Hatem Ben Arfa (now retired?)

[Figures 1-0 Football]

In fact it still happens with Marveaux.

 

A player who many recognise is not a world beater, and in an ideal world wouldn't have been in our starting XI every week, but the circumstances behind him not playing lead to people talking about the issue more than normal.

 

Another player I'd like to have in the team at this current moment.

I've always thought there is something there with Marveaux and agree he was heavily mismanaged at NUFC.

 

However, Marveaux is still contracted to us - so he is still worth discussing/crying over why he is not playing. HBA is not.

[Hanshithispantz]

I cannot even believe I'm indulging in a conversation with someone who's trying to tell me what I can and cannot discuss like, what the fuck am I doing?

 

In a bit.

[Figures 1-0 Football]

I cannot even believe I'm indulging in a conversation with someone who's trying to tell me what I can and cannot discuss like, what the f*** am I doing?

 

In a bit.

 

Very well constructed reply.

Have I once said that YOU cannot discuss HBA? No. I've made a point that I feel discussing him is pointless because he doesn't play for us.

What is wrong with that?

[Wullie]

For me, the best example of the sort of thing he had to put up with was when he put Stoke to the sword on that Boxing Day. 5-1 win, Ben Arfa set up three of them. The BBC match report said this:

 

But it was another Frenchman who shone in this fixture as Hatem Ben Arfa - starting in place of the suspended Cheick Tiote - proved a constant menace.

The midfielder's flair and invention troubled the Stoke defence from the outset and the former Marseille man produced the home side's first real chance when he curled an effort just wide.

 

Three days later we played Arsenal, with one change. Ben Arfa out, Tiote back in, Gouffran still on the field and we lost the game to nil. Arsene Wenger was quoted afterwards by a French journalist as saying "I was scared when you came on Hatem."  Ben Arfa didn't start another league game for over a month.

 

How can any footballer succeed in that managerial environment, where they're not rewarded for good performances but are always punished for poor ones? I'm pretty sure you can make any footballer look like they're acting the prick, if you deliberately set out to be a complete cunt to them, even moreso if they're already known for being temperamental. Pardew played our gullible fans like a fucking fiddle.

[Superior Acuña]

The Ben Arfa situation is highly relevant to our current situation man. The ownership and most of the coaches that got rid of him are still here, Ben Arfa would still be a Newcastle player if he hadn't been driven out. And given that we could be relegated, losing an effective player is highly consequential for the club.

 

Albert is about as directly relevant to our current football situation as the Prince Albert that Hans probably has and IanW wishes he had.

[Robbo]

For me, the best example of the sort of thing he had to put up with was when he put Stoke to the sword on that Boxing Day. 5-1 win, Ben Arfa set up three of them. The BBC match report said this:

 

But it was another Frenchman who shone in this fixture as Hatem Ben Arfa - starting in place of the suspended Cheick Tiote - proved a constant menace.

The midfielder's flair and invention troubled the Stoke defence from the outset and the former Marseille man produced the home side's first real chance when he curled an effort just wide.

 

Three days later we played Arsenal, with one change. Ben Arfa out, Tiote back in, Gouffran still on the field and we lost the game to nil. Arsene Wenger was quoted afterwards by a French journalist as saying "I was scared when you came on Hatem."  Ben Arfa didn't start another league game for over a month.

 

How can any footballer succeed in that managerial environment, where they're not rewarded for good performances but are always punished for poor ones? I'm pretty sure you can make any footballer look like they're acting the prick, if you deliberately set out to be a complete c*** to them, even moreso if they're already known for being temperamental. Pardew played our gullible fans like a f***ing fiddle.

 

Hit the post, hit the bar and should've had another pen also. Absolutely abused them that night

[DJ_NUFC]

For me, the best example of the sort of thing he had to put up with was when he put Stoke to the sword on that Boxing Day. 5-1 win, Ben Arfa set up three of them. The BBC match report said this:

 

But it was another Frenchman who shone in this fixture as Hatem Ben Arfa - starting in place of the suspended Cheick Tiote - proved a constant menace.

The midfielder's flair and invention troubled the Stoke defence from the outset and the former Marseille man produced the home side's first real chance when he curled an effort just wide.

 

Three days later we played Arsenal, with one change. Ben Arfa out, Tiote back in, Gouffran still on the field and we lost the game to nil. Arsene Wenger was quoted afterwards by a French journalist as saying "I was scared when you came on Hatem."  Ben Arfa didn't start another league game for over a month.

 

How can any footballer succeed in that managerial environment, where they're not rewarded for good performances but are always punished for poor ones? I'm pretty sure you can make any footballer look like they're acting the prick, if you deliberately set out to be a complete cunt to them, even moreso if they're already known for being temperamental. Pardew played our gullible fans like a fucking fiddle.

 

The rewriting of history by Pardew and fans of HBA's time here is the biggest success story of this fucking regime, and many of our neanderthal fans, pundits, media and fans of other clubs have bought it hook, line and sinker. The fact that this debate is still taking place after a plethora of evidence to the contrary tells you why we have the political and financial systems we currently have with the 1% absolutely taking the piss out of the 99% of serfs.

[angrypirate71]

I| would love HBA in our club at this point in time, but others have produced more than him and got less plaudits.

 

 

I'd actually say no-one has done more and got less plaudits, in the wider fanbase and media. Your recollection of Hatem's workrate and output would support this.

The only thing this board has built up is the fairly logical notion of Hatem as the antidote to the disease at the club, because he looked like he gave a shit (baffled as to how some think otherwise).

The concession I would give to the anti-HBA argument is he may be hard to communicate with, on and off the pitch - and that, combined with the coaches/players/managers we have, has led to where he is now.

