Gabriel Obertan signs for Anzhi

[The Prophet]

He had a good game against Stoke and a decent first half against Man United, that aside he's been a frustrating watch. Shame there's no one to challange him for his place at the moment.

[joeyt]

Better player away from home

[Dave]

He had a good game against Stoke and a decent first half against Man United, that aside he's been a frustrating watch. Shame there's no one to challange him for his place at the moment.

 

There's Ben Arfa, but we seem to have painted ourselves into a corner on that one.

[Parky]

Pardew is going to do well to get anything out of him, he looks a real mystery.

 

I times his pace and trickery is frightning and he has produced two great crosses this year (stoke and forest). However, most of the time his first touch and decision making is horrible.

 

For a while I just thought it was a lack of confidence but now it looks like he just hides or does the easiest thing. IN his own head it looks like he really rates himself.

[Lush Vlad]

Has all the attributes to be a good winger, but has no brain or confidence.  Usually plays the wrong pass, holds onto it too long and his crossing is atrocious.

 

Not sure what AP sees in him, a couple of half decent performances away from home and that's about it.  I keep trying to be patient, as there is a quality player in there somewhere, but how long are we supposed to wait?

 

He should spend 2 hours a day at training just practicing crossing and picking out men in the box, it's almost always the wrong decision when he gets anywhere near goal.

[Beren]

Pardew is going to do well to get anything out of him, he looks a real mystery.

 

I times his pace and trickery is frightning and he has produced two great crosses this year (stoke and forest). However, most of the time his first touch and decision making is horrible.

 

For a while I just thought it was a lack of confidence but now it looks like he just hides or does the easiest thing. IN his own head it looks like he really rates himself.

 

Absolutely true. He does seem pleased with his efforts. I thought it was a confidence thing initially, also.

 

Never looks like scoring or posing a real threat. Listening to some radio commentary on the match (when my TV failed temporarily) I heard "...and Obertan has got round the back of Ashley Cole here..." and I involuntarily sighed.

 

Knew the chance was gone.

 

At this stage, not sure whether a goal would do him good or just give him easier options in future.

[cubaricho]

Pardew is going to do well to get anything out of him, he looks a real mystery.

 

I times his pace and trickery is frightning and he has produced two great crosses this year (stoke and forest). However, most of the time his first touch and decision making is horrible.

 

If anything, his first touch is one of the better aspects of his game.

[Skirge]

His pace and first touch are his ONLY assets to be honest, its frustrating as a bit of carein his play and he would be a much better player.

[Deputy Dawg UK]

what is so frustrating is his first touch is quite good !

[henke]

His first touch was awful at times on Saturday. There was a point in the first half somebody pinged the ball out wide and he managed to control it out of play for a throw in, about 8 yards away. If he'd have stood still and let the ball hit him in the face he'd have controlled it better. But that would have took a fair amount of bravery, so that wasn't happening either.

[Colocho]

Piss poor against Chelsea. When are we playing Man Utd next?

[Skirge]

Piss poor against Chelsea. When are we playing Man Utd next?

 

January 4th

[Dokko]

Wingers are generally inconsistent and frustrating, he's the latest in a long line of incomplete players we've had to put up with on the wings.

 

Can't see him being anything but the quality of a sub/squad player, I've seen very little improvement from the generous amount of football we've gave him, that's worrying.

 

He is young however, but really it's got to start clicking in the next 12 months or it's never going to happen.

[AyeDubbleYoo]

Think it's a bit harsh to say he hasn't improved much after a third of one season. He hasn't, but how much improvement should be expected?

 

TBH I just want him to do well, and I think he can. Chelsea was his worst game for ages, but prior to that I didn't think he was looking too bad. He maybe had some sort of mental block about taking on Ashley Cole... maybe he had decided that he couldn't breeze past him.

 

Still not going to write the lad off, he's very young and he theoretically has the attributes to succeed.

[Lotus]

Think it's a bit harsh to say he hasn't improved much after a third of one season. He hasn't, but how much improvement should be expected?

 

TBH I just want him to do well, and I think he can. Chelsea was his worst game for ages, but prior to that I didn't think he was looking too bad. He maybe had some sort of mental block about taking on Ashley Cole... maybe he had decided that he couldn't breeze past him.

 

Still not going to write the lad off, he's very young and he theoretically has the attributes to succeed.

 

He's not very young.

 

I hope he comes good, obviously. But right now he looks every inch a cast off who was only valued at £3M because Manu had him. Routledge offered more than this fella.

 

Pards seems quite good at bringing players on though and this guy may need a season to grow into it. He lacks heart though and that will always make him inconsistent at best.

[Guest H09]

I think he was afraid. Whenever we had the ball instead of finding space and making himself available he went and stood next to a Chelsea defender.

