Elliottman Posted November 3, 2011 Share Posted November 3, 2011 A lot of people on here seem to think that we only need 11 players and that we have to play that same 11 every week. Has anyone thought that one of our strikers may get injured or lose form. Also has anyone considered that ba and best are playing well because we have the likes of Ben arfa waiting to take their place if they lose form. I can't believe it has gone from everyone saying we should be building the team around him to the majority saying the only spot left up for grabs is on the right wing. Ive (and others) have been trying to make this point for a week or two now. Let them bleat on if its keeps them happy. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExiledGeordie Posted November 3, 2011 Share Posted November 3, 2011 Exactly, the season only really starts properly now in relation to injuries and suspensions. Couple that with teams and players hitting dips in form and this forces managers to shift formations and bring other playsers into the action. Not sure why people are getting so het up about the whole Ben Arfa thing. First it was "well he has to start as soon as he's fit" and now it's "well it's probably not going to work out for the lad here" Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmonkey Posted November 3, 2011 Share Posted November 3, 2011 Maybe psychologically he's not ready to start, and this is Pardew's way of making him so desperate to play that by the time he's on the pitch that broken leg will be a distant, childhood memory? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
traeir Posted November 3, 2011 Share Posted November 3, 2011 In the long run I can imagine if HBA doesn't start 90% or of the games we play he will hand in a transfer request. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AyeDubbleYoo Posted November 3, 2011 Share Posted November 3, 2011 In the long run I can imagine if HBA doesn't start 90% or of the games we play he will hand in a transfer request. How long is the long run? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flip Posted November 3, 2011 Share Posted November 3, 2011 For the record, Ben Arfa doesn't have a strong track record of scoring goals, thererefore a place in the team for him really depends on how well he links up with Ba. I've said before that as a partnership I just don't see that working. Either he takes Obertan's place or he doesn't start. At times your clueless. Your love for Best makes you blind when talking HBA and Best. Ba and HBA would work very well, don't see why it wouldn't. Just because Ba is not playing as high up the field as Best doesn't mean he cannot do a job there. Actually I think playing HBA would make us better in the sense we wouldn't be relying on sending long balls for Best to win them. Like best a lot but he's not better than HBA, and HBA can start with Ba upfront, don't see why it wouldn't work. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hanshithispantz Posted November 3, 2011 Share Posted November 3, 2011 For the record, Ben Arfa doesn't have a strong track record of scoring goals, thererefore a place in the team for him really depends on how well he links up with Ba. I've said before that as a partnership I just don't see that working. Either he takes Obertan's place or he doesn't start. He has largely played on the left wing to be fair to the lad Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronaldo Posted November 3, 2011 Share Posted November 3, 2011 For the record, Ben Arfa doesn't have a strong track record of scoring goals, thererefore a place in the team for him really depends on how well he links up with Ba. I've said before that as a partnership I just don't see that working. Either he takes Obertan's place or he doesn't start. At times your clueless. Your love for Best makes you blind when talking HBA and Best. Ba and HBA would work very well, don't see why it wouldn't. Just because Ba is not playing as high up the field as Best doesn't mean he cannot do a job there. Actually I think playing HBA would make us better in the sense we wouldn't be relying on sending long balls for Best to win them. Like best a lot but he's not better than HBA, and HBA can start with Ba upfront, don't see why it wouldn't work. I'm clueless for not wanting to break up a partnership that has us 3rd in the league in order to accomdate a player who a lot of us see as being stronger from a wide position anyway? That's a new one. So well argued too. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest hatem garrincha Posted November 3, 2011 Share Posted November 3, 2011 Some few posters here...It's like they want to punish Ben Arfa For what exactly ? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
High Five o Posted November 3, 2011 Share Posted November 3, 2011 Some few posters here...It's like they want to punish Ben Arfa For what exactly ? Some people are crazy Let the boy get some time, get up to speed. Then we will use him, he is just to good for us to have on the bench in the long run. Him and Ba on top Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flip Posted November 3, 2011 Share Posted November 3, 2011 For the record, Ben Arfa doesn't have a strong track record of scoring goals, thererefore a place in the team for him really depends on how well he links up with Ba. I've said before that as a partnership I just don't see that working. Either he takes Obertan's place or he doesn't start. At times your clueless. Your love for Best makes you blind when talking HBA and Best. Ba and HBA would work very well, don't see why it wouldn't. Just because Ba is not playing as high up