unworthy of a starting place. http://forum.magsnews.com/index.php?threads/the-enigma-that-is-ben-arfa.10/ ************************************************* THE ENIGMA THAT IS BEN ARFA Over the years I have been fortunate to see some world class players play in a black and white shirt. Players, like anyone else, have different personalities. Some get low ‘match ratings’ in different tabloids just because their personalities are, to put it kindly, difficult. One of the reasons I accepted the post at magsnews.com was the fact that they want to remain objective. Their slogan is ‘No hidden agendas, Just news’. Granted there are players who you wouldn’t be adverse to downgrading scores just because they are personality deficient but I have always been against this. I have always believed that all players should be rated on their actual performance. Not whether he is your mate or not. Strangely, Ben Arfa doesn’t have a difficult personality. In fact he is always a pleasure to interview. He is extremely popular with the media. He is extremely popular with the fans. In fact, He was even one of Mike Ashley’s favourite players. Whether he is now or not I just don’t know. Mike is understandably reluctant to give football based interviews. So why isn’t he playing? The answer is a lot more difficult than you first might think. It all comes down to football ideology. Pardews appears to possession, possession and posession followed by defend, defend and if in doubt defend. In this humble journalists opinion, If Newcastle had ninety percent possession only left their own half once and had one solitary shot on target, scored from it and won the game 1-0 then Newcastle manager Alan Pardew would believe they had played superbly. Some of you may do too. Others however, like Newcastle supporters in the main, believe that football is about creativity. That you have to attack the ball and the game. Two very different ideologies. Players like Ginola, Waddle, Robert and Ben arfa have absolutely no place in the first ideology. Possession football is only ever accomplished with workrate and an emphasis on defence. Why defence you might be thinking? It’s because it is easier to hold onto the ball in your own half than it is to hold it in the oppositions. To the types of player I mentioned earlier, staying in your own half is almost sacrilege. Their strengths are what they can do in the oppositions half. They are the type of player who the opposition has to put two men on or else. Those types are wasted continually tracking back and trying to timewaste and defend. Continually asking players like that to play to their weaknesses instead of their strengths would on most occassions cause a falling out. whether you feel Ben Arfa should play will come down to what your own personal football ideology is. It will be whether you want to see good free flowing attacking football or whether you are happy with the results we got in the last three games. ************************************************** For me I think that Brucey is exactly the type of manager that will encourage Benny to attack and frighten the life out of opposition midfields and defences, and I can't wait to see it all play out!
...and there's more http://forum.magsnews.com/index.php?threads/ben-arfa-to-sign-for-hull-city.3/ BEN ARFA TO SIGN FOR HULL CITY Discussion in 'Comment on Mags News stories' started by funlovingexpress, Monday at 9:28 PM. Hatem Ben Arfa will sign for Hull City Today. The extraordinarily talented Frenchman had made it plain that he would only sign for a Premiership club if he was to leave. Sources confirmed with Mags News that Ben Arfa has a point to prove and will do his best to prove just how wrong Pardew was. This was why it was imperative he remained in the EPL. Hull City have already signed the likes of Dawson, Ince, Livermore and Snodgrass. They have also just broken their transfer record as we speak by buying Uruguyan striker Abel Hernandez from Palermo. They are also finalising a deal for Mohamed Diame but the big news is the signing of Ben Arfa, A very very hungry Ben Arfa by the sounds of it. Newcastle manager Alan Pardew told Ben Arfa he is not wanted and the club made him available for a free transfer. Yanga-Mbiwa has also joined Roma on loan. In Mbiwas case Newcastle will pay 80% of his wages and he will join a team which is in the Champions league. Pardew has been actively trying to get rid of arguably his two best players for their respective positions. What is even more strange is that not only are Newcastle taking a huge loss on both players but in Mbiwas case they are even paying him to leave. Ben Arfa, the most talented and technically gifted forward they have is pushed out of the door at breakneck speed because he was deemed not good enough to even make the bench by Pardew and Mbiwa, former Lique 1 championship winning captain, also deemed not good enough for the leakiest defence in the EPL. What is even more ironic is that Mbiwa will be not only be playing for a very good team but he will be playing champions league football too. Hull with the addition of a Ben Arfa with a point to prove as well as their other signings are a good bet for Europe now. Newcastle United will still have a porous defence and will struggle to create chances whilst no doubt having a lot of possession in their own half. Questions have to be asked! Has Pardew finally lost the plot? Or is it that he never had one to work from?
