The No. 10.

[Kitman 2204]

Gouffran did and excellent defensive job today. He is just a younger model of Jonas. Average yet very handy to have in the squad.

 

He's got more pace and can pass the ball better than Jonas. A bargain for 500k imo

[The Fish 10674]

Be interest to see who we play on the flanks given Debuchy will be missing the next game. HBA & Santon on the right or Left, HBA & Haidara on the left? It's a quandary and no mistake.

[aimaad22 4086]

I'd have Gouffran covering Santon because Santon's our shakiest defender at the moment.

[The Fish 10674]

I'd have Gouffran covering Santon because Santon's our shakiest defender at the moment.

 

Who'd be the other full back and are you playing HBA?

[BigWalrus 0]

I'd still have Jonas back in in a shot. Probably at the expense of Sissoko.

[Park Life 71]

I'd still have Jonas back in in a shot. Probably at the expense of Sissoko.

This is madness.

[aimaad22 4086]

 

Who'd be the other full back and are you playing HBA?

 

I'd start Dummet, but my point was whoever does replace Debuchy, Santon is the one that will require the most protection.

 

 

I'd still have Jonas back in in a shot. Probably at the expense of Sissoko.

 

Yikes.

[David Kelly 1217]

I can't understand why anyone would want to see Jonas back in the side. Last season he was awful. There are probably a number of reasons for that and it's a fact that most of the team was shite last term. But I can't understand what anyone would think Jonas has done to deserve a starting place. I woudln't see him as deserving of a starting place ahead of anyone who started on Sunday plus a lot of the bench (Obertan being the obvious exception).

[Park Life 71]

I can't understand why anyone would want to see Jonas back in the side. Last season he was awful. There are probably a number of reasons for that and it's a fact that most of the team was shite last term. But I can't understand what anyone would think Jonas has done to deserve a starting place. I woudln't see him as deserving of a starting place ahead of anyone who started on Sunday plus a lot of the bench (Obertan being the obvious exception).

I only see Guti as some kind of workhorse when we need to close out a game late on.

[Dr Gloom 21760]

jonas has been a good servant and he's still useful squad player, but he's looking more and suited to a role from the bench or filling in for injuries with the extra quality in the squad now.

[BigWalrus 0]

Spurs battered us in the second half, we were crying out for someone who could hang on to the ball for more than 5 seconds.

 

The result was class, but it could easily have been very different.

[OTF 7214]

As much as he had a poor season last year there was still a game or two where he was our best player. I'm hoping he comes back refreshed and renewed as his biggest problem last season was how stale his thought process was.

 

Certainly not suggesting that he comes back into the side, but if the chance arises he deserves a run.

[David Kelly 1217]

If Jonas comes back and gets back to his best there's no reason why he couldn't force his way back into the team but I can't see a need to bring him straight back in at the minute.

 

He's definitely a useful member of the squad and will be an asset to have on the bench when he comes back.

[Christmas Tree 4669]

If Jonas comes back and gets back to his best there's no reason why he couldn't force his way back into the team but I can't see a need to bring him straight back in at the minute.

 

He's definitely a useful member of the squad and will be an asset to have on the bench when he comes back.

I'm not sure he will.

 

Currently Anita fulfils that role doesn't he?

[David Kelly 1217]

I'm not sure he will.

 

Currently Anita fulfils that role doesn't he?

I'm not sure he will either. But if he does he's another player who can do a job for us.

 

As for Anita doing that role, well that depends on which role you're talking about. If it's the central midfield carrier sort of role that Jonas did when we played three in the middle when Ba was playing on the left then yes I would say he does. But obviously Anita doesn't do Jonas' old job on the left wing.

[Happy Face 29]

Interesting statty write up in the Mag on Ben Arfa this week...

 

This bit is particularly telling...

 

 

Hatem played in 19 Premier League games last season, starting 16 and of those games Newcastle only won 4 times (losing 8 and drawing 7) with a goal difference of minus 14.

 

In the remaining fixtures, Newcastle not only increased their goalscoring proficiency by 65%, but created more chances and had a higher win percentage with more Premier League points.

 

Across the whole of the campaign five games feature prominently in terms of our overall attacking performance – (h) Wigan W3-0 (a) Man Utd L4-3 (h) Chelsea W3-2 (h) Stoke W2-1 (h) Fulham W1-0.

 

The one common denominator, Hatem Ben Arfa did not feature in any of these games.

 

 

http://www.themag.co.uk/the-mag-articles/statistical-analysis-of-hatem-ben-arfa-first-name-on-team-sheet/

[Park Life 71]

This Hatem stuff is getting silly now. He's our best player by a country mile.

[Happy Face 29]

This Hatem stuff is getting silly now. He's our best player by a country mile.

 

On average we concede more shots on target than we manage ourselves when Ben Arfa plays most of the game.

 

We achieve over 5 more shots on target than than the opposition on average when Ben Arfa doesn't play (or plays short spans <45 minutes).

 

[Happy Face 29]

I was talking bollocks anyway, wrong column

 

This must be how Reinhart and Rogoff felt.

[Happy Face 29]

Actual numbers...

 

When Ben Arfa plays most of the game

NUFC Average Shots on Target - 5.36

Opponents Average shots on Target - 6.04

 

When Ben Arfa doesn't play most of the game

NUFC Average Shots on Target - 7.25

Opponents Average shots on Target - 6.54

 

I thought defensively we would be exposing Krul much more, but apparently not. He has slightly less work to do when Ben Arfa plays than when he doesn't. One on the nose for those who argue he's a liability for us.

 

All bollocks though obviously

[Tom 14011]

Have you read Jonathan Wilson's article on him?

[Happy Face 29]

Have you read Jonathan Wilson's article on him?

 

I have now

[Park Life 71]

Mou had the same thing with Mata as soon as he arrived and put it about he had concerns about the work rate etc...And look where that's got him..Nowhere. He's gone back to Mata now in a panic.

[aimaad22 4086]

Short memories man. Difficult to remember the number of times we've just handed the ball to him and hoped he'd get us out of a sticky situation because we just didnt have any other plan, and the number of times he actually did just that.

The concern is that to me he's the type of player who needs to be playing consistently to be at his best. Gouffran and Sissoko have raised their games recently and deserve their place in the side. There's no way I'd be starting someone like Shola over him though. You could argue all you like about Shola holding up the ball but he's hardly ever able to do anything with it once he does have it, and thats where his game starts and ends these days.

[Howmanheyman 32606]

I sometimes think other players use him as a 'get out of jail' card as well by giving him the ball and standing back to let him do something himself, although to be fair, if they do make runs into space they don't always get the pass when they should so basically, err, where was I?