Gallowgate Toon

You honestly think Ben Arfa views a 4th round Carling Cup match, against Nottingham Forest, as a big game? Give over man, he won't give a crap about that stage of the competition or that team. I'm not saying they're exactly the same situation, they are similar quality and coverage but still, he will view it as a lesser game, certainly. And on the non-conversing part, you already did.

Of course i care about it as a cup personally, i'd love to win it as a fan. But i'm talking from a professional's perspective, managers don't really take it that seriously, players don't seem to and why would a foreign player in particular? It's not one of the glamorous, well-known cups and it wasn't a big game to be involved in. Like i said, the ground was half empty and players like him won't bat an eyelid about going to play Forest away, in front of 9,000 people, sad but in all probability, true. The majority of our reserve side played that day, we beat them, quality really wasn't that high.

Surely a p*ss take. Nope. Christmas Tree is banging on about him being a bad apple and refusing to play in the reserves with these dodgy excuses or at least that's the gist of it, while we all know it's tripe, we can't really quantify it with any evidence for him. The Forest game practically was a reserve match though. Early stage of the poorest domestic competition, against lower level opposition, with reserve level players playing alongside him. If HBA thought himself above lower standard games, why not refuse to play then and come up with excuses? Unless of course, you think there's much of a difference between the standard of a cup game against lower level opposition, compared to a regular reserve match? There really isn't. Well there is a trophy to be won, in a good stadium, with a healthy away contingent, against a side which would probably beat our reserve lineup (no offence to the lads), I think there is a bit of a difference A trophy that who cares about? Our own manager still calls it the Coca Cola cup ffs. Hardly anyone takes it seriously in this country, until they get to the later stages of course. You think a player that's won major domestic honours in his own backyard, really gives a crap about it? Our own manager played a reserve side that day, aye it's a real clincher that one. The later stages or the big teams, aye, i'd agree but not Forest away in one of the earliest rounds. Stadium wasn't even anywhere near full, players of that calibre that are used to 50,000s won't care about 9,000 people.

Surely a p*ss take. Nope. Christmas Tree is banging on about him being a bad apple and refusing to play in the reserves with these dodgy excuses or at least that's the gist of it, while we all know it's tripe, we can't really quantify it with any evidence for him. The Forest game practically was a reserve match though. Early stage of the poorest domestic competition, against lower level opposition, with reserve level players playing alongside him. If HBA thought himself above lower standard games, why not refuse to play then and come up with excuses? Unless of course, you think there's much of a difference between the standard of a cup game against lower level opposition, compared to a regular reserve match? There really isn't.

Why would he refuse to play in the reserves but happily play against Forest? Both equivalent games, with minimal coverage, poor stadium, against a poor side, long journey, not a sterling evening weather wise and not many fans there.

Good post, he was s**** against Blackburn and Wigan at home last year, games we should have been winning and dominating possession. Yet he looked unstoppable against Arsenal away and Man U at home. This season, he looked quality against Spurs, one of his best performances in a black and white shirt, yet he was pretty ordinary against Wigan. Think you're right and it's more than just a coincidence. The bit in bold tickled me, good description TBH :lol: Wasn't Tiote immense against Blackburn this year? And Wigan last year away from home? And wasn't one of his best performances against Everton away, a game that we dominated the majority of (thanks to him)? And what about Villa, a game we again had the majority of possession? I also remember him playing very well against Birmingham away too.

If you look at the Forest game though, i'm not sure you can really say that he's not physically right. He burst through the middle with fantastic acceleration and pace in that one. He's also supposed to be doing wonderfully in training as well. I personally think he's physically fine, his problems now are purely mental.

He's coming under far too much scrutiny and criticism already, considering how little into his comeback it is. He needs some time to find himself on a football pitch again, both mentally and physically but he can't do that with the added pressure of people nitpicking over every aspect of his performance and playing style at such early stages. Just let the kid breathe and find his feet, there's a good chance he won't be the same player in a month.

Completely disagree. I think Andy Carroll is one of those players that will prosper for a mid-table side where it's completely based on him but put him in a better side where he has to adapt and isn't the main man, he flounders. Just look at Sturridge, he was a great success at Bolton, then moves back to Chelsea and he continues where he left off, even though he's in a different position, system and playing at a much higher level. We have a better striker now, in Demba Ba. He's not as outstanding in certain areas, well just heading, but he has no real weakness to his offensive game and has proven in his career that he is a versatile forward. If we're going to move forward with HBA as our 10, then Ba is the perfect foil for him but Carroll would have been a hinderance imo.

