The No. 10.

[ADP 0]

HBA is the business but the music on that video is way too depressing for a bank holiday like!

[sandman02uk 0]

i could happily sit and watch him play all day, he is such a gifted footballer

[Lake Bells tits 1]

Win lose or draw you can make a half-decent highlights video of every match Hatem plays in.

 

A truly special player when on the ball. We need to build the team around him but he needs to keep his discipline and improve his off the ball work.

 

Pardew is that you? He needs a free role further up the pitch without defensive responsibilites, not endless graft.

We have plenty of grafters, and zero creativity aside from HBA. He needs to be the linkup, vs chelsea we saw him sit deep go past 5 players and still lack options because he was too far away from goal and there is noone else there aside from cisse and ba hiding.

 

As long as we use him in anything else than a Silva/Nasri role, we arent seeing the best of him.

Yes there will be matches where he doesnt contribute much, and there will be matches where he scores and sets up two others.

I admire Pardews man management skills, but his tactical skills are often a bit too cowardly for my liking. Less worry and more go please.

[Monroe Transfer 0]

Off the ball work can include off the ball movement you know. It'd be better if he got more involved for the reasons you've just given.

[Kid Dynamite 6961]

Love how none of the media have really highlighted how special he has been these last 2 games, yet hazard/hazzar/azza was creamed over, despite doing fuck all in the 2nd half yesterday

[rogerbarton 24]

Did make me think yesterday how on earth has there been no hype over Hatem when you look at the players the media have been creaming themselves over. I don't think there's another player in the league who looks so comfortable running with the ball. Only Hazard was anywhere near him on the pitch yesterday.

 

I do think it's a fair point that we should try and utilise him in a more advanced position, he's not the same player on the right of a 4-4-2. I would like to see Pardew experiment with a couple of different systems in coming games, even if it's when we're 3-0 up at home to Villa next week.

[luckyluke 2]

Reasons why Ben Arfa has been relatively neglected in the creaming over stakes compared to Hazard:

 

1. He contributed an assist and a goal

2. Chelsea won

3. His transfer was significantly hyped and he cost a bomb

4. He plays for Chelsea

 

With 4. being the most significant. I'm not bothered as long as he keeps doing the business for us.

[nortoon 0]

I think Simpson playing behind him, and 2 strikers playing very far ahead of him takes away lot of his chances to actually create something. He gets isolated a lot. for France when he had Debuchy pounding down the wing alongside him, he played a few delicious balls to him. Also when he destroyed Everton on his left side with Enrique behind him making runs, they looked incredibly dangerous. Very often now the choice is either take on 2-3 defenders, or pass it back to Simpson, who in turn will do something shit. We could really use Debuchy, or a similar attacking fullback for our attacking play I reckon. Would pay back his fee easily

[StellarStripes 0]

He was tremendous yesterday but deployed to wide and too deep. I agree he needs to be more advanced to get the best out of him.

 

I'd like to see him in a number 10 role linking midfield and attack.

 

-------------Cisse

Ba-------Ben Arfa-------Jonas

---------Tiote--Cabaye

 

That there would work mint imo. Could rotate the attacking three in any combination. Even at times drop Jonas back into the middle two (or sub him for Anita) and push Cabaye forward.

 

Just shows we have so many more options in a 433/4231 system but AP is reluctant to make it our 1st choice formation to accommodate Ba centrally.

[Lake Bells tits 1]

Its boils down to this: No matter where you deploy him, handing him the ball will result in him going past 2-3 players ( or more) and serving up a quality pass. The fact that you can hear pardew belting out to pass it and still have him go on yet another brilliant raid just proves my point along with quotes from the gaffer himself.

 

Like it is now that is most likely to be right in front of simpson and he will be out of options some 40 yards from goal with neither Ba nor Cisse good enough at linking up / running the channels.

 

We need to let this tracking back thing go, we dont need our entire attacking line-up track back.

Ben Arfa is good enough to do it and he does brilliantly whatever task you hand him, but thats due to no other fact that certain players are just quality nomatter where you deploy them.