the field as Best doesn't mean he cannot do a job there. Actually I think playing HBA would make us better in the sense we wouldn't be relying on sending long balls for Best to win them. Like best a lot but he's not better than HBA, and HBA can start with Ba upfront, don't see why it wouldn't work. I'm clueless for not wanting to break up a partnership that has us 3rd in the league in order to accomdate a player who a lot of us see as being stronger from a wide position anyway? That's a new one. So well argued too. No, you're clueless for thinking that Ba - Best partnership will hold on for the whole season and saying that for HBA to start he has to play on the right (at some point we won't be 3rd and won't be winning every game). Ben Arfa against Wigan although not at his best was brighter than Best has been for many games this season. Best will hold up the ball well, but rarely looks dangerous and his play with the ball at his feet is very very average. Ben Arfa would bring far more to this team than Best if he could get fit. Against Stoke he had a very very good game, but Spurs, Wolves, Wigan were below average performances. All this is completely irrelevant if you were arguing that you think Best should start on Saturday since I agree with you Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
traeir Posted November 3, 2011 Share Posted November 3, 2011 Some few posters here...It's like they want to punish Ben Arfa For what exactly ? Some people are crazy Let the boy get some time, get up to speed. Then we will use him, he is just to good for us to have on the bench in the long run. Him and Ba on top Agreed.. I like Best but he's just not good enough for us if we want to compete for 6th-7th spot. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flip Posted November 3, 2011 Share Posted November 3, 2011 Some few posters here...It's like they want to punish Ben Arfa For what exactly ? Some people are crazy Let the boy get some time, get up to speed. Then we will use him, he is just to good for us to have on the bench in the long run. Him and Ba on top Ben Arfa - Ba upfront should scare defenders more than Best - Ba. Can't wait to see Ben Arfa at his best again, he just needs to get a few more games to get into that groove. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taylor Swift Posted November 3, 2011 Share Posted November 3, 2011 Felipao is talking a lot of sense here. Ben Arfa has played, I think, about 180 minutes in total in the Premiership so far in his whole career. One hundred and eighty fucking minutes. And some people are writing him off, saying he shouldn't be played in his favorite position, saying Best should start over him etc. What a load of absolute rubbish. I don't think I've read more nonsense in a long, long time. Ben Arfa is good enough to build a whole team around. He's the difference between ending up in 7th and possibly challenging for 4th. No one else in our squad has the talent that he does. There are doubts about him mentally but to write him off after essentially only two matches is one of the daftest things that I've ever read on here. A large portion of the recent pages in this thread will be in time as funny as 'Joke Enrique' is now. I mean, seriously, you're writing a player who many people would say is arguably the best player of his country's generation off after basically two matches? Are you shittin me? And preferring Leon Best over him? No one's sure whether he's the player he was before but to be concluding that he can't play in our team or that he won't fit in our formation without actually giving him a run of games is completely retarded and is a sign of extreme bias/close-mindedness. There's a chance that he's lost a yard of pace or whatever but to not even give him a chance and to prefer someone like Best over him is mind-boggling. It's like ruling out Drogba after his first season where he didn't get many goals, or ruling out Vidic after his first six months. If you're a baby and want instant gratification then buy a fucking lollipop. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AyeDubbleYoo Posted November 3, 2011 Share Posted November 3, 2011 I don't think many (if any) people are writing off Ben Arfa though. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flip Posted November 3, 2011 Share Posted November 3, 2011 I don't think many (if any) people are writing off Ben Arfa though. There have been people writing him off though. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taylor Swift Posted November 3, 2011 Share Posted November 3, 2011 I'm not sure why people would say that Ben Arfa and Ba won't work together well when you look at Best and Ba's partnership and there's not much to speak of there. Best himself has been in and out of a few games without doing much. He has not scored in 5 straight league matches, had three consecutive quiet games before being excellent against Stoke. He works hard and runs the channels well but we can play a whole different game if Ben Arfa's on. I'm not saying you drop Best for Ben Arfa right away, but you have to have an open mind about making the change and realizing that the better player is on the bench. I've agreed with Pardew's decisions so far in terms of sticking with the winning team - and I would play the same team against Everton - but at the back of Pardew's mind must be the thought that a potential matchwinner - a description that you can use for maybe one or two others in our squad - is sitting on the bench. We're winning so there's no reason to change things, but if the goals start drying up then the change must be made instantly, if only to find out whether Ben Arfa will recover to be the player he was, because the player that he was would inarguably be the best player at the club. