Obertoon

Marv proved in 5 mins why he sould be on that wing, if not Ben Arfa.

Thats the end of Obertan for a while I hope.

P.S. Ben Arfa is not a No.10. Gives the ball away far too much, yet when he was out wide had a great chance.

 

I agree with every word of this... Ben Arfa could play in the hole abroad but not in a league where you get closed down in a couple of seconds.

 

Marveaux looked the part when he came on. He was sharp, showed some nice touches and was composed on the ball. Everything Obertan wasn't/didn't do.

Ben Arfa was poor for me, he gave the ball away countless times and he needs to release the ball earlier. As has been pointed out, he doesn't get as much time on the ball in this league, he was closed down immediately every time.

 

People are being a bit harsh on Ben Arfa, he has not started a game in over a year, he is bound to be a bit rusty and not yet up to speed, remember it is not like he had fully acclimatised to the league even before his injury. Ben Arfa has to play in the hole for me.

 

tbh thought benny was good in the hole was unlucky not to score and he orchestrated a lot of the moves with the dreamboat

 

I'm not criticising the lad, I know he's been out for a while and may be a bit rusty, but I just get confused as to why everyone seems to think he's a must for a starting place. If we are going off form i'd say the only player that should be dropped is Obertan who has been consistently average. Plus I don't know if i'd want HBA starting against Stoke, they'll pulverise him!

 

You have to remember half of the football fans these days are of the FIFA and FM generation... in their minds a player should instantly become the best they can be even after a year long lay off with a broken leg... so that equals to ben arfa is very poor and we should sell him in january... (over exaggerated sarcasm for those masses on here who dont get sarcasm)

 

What a gloriously sweeping generalisation. Maybe, just maybe, people are simply providing an honest opinion of his performance today. Would it be better to turn around and say 'he broke his leg a year ago therefore despite him being rusty, giving the ball away often and lacking precision in his passing, he was amazing, world beating in fact.' (Gross over exaggeration for those masses on here who don't get exaggeration).

I have every faith that he will come good, but stating that (in my opinion) he wasn't great today doesn't equate to expecting him to be Messi-esque every game!

 

For a guy who has been out for a year.. and remember that hes still "new" to the premier league, he is doing well... i dont know what people are expecting from him. every game hes been involved in.. within an hour some people are posting about him being poor and complaining.. and this doesnt just apply to HBA... its becoming tedious... we have had one of the best starts to a season we have ever had.. yet on here it seems we still have negativity towards our players... personally i find our board less enjoyable whilst we have been doing well.

HBA is playing with confidence that in itself is a huge positive for someone who has just come back from a serious injury... his touch is a little off but that will come with minutes on the pitch.

 

I've been delighted by our start and long may it continue. But because we have been excellent as a team and have maintained a fantastic start it shouldn't mean that areas for improvement can't be mentioned, similarly if we were losing all the time but had players who stood out due to effort and commitment it wouldn't be wrong to praise them.

On a positive I thought Colo was outstanding again today, he has become such an influential and important player for us. What impresses me most is his distribution, he always looks to get the ball to feet as opposed to the hoofed 'percentage' passes into the channels.

 

This. I think that is his best position easily. He goes from the left, to right, to the centre. Just give him the free role and he will cause havoc

 

Plus it will create room for Cabaye to do his stuff in.

 

The biggest positive for me is the team spirit which i believe is better than last season... the new boys seem to be in love with the club already.. cabaye looked over the moon with his goal today and the celebrations afterwards showed everyone else was so happy for him too and not just for us taking the lead... i think we have found a team who is just as passionate about NUFC as us the fans.

 

Completely agree with this. As you say the celebration was indicative of a player who wants to be here. This, coupled with stories about the likes of Jonas committing his future to the club, makes me a very happy toon fan.

 

Yep and if him and Marveaux started today - I think it would have been a far more convincing result