 

As Tecato said, he needs a team built around him - but he also needs to be let go of his defensive duties. Its that simple.

[Tino asprilla 0]

Love how none of the media have really highlighted how special he has been these last 2 games, yet hazard/hazzar/azza was creamed over, despite doing fuck all in the 2nd half yesterday

 

tbh im glad he doesnt get spunked over...too much press = lots of transfer speculation...

[Lake Bells tits 1]

maybe is because he is going past 5 players in our own half rather than in the oppositions penalty box because he is told to track back...

[Happy Face 29]

Love how none of the media have really highlighted how special he has been these last 2 games, yet hazard/hazzar/azza was creamed over, despite doing fuck all in the 2nd half yesterday

 

Hazard has scored or assisted 6 of their goals in 3 games.

 

Ben arfa's won one penalty and converted it.

 

No reason for the press to dismiss hazard and gush over hba.

[Happy Face 29]

maybe is because he is going past 5 players in our own half rather than in the oppositions penalty box because he is told to track back...

 

...or its easier there?

[Lake Bells tits 1]

...or its easier there?

 

He has done the same thing several time further up the pitch, in Hatems case it doesnt make a difference

[Happy Face 29]

I find your lack of faith in Simpson...

 

Simpson sort your life out. Im not even gonna bother.

 

...and your insistence HBA shouldn't ever be found in our own half to be contradictory and unsatisfactory. Pardew would be hammered if he left an entire flank so exposed by giving HBA free reign.

[Lake Bells tits 1]

Simpson is there, why is it exposed? Is he not good enough to do his job in the position he is holding down?

 

The last thing HBA should be assigned to do is babysit Danny Simpson, he is an attacking winger - not a DM.

Edited August 27, 2012 by Lake Bells tits

[Happy Face 29]

Simpson is there, why is it exposed? Is he not good enough to do his job in the position he is holding down?

 

The last thing HBA should be assigned to do is babysit Danny Simpson, he is an attacking winger - not a DM.

 

As you agreed in the post I quoted, no, Danny Simpson is not good enough to keep Eden Hazard in his pocket.

[Lake Bells tits 1]

So we stick our best player by a landslide on him as a personal marker?

[Happy Face 29]

It's not one or the other is it?

 

Perhaps away from home, against the European champions, it's reasonable to expect Ben Arfa to help alleviate the opposition attack, and be there as an option for Simpson, so he's not caught in possession too awfully.

[Lake Bells tits 1]

Having Simpson on the pitch regardless of opposition is a huge liability, as he always needs nannying.

However if there is one player on the pitch i dont want grafting around our own box - its Ben Arfa.

 

Having him cover Simpson is like cutting your hand off to stop a finger bleeding.

Shuts down our entire attack basically.

He is the only one able to link up and running the channels unfortunately.

With him tracking back so much we have ZERO threat on the counter - only Ba and Cisse which as much as I rate them doesnt look very threatening unless you hand them the ball in the box..

Edited August 27, 2012 by Lake Bells tits

[Monroe Transfer 0]

 

He is the only one able to link up and running the channels unfortunately.

 

 

Don't make stuff up. Gutierrez has been doing that for years, Marveaux can do it, even the Simpson/Santon can occasionally do it against the weaker sides.

[Lake Bells tits 1]

Perhaps I should have added "successfully".

[Lake Bells tits 1]

Don't make stuff up. Gutierrez has been doing that for years, Marveaux can do it, even the Simpson/Santon can occasionally do it against the weaker sides.

 

So Jonas is our creative answer then? Marveaux has played one game in 18 months, And Simpson and Santon might be able to do it occationally against relegation fodder?

 

Doesnt sound like a solution to me. My point stands.

[rogerbarton 24]

Santon's looked a little off in the opening two games, perhaps owing to the nature of the opposition - though I remember some of his trademark marauding runs at the end of last season came in some of the 'harder' games. We know there are question marks defensively and I fully expect it'll take at least til the end of this season before we begin to see what he's really capable, but he has lost the ball in a number of attacking positions in the first couple of games too. Looking forward to seeing him get back up to speed as that will make a difference.