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foluwashola Posted November 3, 2011 Share Posted November 3, 2011 Yup, Best has played well but once Ben Arfa is back in the New York groove he's on a completely different level. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shak Posted November 3, 2011 Share Posted November 3, 2011 If I didn't hate Pip so very, very much I'd be inclined to comment on what a nice pair of posts those were. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AyeDubbleYoo Posted November 3, 2011 Share Posted November 3, 2011 Slightly disagree with you about Best pip, I think he's been pretty good all season and unlucky to be subbed at times when Ba remained on. His hold up and aerial play has impressed me a lot too. That said, I know HBA's talent is miles ahead of anyone else we've got. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flip Posted November 3, 2011 Share Posted November 3, 2011 I'm not sure why people would say that Ben Arfa and Ba won't work together well when you look at Best and Ba's partnership and there's not much to speak off there. Best himself been in and out of a few games without doing much. He has not scored in 5 straight league matches, had three consecutive quiet games before being excellent against Stoke. He works hard and runs the channels well but we can play a whole different game if Ben Arfa's on. I'm not saying you drop Best for Ben Arfa right away, but you have to have an open mind about making the change and realizing that the better player is on the bench. I've agreed with Pardew's decisions so far in terms of sticking with the winning team - and I would play the same team against Everton - but at the back of Pardew's mind must be the thought that a potential matchwinner - a description that you can use for maybe one or two others in our squad - is sitting on the bench. We're winning so there's no reason to change things, but if the goals start drying up then the change must be made instantly, if only to find out whether Ben Arfa will recover to be the player he was, because the player that he was would inarguably be the best player at the club. Thank you for knowing your stuff and agreeing with me. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flip Posted November 3, 2011 Share Posted November 3, 2011 Slightly disagree with you about Best pip, I think he's been pretty good all season and unlucky to be subbed at times when Ba remained on. His hold up and aerial play has impressed me a lot too. That said, I know HBA's talent is miles ahead of anyone else we've got. His performances against Spurs, Wigan and Wolves were below average. Not saying he was the only one, but was much more visible against Stoke then against any of the other teams possibly this whole season. And like Pip said, maybe we don't need to change right now, but at some point Ben Arfa will have to get in if we want to challenge for a top 6-7 spot. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest hatem garrincha Posted November 3, 2011 Share Posted November 3, 2011 I don't think many (if any) people are writing off Ben Arfa though. There have been people writing him off though. They're taking a lot of risks Ba-Best partnership was generally good (very good against Blackburn at SJP) since the start of the season, but to say that it's better than HBA-Ba partnership or that HBA can't play behind Ba is a very...fast conclusion. Comparing a partnership which got a lot of hours and games on the pitch, which got time to find automatisms, with another potential one isn't very serious. In France, the best seasons of HBA careers were 2007/2008 at Lyon when he played behind Benzema, and the first 3 months of 2008/2009 season at Marseille behind Mamadou Niang. He's much more influential in the center than in the wings and his vision of the game, an unknown aspect of his football but the best one for me, prior to his dribbles, is just amazing. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AyeDubbleYoo Posted November 3, 2011 Share Posted November 3, 2011 Agree he has to play central ideally. With Obertan out I would just start Marveaux and bring HBA into it in the second half. Then start him off Ba against both the Manchester teams. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flip Posted November 3, 2011 Share Posted November 3, 2011 I don't think many (if any) people are writing off Ben Arfa though. There have been people writing him off though. They're taking a lot of risks Ba-Best partnership was generally good (very good against Blackburn at SJP) since the start of the season, but to say that it's better than HBA-Ba partnership or that HBA can't play behind Ba is a very...fast conclusion. Comparing a partnership which got a lot of hours and games on the pitch, which got time to find automatisms, with another potential one isn't very serious. In France, the best seasons of HBA careers were 2007/2008 at Lyon when he played behind Benzema, and the first 3 months of 2008/2009 season at Marseille behind Mamadou Niang. He's much more influential in the center than in the wings and his vision of the game, an unknown aspect of his football but the best one for me, prior to his dribbles, is just amazing. Je suis d'accord avec vous monsieur garrincha. People have drawn the conclusion after he played more or less 180 minutes in this league. And yet won us 3 points on his own from those minutes. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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