Best went missing on Sunday and Ben Arfa made an immediate impact. I would start Ben Arfa behind Ba & give him an hour to see how he fairs. He didn't make an immediate impact at all, in fact his contribution of running at players but losing it due to holding on to it too long was similar to how Obertan played over 90 minutes, only difference was he was slated for his performance. The reason the team picked up was because Spurs had just scored, so we had no other option but to take more chances going forward if we wanted to get anything from the game. He made an impact by simply being there - if you watch the footage of his time on the pitch, Spurs were marking him in numbers, creating space for other players to push on. Even if he brings nothing else to a game, he's a "fear" player simply due to the potential damage he can cause. They didn't treat him any different to anyone else we've got in an attacking position, Modric and Bale constantly dropped back all game when they didn't have the ball doubling up on us as did Parker who sat very deep when defending, it wasn't some special treatment for Ben Arfa's benefit. Watch the YT video of him before Shola's goal, pause it at 1.25. Has a triangle of 3 players trying to block him off, a canny proportion for 10 outfield players. As a sidenote, look at where his team-mates are and where they move to, we have to capitalise on that side of him.

Wouldn't worry about Ba getting isolated as the lone striker like. What's impressed and surprised me most about him, is his willingness to come and get the ball and be involved in play and he still has the energy to be an ever-present nuisance in the box. Ben Arfa and Ba will form a really good partnership imo.

Alan's got a real hard on for his pace, he sees it as a key asset in stretched games. I don't mind him, think he's done some decent things since he got here but isn't a good enough player to be starting games for us. I think he's the perfect attacking supersub with half an hour to go and that's what he should be for the foreseeable future.

Judging by recent comments, Ben Arfa has a good chance of starting this one. It's the perfect game for him, Marveaux and Santon to come into imo.

I think there was a notable off the ball difference after he came on yesterday. I think the most unfortunate thing, as has been said, is that our own players were mesmerised by it as well as the Spurs players. Before Shola's goal, he had 4 players closing him down and nobody making a run near him, it's a bit of give and take. I suppose in a way it's a flattering sign that they think he can do it all on his own.

Has anyone ever thought in his other games for us (I know there aren't many), that he's been a particularly greedy player? I've always been quite surprised that he's not been anywhere near as bad as i originally thought he would be.

Surely it's just a case of him being eager to prove to himself he can cut it for us after the break, whilst trying to make the most of playing so little football for a year and then mixed in with vying for a starting place. That's quite a lot of emotions to have in such a small period of time on the pitch, no wonder he's so hyper charged. Perhaps he's also testing his strength with his injury, i'm sure i read somewhere he had flashes of the break in the Forest game. He needs more mental time than physical, we saw his explosiveness against Forest, that's still there.

Don't think it would be the wisest of moves for us to go 4-4-2 with Spurs, hence why i'd start HBA. Man for man, they're a better side and while I think that collectively, our central midfield is as good as theirs (not saying we have the better players, just an equally suited combination), it really wouldn't hurt to have HBA dropping back in to give us a hand. I think he'll cause them a lot of problems picking up the ball from deep and making things happen, this is his kind of game imo.

Look, it's a fanny.

He's far more incisive than Routledge. He's set up some glorious opportunities for us this season and he has flashes of really high quality end product. Still a lot to work on for him, but he has shown he's got it in his locker.

If they go 4-4-2, it would be a much better idea for us, if we went 4-4-1-1. Drop HBA in midfield to try and control the game's flow. I'm not so sure they'll be abe to break down a more congested team, it seems to be where they struggle a little.

Aye, if you put a guy with a bit of flair amongst a set of players who are a bunch of journeymen, you're going to see him do some great work on his own but with nobody on the wavelength to help him out. Result: Sessegnon shows nice skill and opens space but there's literally nobody around him to capitalise. See some of the differences with Jonas this year (reverse pass to Ben Arfa), compared to last, he has much better options ahead of him for when he gets into dangerous areas.

I feel like Pardew tends to over-use his ability to be a covering midfielder and asks him to drop deep when we need protecting. He's certainly capable of doing it but it's a waste of his talents.

Not specifically true. Pardew had made noises about changing the team's style as soon as he came in iirc. In terms of playing football on the deck and looking to build a quick, fluid passing style, Carroll's an unknown quantity. If you look at our team and setup now, say with Ben Arfa as our number 10, I'd rather have Ba playing ahead of him than AC, he just offers a lot more within the system as his all-round game is better and he complements our midfield with his movement. (This isn't a kneejerk Ba reaction from the Blackburn game, I've seen him at previous clubs and always been impressed)

I'm pretty sure their top scorer after Bent and Gyan was 'Own Goal' as well.

I find it puzzling that probably the only team in the world to score a goal via a beach ball, can call anyone else lucky.