Dave Posted April 9, 2012 Share Posted April 9, 2012 http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/ben-arfa-is-blessed-with-magic-in-feet-7628007.html There will be a debate to be had in 10 years' time about how good Hatem Ben Arfa actually was. Only then will it be known whether the depth of desire inside this majestic footballer matched the God-given gift inside his feet. It is a question that Alan Pardew has bravely asked of a player who is seldom described in print with words other than mercurial and temperamental. That those tags are starting to fade suggests that Pardew has tapped into a reservoir that might make the £5m Newcastle paid Marseilles in 2011 seem ridiculously cheap. It has become clear ever since Ben Arfa arrived at Newcastle, initially as a loanee, that simple was not part of his vocabulary. A cruel leg-break curtailed his trajectory in 2010, but what has returned this season, hardened by some chastising from Pardew, is a player with the capability to do things on a football pitch that few others can. Certainly in the Premier League, there is at best a select handful who possess such a delicate touch, such speed of foot and originality of footballing thought. His goal yesterday in the 74th minute, which is where this has been leading, was a thing of genuine beauty. That this was a game of attrition elevated it even higher. What truly great players do is to seize a football match with such a grip that they take it away from everyone else. Tim Krul had a very good game yesterday, making two key saves, and Bolton's work-rate and belief suggest they have a good chance of survival. But when Yohan Cabaye slipped a pass to Ben Arfa, who was on the very edge of the centre circle inside his own half, approximately 60 yards from goal, something wonderful happened, a moment those here will never forget, and this game became his. With the most deft of touches with the inside of his left foot, Ben Arfa completely bamboozled Sam Ricketts. That alone was a moment of quality but what followed took everyone inside St James' Park from their seats, and that is now a hallmark of this uniquely talented little footballer. Latching on to his own flick, Ben Arfa almost teased Mark Davies into the futile challenge that suddenly suggested the Bolton defence was in serious danger. That he took the ball onto his right foot (not his natural side) to protect it from the Bolton midfielder was an element that only became apparent in repeated watching. When a player of such artistry gets up a head of steam, defenders lose their assuredness. Thus, David Wheater half pulled out of his challenge but much of that was down to the subtlety of the flick which very slightly lifted the ball from the ground, a point that Pardew later drew specific reference to. By now he was on the edge of the Bolton penalty area and it was inevitable that he would pass Tim Ream to set up a one on one with Adam Bogdan. Here, Ben Arfa opened his body slightly and almost poked the ball into the bottom corner of the net with his left foot. In that moment, everybody inside this famous old football ground had a piece of their breath taken away. "There is magic in his feet," said Pardew. "It is his world when he is on the ball. Not many players in this division can score goals like that. It was very clever. There are not many blessed with that kind of talent." It was chastening for Bolton, who then conceded a further goal in the 83rd minute, when Papiss Cissé stabbed home a neat cross from Shola Ameobi. Owen Coyle had much to lament after his side had played so well, and the probability the second goal was off-side added to them. Newcastle moved level with Tottenham on points with this win. Pardew admitted for the first the Champions League is a possibility. There is indeed much to be left breathless about with regards to Newcastle United at the moment. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Posted April 9, 2012 Share Posted April 9, 2012 This truly is a glorious time. Cannot stop grinning like a clown listening to/reading/watching all the stuff in the media about our form and season, and now about this goal. What a fucking player. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted April 9, 2012 Share Posted April 9, 2012 Great of Pardew to be publicly pushing Ben Arfa for France. The kind of stuff that'll really keep the player onside. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Newcastle Fan Posted April 9, 2012 Share Posted April 9, 2012 I'm heading to bed and i still can't believe what i saw, i can remember he was clearly telling Cabaye to pass to him, what happened was basically Ben Arfa got fed up with us not making chances and just went "f*** it.. i'll do it on my own" Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wormy Posted April 9, 2012 Share Posted April 9, 2012 I'm heading to bed and i still can't believe what i saw, i can remember he was clearly telling Cabaye to pass to him, what happened was basically Ben Arfa got fed up with us not making chances and just went "f*** it.. i'll do it on my own" It's like when Colo gives up relying on others and just charges through the middle, except a much higher chance of him getting to the box and a million times higher chance of actually pulling a shot off, and a billion times higher chance of it going in. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kanj Posted April 9, 2012 Share Posted April 9, 2012 This truly is a glorious time. Cannot stop grinning like a clown listening to/reading/watching all the stuff in the media about our form and season, and now about this goal. What a f***ing player. We've witnessed shear magic from this lad in recent weeks man my word. Brilliant. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ketsbaia Posted April 9, 2012 Share Posted April 9, 2012 Just cracked the thesaurus out to describe that goal and it failed me.....words fail me! Simply put, it was out of this world and a privilege to see in person. His talent is outrageous and the idea that it wasn't his best goal of the season says it all. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super Duper Branko Strupar Posted April 9, 2012 Share Posted April 9, 2012 http://frenchfootballweekly.spreadshirt.co.uk/hatem-ben-arfa-c-est-magic-A19992580/customize/color/1 The lads at French Football Weekly have made this t-shirt if anyone is interested. Also sell a Cabaye one in their shop. Put it in the match reaction thread by accident first time. That Cabaye one is lush. Ordered one of those. http://image.spreadshirt.net/image-server/image/product/25124016/view/1/type/png/width/280/height/280/yohan-cabaye-newcastle-utd-black-4.png Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