[Dokko]

I think he lacks match intelligence and his decision making is poor, in turn it's a blow to his confidence.

 

 

 

 

[johnnypd]

he'll be 23 in 2 months so he's approaching the age where he can't make the excuse of youth, especially for a pacy winger.

 

i am fine with Obertan being a squad player, a gamble that we'll keep for a few years in the hope that at some point he'll begin to blossom. but as someone to go straight into the first team he's an awful signing as he has next to no consistency, end product, intelligence and dependability to his game.

 

i watched him quite a bit at Man Utd and unfortunately he's been exactly as i expected - a couple of moments every month where you sit up and think he has all the talent in the world, along with times where you struggle to understand how he's getting paid to play football. just an odd player.

 

his little tricks, ability to dribble and pace are also typically used to no good end. for instance he's actually crap at taking players on most of the time and needs the game to be stretched, and for him to be moving at top speed already, to really beat someone.

[Sifu]

Think it's a bit harsh to say he hasn't improved much after a third of one season. He hasn't, but how much improvement should be expected?

 

TBH I just want him to do well, and I think he can. Chelsea was his worst game for ages, but prior to that I didn't think he was looking too bad. He maybe had some sort of mental block about taking on Ashley Cole... maybe he had decided that he couldn't breeze past him.

 

Still not going to write the lad off, he's very young and he theoretically has the attributes to succeed.

 

I still have a bit of confidence in Obertan. Just needs to man up basically. He does have talent but he needs to stop being afraid, he has tons of potential and thus far, he's holding himself back.

[AliGupter]

Fuck this shit.

 

Gabriel Obertan is fucking shit.

 

Fucking shit.

 

[Guest Craig-NUFC]

On a frosty Monday morning in northeast England, Gabriel Obertan is up early, even if Newcastle United’s players have the day off. Along with the likes of Danny Guthrie and Sammy Ameobi, the summer signing from Manchester United is into the club’s training ground first thing to hit the weights.

 

The colorful extra-curricular tales of yore surrounding the club feel like an age ago. This is Newcastle United, version 2011. After the disappointment of a weekend defeat to Chelsea, there’s no moping. Buoyed by the performances against both Manchester clubs and André Villas-Boas’ side – even if the three encounters only yielded a single point – there is a sense of can-do at the club.

 

“We hoped to get four points from the games,” admits Obertan, sitting behind a desk in a bijou adjoining office. “We’re not too discouraged, though. There’s plenty to take forward.”

 

Since he joined Alan Pardew’s side, the 22-year-old’s career has suddenly been moving at a pace to match his lightening bursts down the right wing. It’s been a considerable shift from fringe player to Premier League first team regular.

 

“In Manchester it was difficult to play once every, say, six matches,” Obertan says, “to try and prove yourself in 20 minutes here and there. There’s a lot more pressure in that situation. In the first three or four games here it was tough to find rhythm, because I just wasn’t used to playing like this. But it’s just a pleasure to play every week, to train all week knowing that you’re going to be on the pitch on Saturday. It’s totally different for your confidence.”

 

Mature and poised, Obertan displays absolutely no sense of vindication or exaggerated pride on the back of excellent performance on his recent return to Old Trafford, though he was pleased to catch up with friends, including Patrice Evra and Nani. Obertan remains hugely grateful to Sir Alex Ferguson for the opportunities afforded to him.

 

“It was a disappointment,” he admits, “in the sense that I would have liked to prove myself over the long-term, but it was a huge experience. In your professional life, there are some clubs that just change the way you do everything – the likes of United, Real Madrid, Milan, truly exceptional clubs. In my two years, we won the championship and we got to the Champions League final, so it was superb.”

 

Still, the French winger was swayed into taking on a new challenge by the persistence of Toon manager Alan Pardew. “He’d been following me for a long time. He thought I’d fit in well with the football the team plays, and he really pushed to get me here, even though the negotiations lasted a while. It really made me feel I had the confidence of the club and the manager, so I knew it was the right thing to do.

 

The former West Ham and Southampton boss is hardly a household name on the French side of the Channel, but Obertan has been highly impressed. “I didn’t really know much about him,” he admits. “He reminds me a little bit of Sir Alex and Laurent (Blanc) in the sense that he isn’t just a coach. He’s very close to his players, and he always listens to us. That’s what you need from a coach. He has a great staff, too, and it was clear from the first game that he was organized and had a strong idea of how we would play. That we’ve been up around fourth, fifth and sixth place in the table might be a surprise to some, but with the playing squad we have and the coach we have, it’s not really that surprising to me. It’s deserved.”

