aimaad22 4156 Posted December 26, 2013 Share Posted December 26, 2013 Thats the way I like my football man, watching someone tear up top notch defences like a bunch of Sunday leaguers. To have someone like that plying his trade at NUFC, well, Im going to as much as I like. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Park Life 71 Posted December 29, 2013 Share Posted December 29, 2013 Should start all our home games at least. It's a crime against football him sitting on the bench. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kid Dynamite 7030 Posted December 29, 2013 Share Posted December 29, 2013 I'd drop Sissoko atm. Looks knackered after 5 minutes and goes missing for big chunks of the game Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aimaad22 4156 Posted December 29, 2013 Share Posted December 29, 2013 I'd drop Sissoko atm. Looks knackered after 5 minutes and goes missing for big chunks of the game In addition to looking a bit clueless in the final third. I love the guy but he does need a rest. Gouffran too, his overall contribution to the game his dwindled. Not unexpected considering the amount of games recently. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brock Manson 0 Posted December 29, 2013 Share Posted December 29, 2013 Can't even make the 'he's better defensively' argument for either Moussa or Gouff starting ahead of Ben Arfa atm. Could be Pards plans on having a fresh Ben Arfa to unleash on tiring winter defences... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barney 0 Posted December 29, 2013 Share Posted December 29, 2013 Sissoko might look a bit tired, but he's set up goals at old Trafford, Palace and against Stoke. Still very important to us and the way we play. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aimaad22 4156 Posted December 29, 2013 Share Posted December 29, 2013 No doubt but there's only so far you can push a player. Rather we rest him a bit than him picking up an injury. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Fish 10857 Posted December 29, 2013 Share Posted December 29, 2013 I'd play him the next couple of games definitely, he'll cause havoc running at the back fours of West Brom and Cardiff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OTF 7295 Posted December 29, 2013 Share Posted December 29, 2013 Yes, time to give Sissoko a rest and Ben Arfa 90 minutes. It's hard to criticise Ben Arfa's team work whilst only giving him sporadic cameo appearances. He's also marked more critically than others because of what he's capable of. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Howay 12496 Posted December 29, 2013 Share Posted December 29, 2013 Aye agreed on Sissoko looking tired. It's be good to see Ben Arfa get a run I think he'd be effective against West Brom for sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Face 29 Posted December 29, 2013 Share Posted December 29, 2013 Yes, time to give Sissoko a rest and Ben Arfa 90 minutes. It's hard to criticise Ben Arfa's team work whilst only giving him sporadic cameo appearances. He's also marked more critically than others because of what he's capable of. Which makes it all the more important that he passes to the players that have been freed up. Total waste of time him drawing the opposition to himself if he doesn't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonasjuice 0 Posted December 30, 2013 Share Posted December 30, 2013 I don't know whether it'd be better were he surrounded by better players, but the top players in his mould know when to just take 1 or 2 touches and keep the play moving quickly. He 8 times out of 10 tries to have a little dribble first, then if he thinks nothing's on will look for a pass. It can drag an extra player to come and challenge him but it also gives the opposition a little extra time to get settled/follow the runners. Love watching the sexy bastard though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonasjuice 0 Posted December 30, 2013 Share Posted December 30, 2013 Seems to lose possession a lot less than he used to also. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Face 29 Posted December 30, 2013 Share Posted December 30, 2013 His pass/touch ratio was under 40% yesterday (8/21). His lowest of the season, apart from a much shorter substitute show against Cardiff. Whenever he is dropped and then comes back to start a game he comes back more of a team player, with passing more a part of his game than the previous time he got a game. He's always dropped following a slide on that front. I think it pisses off Pardew more than the lack of "tracking back" his absences are usually attributed to. Ben Arfa Pass/Touch as a percentage by game... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rayvin 5223 Posted December 30, 2013 Share Posted December 30, 2013 I think he's earned another run in the team - and if Sissoko is looking leggy (which he is) then what harm can it do. It's not like Sissoko is one of the players we rely on for keeping it tight at the back anyway. Also, I swear I saw Ben Arfa tracking back and hassling people a couple of times yesterday... If we play him against West Brom and he scores, we'll all love him again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Face 29 Posted December 30, 2013 Share Posted December 30, 2013 Not sure how great stats like that are when you're coming on in that kind of role off the bench for the last 25minutes of a match, touch/pass not instantly great in that scenario is hardly a shock imo let alone against the league leaders, think most would be ropey in that scenario. the shot rather than pass was questionable like but he does get those on target more often than not and we praise him for it, but a lot of time (yesterday included) people don't show for him when he is double teamed, at one stage he had to flick it between the two defenders and try go through the middle and won a free kick. I was trying to show a trend over the season rather than explain away his performance in this one game. He's come off the bench similarly before and been more interested in passing when he has the ball. It's natural to him