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Hatem Ben Arfa


Rich

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I don't think it's unrealistic to say he's in the top bracket of attacking midfielders in the league. If I think of the other flavours of the month at the minute; Bale, Walcott, Cazorla, Mata, Nani? I don't think Ben Arfa looks out of place amongst those names. Someone could argue all of those were better than Hatem and they'd probably have a case, but it can be fought either way.

 

He's a phenomenal player. I think people on here have got it right with him; when he is overrated, it's generally just tongue in cheek.

 

Nani doesn't seem to be in SAF's first team.

 

When talking attacking players that aren't strikers. It's Mata, Bale, Fellaini, Cazorla, Michu. In the slightly lower performing bracket it's Hazard, Walcott, Lennon, Silva based on this season.

 

HBA hasn't played enough or scored/assisted enough to belong in that top bracket, arguably hasn't played enough to be in that second category. At the moment, he's Bryan Ruiz, Nasri status due to the injuries. Stop, start, season. Hasn't "grown" much at this point this season. Still there's loads of games left.

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I don't think it's unrealistic to say he's in the top bracket of attacking midfielders in the league. If I think of the other flavours of the month at the minute; Bale, Walcott, Cazorla, Mata, Nani? I don't think Ben Arfa looks out of place amongst those names. Someone could argue all of those were better than Hatem and they'd probably have a case, but it can be fought either way.

 

He's a phenomenal player. I think people on here have got it right with him; when he is overrated, it's generally just tongue in cheek.

 

Nani doesn't seem to be in SAF's first team.

 

When talking attacking players that aren't strikers. It's Mata, Bale, Fellaini, Cazorla, Michu. In the slightly lower performing bracket it's Hazard, Walcott, Lennon, Silva based on this season.

 

HBA hasn't played enough or scored/assisted enough to belong in that top bracket, arguably hasn't played enough to be in that second category. At the moment, he's Bryan Ruiz, Nasri status due to the injuries. Stop, start, season. Hasn't "grown" much at this point this season. Still there's loads of games left.

 

Bryan Ruiz??? Injuries or not, HBA has produced considerably more than him. Ask fans of ANY opposition club who they rate higher..

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He's the most talented player in the league. He hasn't put it together yet but he will. No one can score a goal like he did v Bolton and Blackburn. No one. He just needs to be fit for a whole season and everyone will realise that this guy is pretty much it.

 

My feeling as well, big question is just whether he can play a whole season.

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He's the most talented player in the league. He hasn't put it together yet but he will. No one can score a goal like he did v Bolton and Blackburn. No one. He just needs to be fit for a whole season and everyone will realise that this guy is pretty much it.

 

Relax.

 

For 25% of the season (first ten games), it was between him and van Persie for the best player. People forget this because we've been so shit lately but we only lost to Chelsea and Man Utd early on. Our start was decent, even with the injuries and poor performances and that was pretty much solely down to Ben Arfa.

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I don't think it's unrealistic to say he's in the top bracket of attacking midfielders in the league. If I think of the other flavours of the month at the minute; Bale, Walcott, Cazorla, Mata, Nani? I don't think Ben Arfa looks out of place amongst those names. Someone could argue all of those were better than Hatem and they'd probably have a case, but it can be fought either way.

 

He's a phenomenal player. I think people on here have got it right with him; when he is overrated, it's generally just tongue in cheek.

 

Nani doesn't seem to be in SAF's first team.

 

When talking attacking players that aren't strikers. It's Mata, Bale, Fellaini, Cazorla, Michu. In the slightly lower performing bracket it's Hazard, Walcott, Lennon, Silva based on this season.

 

HBA hasn't played enough or scored/assisted enough to belong in that top bracket, arguably hasn't played enough to be in that second category. At the moment, he's Bryan Ruiz, Nasri status due to the injuries. Stop, start, season. Hasn't "grown" much at this point this season. Still there's loads of games left.

 

Bryan Ruiz??? Injuries or not, HBA has produced considerably more than him. Ask fans of ANY opposition club who they rate higher..

 

Obviously, HBA is better. Both are talented players for me, whose seasons have been severely limited to injuries while I think both of their stocks would have dramatically increased if not for injuries. Would Nasri sound better to you? Point being, HBA hasn't taken his game or career much further this season.

Where as Bale, Cazorla, Mata, Fellaini etc. look to be fulfilling their potential.

