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Hatem Ben Arfa


Rich

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Guest icemanblue

Norwich haven't got anyone i can see giving our full backs too much grief, and I'd be willing to bet Hughton will take them there looking for the draw. We need to play on the "front foot" :lol:

 

Pilkington (if fit)?

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He was also a liability in his 45 minutes against Everton.

 

There's many factors to our recent decent form at the back. Not playing HBA in midfield is one of them. No coincidence Debuchy now looks a player without HBA.

 

Yes he was poor against Everton on the left, but no more of a liability than anyone else in a terrible first half team performance.  Mostly due to the intense pressure Everton put on us in that half.  Only game I could agree with the term liability for Ben Arfa was Hull.

 

I agree that the extra protection has helped Debuchy, but only as he was getting used to the game and needed to find his feet.  I think that's allowed him to calm down, think about how he needs to adapt and gain some confidence.  IMO now he has he won't need it as much.  Debuchy's actually changed the way he deals with defenders since earlier in the season and improved his positioning IMO.  Its not as if Sissoko is constantly covering for his mistakes like Ben Arfa should have done against Hull (because that Hull goal was as much Debuchy's fault as it was Ben Arfa's).

 

That being said Ben Arfa will still need to concentrate far more and put more effort in defensively than he did against Hull, which was unacceptable obviously.  But IMO we will need him in the next two games, we won't have the space in behind against Norwich or West Brom that we got against Chelsea and Spurs.

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I remember against Chelsea Debuchy tried to clean out the ball from Hazard and he totally missed as Hazard simply skipped over him. 2 strides later Sissoko takes out ball and man. If HBA was there would the same have happened?

 

Siss isn't the best defensively but he's a step above HBA.

 

I can only judge on what I can see with my eyes.

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I remember against Chelsea Debuchy tried to clean out the ball from Hazard and he totally missed as Hazard simply skipped over him. 2 strides later Sissoko takes out ball and man. If HBA was there would the same have happened?

 

Siss isn't the best defensively but he's a step above HBA.

 

I can only judge on what I can see with my eyes.

 

As I said Ben Arfa would still need to do some defending, I'm not advocating no support for Debuchy at all.  Just saying I don't believe he'll now need as much as he needed earlier in the season.  Its not like Ben Arfa can't provide any support at all for the left back, he's shown in the past he can if he's motivated.

 

We have looked more solid in the last few games, partly due to Debuchy settling in, and partly due to Williamson and Yanga-Mbiwa being a better partnership than Coloccini and Yanga-Mbiwa was previously.  I agree on not bringing Coloccini back yet BTW.  Love him and its hard to see him on the bench but right now Williamson and Yanga-Mbiwa is working well.

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I remember against Chelsea Debuchy tried to clean out the ball from Hazard and he totally missed as Hazard simply skipped over him. 2 strides later Sissoko takes out ball and man. If HBA was there would the same have happened?

 

Siss isn't the best defensively but he's a step above HBA.

 

I can only judge on what I can see with my eyes.

 

As I said Ben Arfa would still need to do some defending, I'm not advocating no support for Debuchy at all.  Just saying I don't believe he'll now need as much as he needed earlier in the season.  Its not like Ben Arfa can't provide any support at all for the left back, he's shown in the past he can if he's motivated.

 

We have looked more solid in the last few games, partly due to Debuchy settling in, and partly due to Williamson and Yanga-Mbiwa being a better partnership than Coloccini and Yanga-Mbiwa was previously.  I agree on not bringing Coloccini back yet BTW.

 

HBA has shown he can come off the bench and earn his place back in the starting line-up and I want him to do it again.

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Would help if he ever got off the bench.  I do expect it to happen that way against Norwich though.  Obviously Pardew will just try the same team as we played against Chelsea and Spurs and it won't work well at all, so he'll very probably need to be rescued.  Which inevitably means "we're in trouble, save us Ben Arfa"...

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HBA always tries too hard when coming off the bench.

 

He needs to start vs Norwich, but I don´t think Pardew sees it like that. With him being the ultimate reactionist, HBA will come on between the 70-75 minute mark on the score 0-0, try to do too much himself resulting in him losing the ball due to three other players marking him. Match ends 0-0 after some scary moments with Norwich on the break in the last 5 minutes.

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Norwich haven't got anyone i can see giving our full backs too much grief, and I'd be willing to bet Hughton will take them there looking for the draw. We need to play on the "front foot" :lol:

 

True but I think Snodgrass is a good player

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