OzzieMandias Posted April 10, 2012 Share Posted April 10, 2012 http://frenchfootballweekly.spreadshirt.co.uk/hatem-ben-arfa-c-est-magic-A19992580/customize/color/1 The lads at French Football Weekly have made this t-shirt if anyone is interested. Also sell a Cabaye one in their shop. Put it in the match reaction thread by accident first time. That Cabaye one is lush. Ordered one of those. http://image.spreadshirt.net/image-server/image/product/25124016/view/1/type/png/width/280/height/280/yohan-cabaye-newcastle-utd-black-4.png "Dreamboat" Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
OzzieMandias Posted April 10, 2012 Share Posted April 10, 2012 Bateau de rêve. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theregulars Posted April 10, 2012 Share Posted April 10, 2012 I think this is the best thing about him: the fact that you know that, at any moment, he can just do something undefendable and get you goal that the other team can do bollock all about. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mole_Toonfan Posted April 10, 2012 Share Posted April 10, 2012 I am very tempted by the Cabaye shirt Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
QBG Posted April 10, 2012 Share Posted April 10, 2012 Can't stop watching it. Its just an utterly stupendous goal, football poetry. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
madras Posted April 10, 2012 Share Posted April 10, 2012 i would just like to point those that (admittedly from other clubs) are saying that ben arfa never got tackled, to diego maradonas goal against england in 1986, similar, in that each touch makes it impossible for the defenders to tackle. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bowie Posted April 10, 2012 Share Posted April 10, 2012 Interesting Pardew quote on Ben Arfa - "With Hatem, you've got to let him have his world. It's his world when he has the ball, my world is when he hasn't." http://en.islcollective.com/wuploads/forum/big_184874daed8a8200421.75806675i_like_this_facebook_thumbsup1.jpg Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Posted April 10, 2012 Share Posted April 10, 2012 "Never got tackled" isn't even the case though, is it? Bitter fucks. He puts Ricketts on his arse with a first touch of absolute perfection, meaning a tackle isn't even in question, then Mark Davies undoubtedly tried to bring him down and made a half-decent contact that would send a good majority of PL footballers to the deck, you could see Hatem scream/wince when he rode the tackle, and what could Wheater do in that situation at the end? He was put in a dilemma because of the pace of Ben Arfa and was left with the option to go half-hearted or to get sent-off. Failing the flicked touch of HBA he may well have won the ball anyway. The finish was obviously fucking great as well. Fair play to the runners again, too, whose efforts meant that HBA couldn't simply be crowded out (Ream in particular was rendered useless). I could even include Danny Simpson along with Cisse and Shola there too. Can't remember for the life of me the last time we had so much movement (albeit obvious movement as in supporting the ball carrier) off the ball as we have had in some of these recent games. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TaylorJ_01 Posted April 10, 2012 Share Posted April 10, 2012 There's not many people I'd be starstuck meeting but this lad is one of them. I absolutely adore him Hope he can become a legend here. I hope we can match his potential! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
alpal78 Posted April 10, 2012 Share Posted April 10, 2012 At which point do we start worrying about losing him this summer? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sifu Posted April 10, 2012 Share Posted April 10, 2012 My cousin (who he lives in Hong Kong and is pretty much a Man U supporter) has just liked the Ben Arfa Facebook fanpage. I see that as progress of him converting to a NUFC fan.....(been trying for years!). He still likes Alan Smith though (since his Man U days I should add), need to work on getting that out of his head. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theregulars Posted April 10, 2012 Share Posted April 10, 2012 To be fair to the Liverpool fans criticising it, I've seen Downing do it loads this year, so the magic has probably been somewhat devalued for them. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pedro111 Posted April 10, 2012 Share Posted April 10, 2012 A couple of things. Has anyone got a link to the Newcastle thread on the Marseille forum? Cheers. And with regards to HBA being underrated on FIFA; its a joke! He hasn't even got a dribbler or whatever its called trait! When there's like one player in the world better with the ball at his feet! Still, he's pretty decent on it and you can skin players with some belter tricks. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest VegasToon Posted April 10, 2012 Share Posted April 10, 2012 Stolen from Twitter: http://frenchfootballweekly.spreadshirt.co.uk/hatem-ben-arfa-c-est-magic-A19992580/customize/color/1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
madras Posted April 10, 2012 Share Posted April 10, 2012 A couple of things. Has anyone got a link to the Newcastle thread on the Marseille forum? Cheers. And with regards to HBA being underrated on FIFA; its a joke! He hasn't even got a dribbler or whatever its called trait! When there's like one player in the world better with the ball at his feet! Still, he's pretty decent on it and you can skin players with some belter tricks. theres a newcastle thread on the marseilles forum ? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HawK Posted April 10, 2012 Share Posted April 10, 2012 A couple of things. Has anyone got a link to the Newcastle thread on the Marseille forum? Cheers. And with regards to HBA being underrated on FIFA; its a joke! He hasn't even got a dribbler or whatever its called trait! When there's like one player in the world better with the ball at his feet! Still, he's pretty decent on it and you can skin players with some belter tricks. theres a newcastle thread on the marseilles forum ? http://www.omplanete.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=20411 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnnypd Posted April 10, 2012 Share Posted April 10, 2012 was basically laughing to myself for 5 mins watching it on MOTD. and it's amazing that he nearly did the same thing all over again a couple of minutes later Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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