to want to do everything himself. He's so bastard talented. In every run of games he does it more and more. And as the season goes on he does it more too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aimaad22 4156 Posted December 30, 2013 Share Posted December 30, 2013 I was trying to show a trend over the season rather than explain away his performance in this one game. He's come off the bench similarly before and been more interested in passing when he has the ball. It's natural to him to want to do everything himself. He's so bastard talented. In every run of games he does it more and more. And as the season goes on he does it more too. Been watching people like Hazard with a bit more attention on their individual play recently. You know, their are quite a few times he does the same thing too. Shoot when passing was the better option, or try to take on a player one too many and loose the ball. Isnt that what makes them extra special though, because every now and then they'll win you a game out of nothing in addition to creating space for others, giving defenders nightmares etc etc. Im sure Hazard gets an earful too when he's being frustrating. I think you've just go to accept that part of their game. Of course if it gets excessive something may need to be done and if thats Pardew's reason for dropping him then I dont blame him. Message should have struck home by now, just such a shame to have a talent like that wasted on the bench. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Gloom 21924 Posted December 30, 2013 Share Posted December 30, 2013 Agree with parky, mad he's not in the starting 11, especially against the weaker sides. He's going to end up fucking off, won't have a shortage of suitors and we will end up pining for another player with his silky skills. This type don't grow on trees. We should be building a team around him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Park Life 71 Posted December 31, 2013 Share Posted December 31, 2013 (edited) Agree with parky, mad he's not in the starting 11, especially against the weaker sides. He's going to end up fucking off, won't have a shortage of suitors and we will end up pining for another player with his silky skills. This type don't grow on trees. We should be building a team around him. The comparison would be with Mata - not in the side for very similar reasons ie workrate and Mou needs everybody def when they don"t have the ball... Oscar seems the only one who has a tiny bit of leeway yet even he chases full backs back when they cross the half way line. The diff between us and Chelsea is that they have 2/3 other players in the Hatem mould and we only have one. Mata not playing isn't the be all and end all for them...But it makes a big diff imo to our ability to change a game or impact a game offensively. It is also interesting to note that their att mid players haven't contributed that highly with goals and also their attack is stuttering...Pard tends to play a kind of Mou lite with Siss and Gouff covering full backs and harassing forwards and in all fairness this has been the touchstone of our recent revival..AND Remy's goals..Take his goals away and we would have been struggling. However imo home games is where Hatem should be starting when 80% of the sides that come here will be in a neutral or def posture this is when there is more breaking down to do and a hint of unpredictability is also an asset....Hatem territory. For people bleating about his effectiveness his strike rate for us is 1.2 in 6 and Nasri is 1 in 7 for Man City. Edited December 31, 2013 by Park Life Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kid Dynamite 7030 Posted December 31, 2013 Share Posted December 31, 2013 Ben Arfa is further disadvantaged by the fact he plays in front of Debuchy, one of the most attacking full backs in the league. To play Debuchy effectively you need a work horse winger in from of him to cover, Sissoko/Jonas/Gouffran. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Face 29 Posted December 31, 2013 Share Posted December 31, 2013 Aye. He plays in front of Debuchy because he's less frail defensively than Santon though. It's a ridiculous situation that we revamp the entire team to make 1 change. Santon playing right wing so Haidara can go LB so Ben Arfa can go left wing without the danger of him and Santon being on the same side of the field and leaving us exposed. It boils my piss to see Pardew make similar wholesale changes almost every time we make a substitution. In the last 10 minutes against Arsenal it seemed less to have any tactical thought and more a case of trying to cause chaos among the arsenal defense who had gone 5 at the back to defend their lead....even hoying Krul into it before 90 minutes were up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hostile_statue 0 Posted December 31, 2013 Share Posted December 31, 2013 In short, I don't think his football intelligence/decision making is top notch. However, when he only gets half an hour or less on the pitch he'll try to score a wonder goal every time he gets the ball rather than play for the team, to impress and convince Pardew that he should be in the starting XI. It backfires, of course. I'd play him in the centre, as a 10 or false 9, he'd be fantastic there given a proper chance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slayer 3 Posted December 31, 2013 Share Posted December 31, 2013 That shot that's pissing everyone off. There were 6 arsenal players in the box vs 2 of our players. He should have went for the far post tho. I do feel he is getting a bit victimised tho. Other players get away with shite shots. He doesn't. Why? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Face 29 Posted December 31, 2013 Share Posted December 31, 2013 That's bollocks. Tiote gets constant grief for his stupid choices when shooting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JawD 99 Posted January 1, 2014 Share Posted January 1, 2014 Decision making off key at the min like, likely why not starting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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