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He's the most talented player in the league. He hasn't put it together yet but he will. No one can score a goal like he did v Bolton and Blackburn. No one. He just needs to be fit for a whole season and everyone will realise that this guy is pretty much it.

 

A perfect example of my earlier point.

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He's the most talented player in the league. He hasn't put it together yet but he will. No one can score a goal like he did v Bolton and Blackburn. No one. He just needs to be fit for a whole season and everyone will realise that this guy is pretty much it.

 

Relax.

 

For 25% of the season (first ten games), it was between him and van Persie for the best player. People forget this because we've been so s*** lately but we only lost to Chelsea and Man Utd early on. Our start was decent, even with the injuries and poor performances and that was pretty much solely down to Ben Arfa.

 

Aye that Demba Ba was doing nothing like. HBA was good. He hasn't hit the heights of RVP, Bale, Suarez etc.

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If Hatem hadn't been injured for three months, people would be talking about him in the same reverential tone as they do Bale today. I honestly believe that and I'm sure he'll prove me right.

 

You said he was better than Pedro and Shearer last week. You've already been proven wrong, tbh.

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Why the Bale comparisons? Bale is playing under a fantastic manager, he plays every week and has the team built around him.

 

Until all these things happen there is no point in the comparison because at the end of the day talent means very little.

 

Don't know about AVB being fantastic but he's done well to get the best out of Bale, which 'Arry was doing already by making him switch his game up.

 

 

But yes, he's injury free playing in a side where he's the focal. I think Hatem might deserve that freedom once he gets into his stride.

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He's the most talented player in the league. He hasn't put it together yet but he will. No one can score a goal like he did v Bolton and Blackburn. No one. He just needs to be fit for a whole season and everyone will realise that this guy is pretty much it.

 

Relax.

 

For 25% of the season (first ten games), it was between him and van Persie for the best player. People forget this because we've been so shit lately but we only lost to Chelsea and Man Utd early on. Our start was decent, even with the injuries and poor performances and that was pretty much solely down to Ben Arfa.

 

Hatem wasn't even our best player in the first ten games. :lol:

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If Hatem hadn't been injured for three months, people would be talking about him in the same reverential tone as they do Bale today. I honestly believe that and I'm sure he'll prove me right.

 

You said he was better than Pedro and Shearer last week. You've already been proven wrong, tbh.

 

When I said best I meant technically best, I should have clarified. I haven't seen better, and I don't really care what anyone else says about this, to be honest. I hope that's not offensive, bro.

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Yep:

 

“When I first came here, we were training and Peter Beardsley joined in.

 

“I said to him ‘You are a very good player’.

 

“Then a few people told me about him.

 

“I went home and typed his name into You Tube and I was amazed at how good he was – he was amazing.

 

“Maybe I shouldn’t be surprised that he is still amazing at 51!

 

“He’s a big player and I would like to be like him.”

 

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If he stays fit and the team doesn't change much over the summer, he should be aiming to get into double figures for both goals and assists next year. I think he's one of, if not the most, well-rounded footballers in the league (good athlete, great footballer, good attitude and work ethic, nothing he can't do with the ball at either foot) but he needs to translate that variety into outputs now. I thought he was performing well before his injury, but there was only so much he could do considering the train wreck going on around him regarding our shape and attacking play. I think he'll finish the year strongly, it's going to be exciting seeing how he fits in with our new look team.

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It's going to be so much harder for teams to keep him quiet now, before they would just double or even treble up on him, but with Gouffran, Sissokho and Cabaye lurking around he should get a bit more time and space.

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Yep:

 

“When I first came here, we were training and Peter Beardsley joined in.

 

“I said to him ‘You are a very good player’.

 

“Then a few people told me about him.

 

“I went home and typed his name into You Tube and I was amazed at how good he was – he was amazing.

 

“Maybe I shouldn’t be surprised that he is still amazing at 51!

 

“He’s a big player and I would like to be like him.”

 

Hadn't seen that before, class :aww:

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Yep:

 

“When I first came here, we were training and Peter Beardsley joined in.

 

“I said to him ‘You are a very good player’.

 

“Then a few people told me about him.

 

“I went home and typed his name into You Tube and I was amazed at how good he was – he was amazing.

 

“Maybe I shouldn’t be surprised that he is still amazing at 51!

 

“He’s a big player and I would like to be like him.”

 

That just inspired me to go watch some Beardsley compilations - what a player that lad was!

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