 

Much of Pardew’s success has famously been based on a preference for French players, eliciting considerable curiosity in the Hexagon and changing the dynamic of the Newcastle side. “We have a bit of an edge in terms of technique,” Obertan suggests, “and we bring creativity. The technical side of the game is something we work hard on in the academies in France, and you can see that with how Yohan (Cabaye) distributes the ball, and even though he’s injured at the moment, it’s something Sylvain (Marveaux) can bring too.”

 

Obertan reserves particular praise for Cabaye, one of the Premier League’s hits of the season after adapting surprisingly quickly to the physical demands of England. “I knew he was top quality from seeing him at Lille,” he says, “although I didn’t know him personally. Even in the first two or three matches, he was already up with the tempo, getting plenty of tackles in, and holding players off with his upper body strength.”

 

As a graduate of the fabled Clairefontaine academy, Obertan is interested to see how the English FA’s new training facility at Burton (currently under construction) works out. “I think it’ll bring a lot to English football,” he says. “I don’t know how popular Clairefontaine is in France at the moment, but at the time, it was a big deal to be there. There were 1500 players there, the absolute cream of young French players. Most importantly, they had the best coaches there, with five or six looking after each set of 22 players. To take away the stress, and concentrate 100% on football at such a young age, is a great thing.”

 

So why has the gloss faded from Clairefontaine after it was given the credit for extensive success for France? “I can’t really say,” he shrugs. “As since I’m in England, I don’t see nearly as much of that level of French football, but I went back a couple of times with the France under-21s. I just felt that there wasn’t the same love for football that we had. In my time, it was about having a real passion for the game, but now it’s money, pressure from the families….they often want to go straight to the clubs and skip the Clairefontaine step, and I think that’s a shame.”

 

Having played at every representative level for France short of the full senior side, there is just one more step beckoning for Obertan. “If I continue to have a good season with Newcastle,” he nods, “and start to score some goals, and make some decisive passes, I don’t see why not. But it’s not the priority at the moment. I’m really concerned about giving everything to Newcastle and if it goes well here, the coach will see that.”

 

That coach, of course, knows him well. Blanc helped to nurture the teenage Obertan at Bordeaux. “Having already worked with him could be an advantage,” the winger says, underlining Blanc has done a “good job” in the face of expectation from a public that is “hard to please. Knowing the way he operates would make it easier. You never know what will happen with the France team in the future, but it’s good to know him.”

 

As talk turns to his hometown club, Paris Saint-Germain, where he was a trainee (“They have to stop making a drama of every situation. Running a big club is about stability and longevity”), Obertan’s wisdom makes it easy to forget he is in his early 20s. Yet the man himself is keen to impress he is very much a work-in-progress.

 

“I’ve still got a lot more to show the English public,” he insists, “and the public in general. I think it’ll probably take a year to show what I really can do.” Newcastle’s French contingent, and Obertan in particular, has plenty still in the tank.

 

http://msn.foxsports.com/foxsoccer/premierleague/story/gabriel-obertan-exclusive-interview-newcastle-united-manchester-england-120811

[N.A.G.A.S]

Nice Interview. I like his workrate recently. Initially I thought he was lazy, but he seems to track back a lot more than he used to. I'm happy for him to be in the squad, but I'd prefer strong and intelligent over fast and tricky for the wings.

[GuyP]

On a frosty Monday morning in northeast England, Gabriel Obertan is up early, even if Newcastle United’s players have the day off. Along with the likes of Danny Guthrie and Sammy Ameobi, the summer signing from Manchester United is into the club’s training ground first thing to hit the weights.

 

The colorful extra-curricular tales of yore surrounding the club feel like an age ago. This is Newcastle United, version 2011. After the disappointment of a weekend defeat to Chelsea, there’s no moping. Buoyed by the performances against both Manchester clubs and André Villas-Boas’ side – even if the three encounters only yielded a single point – there is a sense of can-do at the club.

 

“We hoped to get four points from the games,” admits Obertan, sitting behind a desk in a bijou adjoining office. “We’re not too discouraged, though. There’s plenty to take forward.”

 

Since he joined Alan Pardew’s side, the 22-year-old’s career has suddenly been moving at a pace to match his lightening bursts down the right wing. It’s been a considerable shift from fringe player to Premier League first team regular.

 

“In Manchester it was difficult to play once every, say, six matches,” Obertan says, “to try and prove yourself in 20 minutes here and there. There’s a lot more pressure in that situation. In the first three or four games here it was tough to find rhythm, because I just wasn’t used to playing like this. But it’s just a pleasure to play every week, to train all week knowing that you’re going to be on the pitch on Saturday. It’s totally different for your confidence.”

 

Mature and poised, Obertan displays absolutely no sense of vindication or exaggerated pride on the back of excellent performance on his recent return to Old Trafford, though he was pleased to catch up with friends, including Patrice Evra and Nani. Obertan remains hugely grateful to Sir Alex Ferguson for the opportunities afforded to him.

 

“It was a disappointment,” he admits, “in the sense that I would have liked to prove myself over the long-term, but it was a huge experience. In your professional life, there are some clubs that just change the way you do everything – the likes of United, Real Madrid, Milan, truly exceptional clubs. In my two years, we won the championship and we got to the Champions League final, so it was superb.”

 

Still, the French winger was swayed into taking on a new challenge by the persistence of Toon manager Alan Pardew. “He’d been following me for a long time. He thought I’d fit in well with the football the team plays, and he really pushed to get me here, even though the negotiations lasted a while. It really made me feel I had the confidence of the club and the manager, so I knew it was the right thing to do.

 

The former West Ham and Southampton boss is hardly a household name on the French side of the Channel, but Obertan has been highly impressed. “I didn’t really know much about him,” he admits. “He reminds me a little bit of Sir Alex and Laurent (Blanc) in the sense that he isn’t just a coach. He’s very close to his players, and he always listens to us. That’s what you need from a coach. He has a great staff, too, and it was clear from the first game that he was organized and had a strong idea of how we would play. That we’ve been up around fourth, fifth and sixth place in the table might be a surprise to some, but with the playing squad we have and the coach we have, it’s not really that surprising to me. It’s deserved.”

 

Much of Pardew’s success has famously been based on a preference for French players, eliciting considerable curiosity in the Hexagon and changing the dynamic of the Newcastle side. “We have a bit of an edge in terms of technique,” Obertan suggests, “and we bring creativity. The technical side of the game is something we work hard on in the academies in France, and you can see that with how Yohan (Cabaye) distributes the ball, and even though he’s injured at the moment, it’s something Sylvain (Marveaux) can bring too.”

 

Obertan reserves particular praise for Cabaye, one of the Premier League’s hits of the season after adapting surprisingly quickly to the physical demands of England. “I knew he was top quality from seeing him at Lille,” he says, “although I didn’t know him personally. Even in the first two or three matches, he was already up with the tempo, getting plenty of tackles in, and holding players off with his upper body strength.”

 

As a graduate of the fabled Clairefontaine academy, Obertan is interested to see how the English FA’s new training facility at Burton (currently under construction) works out. “I think it’ll bring a lot to English football,” he says. “I don’t know how popular Clairefontaine is in France at the moment, but at the time, it was a big deal to be there. There were 1500 players there, the absolute cream of young French players. Most importantly, they had the best coaches there, with five or six looking after each set of 22 players. To take away the stress, and concentrate 100% on football at such a young age, is a great thing.”

 

So why has the gloss faded from Clairefontaine after it was given the credit for extensive success for France? “I can’t really say,” he shrugs. “As since I’m in England, I don’t see nearly as much of that level of French football, but I went back a couple of times with the France under-21s. I just felt that there wasn’t the same love for football that we had. In my time, it was about having a real passion for the game, but now it’s money, pressure from the families….they often want to go straight to the clubs and skip the Clairefontaine step, and I think that’s a shame.”

 

Having played at every representative level for France short of the full senior side, there is just one more step beckoning for Obertan. “If I continue to have a good season with Newcastle,” he nods, “and start to score some goals, and make some decisive passes, I don’t see why not. But it’s not the priority at the moment. I’m really concerned about giving everything to Newcastle and if it goes well here, the coach will see that.”

 

That coach, of course, knows him well. Blanc helped to nurture the teenage Obertan at Bordeaux. “Having already worked with him could be an advantage,” the winger says, underlining Blanc has done a “good job” in the face of expectation from a public that is “hard to please. Knowing the way he operates would make it easier. You never know what will happen with the France team in the future, but it’s good to know him.”

 

As talk turns to his hometown club, Paris Saint-Germain, where he was a trainee (“They have to stop making a drama of every situation. Running a big club is about stability and longevity”), Obertan’s wisdom makes it easy to forget he is in his early 20s. Yet the man himself is keen to impress he is very much a work-in-progress.

 

“I’ve still got a lot more to show the English public,” he insists, “and the public in general. I think it’ll probably take a year to show what I really can do.” Newcastle’s French contingent, and Obertan in particular, has plenty still in the tank.

 

http://msn.foxsports.com/foxsoccer/premierleague/story/gabriel-obertan-exclusive-interview-newcastle-united-manchester-england-120811

 

was either guardian or times podcast this week where a french journalist mentioned how intelligent Gabby was, explains the shape of his head if he is carting around a big brain like

[johnnypd]

"Obertan displays absolutely no sense of vindication or exaggerated pride on the back of excellent performance on his recent return to Old Trafford"

 

[Sifu]

"Obertan displays absolutely no sense of vindication or exaggerated pride on the back of excellent performance on his recent return to Old Trafford"

 

 

Tbf, he did have a decent game against Man U (in the first half anyway).