I don't believe he's unmanageable though and his treatment here was a piss take at times. CBA to discuss his issues in his early days as I think he put a lot of that behind him with us.

 

FWIW I only remember a few poor performances from him - a one off during the fifth placed season at home when we were on a roll, can't remember against who. The only others were his most recent, where he either got subbed on or got a surprise start, so looking back, with what we gather went on behind the scenes at that time, I can't put all of that on him either. In fact it's not a massive stretch to suggest that what we're currently being served up on the pitch and in the boardroom is what Ben Arfa was arguing about back then.

 

 

   

 

[U2]

But the reality is, a lot of the time he did not show up.

 

Erm, bollocks?

 

[Dave]

It's funny how most of the negative opinion on Ben Arfa seems to have been formed over the course of his last few months here. Before that he wasn't a problem whatsoever for the manager(s) and was regarded as one of our best players. Pardew's desperate rhetoric about tracking back has really worked on some.

[Twinport53]

Gouffran has had 32 appearances this season. Scoring 2 goals, BOTH were deflections.

 

Are people really believing if Hatem was giving 32 games this season he wouldn't of contributed more?

 

The bloke is loved because he represents everything we want to see. Flair, skill and goals. Miss him to bits, the fat lazy bastard.

[DJ_NUFC]

Gouffran has had 32 appearances this season. Scoring 2 goals, BOTH were deflections.

 

Are people really believing if Hatem was giving 32 games this season he wouldn't of contributed more?

 

The bloke is loved because he represents everything we want to see. Flair, skill and goals. Miss him to bits, the fat lazy bastard.

 

I mean, I knew it was bad, but not that bad. Fuck.

[Twinport53]

Gouffran has had 32 appearances this season. Scoring 2 goals, BOTH were deflections.

 

Are people really believing if Hatem was giving 32 games this season he wouldn't of contributed more?

 

The bloke is loved because he represents everything we want to see. Flair, skill and goals. Miss him to bits, the fat lazy b******.

 

I mean, I knew it was bad, but not that bad. f***.

 

Aye, it's shocking man 

 

That goal against Soton, in off the defender, top corner, knew nowt about it. The other was against Hull at the KC, took a piss weak shot, straight down the middle and it clipped the defender lobbing the keeper.

 

 

[ikri]

I seem to remember Ben Arfa creating chances in 90% of the games he played in. Off the top of my head, he probably only had four or five games when things didn't go for him.

 

He may have been half arsed in training(allegedly) but on the pitch where it mattered, he was always looking to make things happen.

 

It's funny in a depressing sort of way.  Ben Arfa was half arsed in training but often brilliant when the game kicked off, yet perversely the current squad are apparently brilliant in training but quite clearly half arsed once the game kicks off.

[Disco]

I seem to remember Ben Arfa creating chances in 90% of the games he played in. Off the top of my head, he probably only had four or five games when things didn't go for him.

 

He may have been half arsed in training(allegedly) but on the pitch where it mattered, he was always looking to make things happen.

 

It's funny in a depressing sort of way.  Ben Arfa was half arsed in training but often brilliant when the game kicked off, yet perversely the current squad are apparently brilliant in training but quite clearly half arsed once the game kicks off.

 

Have you seen who they're up against in training?

[Mattoon]

I seem to remember Ben Arfa creating chances in 90% of the games he played in. Off the top of my head, he probably only had four or five games when things didn't go for him.

 

He may have been half arsed in training(allegedly) but on the pitch where it mattered, he was always looking to make things happen.

 

It's funny in a depressing sort of way.  Ben Arfa was half arsed in training but often brilliant when the game kicked off, yet perversely the current squad are apparently brilliant in training but quite clearly half arsed once the game kicks off.

 

Have you seen who they're up against in training?

 

I'd imagine 90% of us on here would look like early 90s Shearer against that defence!

[M4]

Watching the Football Mavericks ITV series, so much of it rings true with what happened to Ben Arfa at this club.

 

Such a shame so many fans buy into the propaganda and revisionism. If you're not going to enjoy your football then what is the point.

[Darth Crooks]

Pardew, a known liar, said he doesn't track back and loads just nodded and repeated it verbatim. He actually kept up with that assist at crystal palace.

[loki679]

I don't particularly want my attackers to track back.  I find it quite strange that anyone does.

 

If I have a player who can cause real damage to the opposition in their third then I would quite like him to be in their third most of the game.

[Guest firetotheworks]

Pleased I wasn't here when that numbskull was claiming that HBA wouldn't have made any difference.

 

'HBA wouldn't have made any difference, nor would Marveaux.'

 

'Here are loads of examples of HBA winning games for us single handedly, here's 5 of Marveaux doing the same. The alternatives are Ryan Taylor and Gabriel Obertan.'

 

'I don't think he'd have made any difference'

 

Fucking moron.

[Ketsbaia]

Anyone who dares critcise Ben Arfa has no fucking clue about football, like. He was a genius, Pardew didn't like that and we're in freefall without him. Sunday's relegation vindicates those of us with eyes who defend Ben Arfa.

 

But Ryan Taylor and Gutierrez run around so let's have them instead.

[Swissmag]

You can say Pardew and Bruce "ruined" him, those damn English dinosaurs, but in reality Gerets, Perrin, Houllier and Deschamps did the same thing in France.

 

Fact if, if 6 managers (I'm using the term lightly with Pards and Bruce) thought he wasn't worth their time, then maybe they are right.

 

Would you please shut up, Bolton Boy

[Ronaldo]

Anyone who dares critcise Ben Arfa has no fucking clue about football, like.

 

Well this is a daft opinion too. Just because we'd be much better with him in the side doesn't mean he should have immunity from criticism. He deserves plenty of criticism for the way his career turned out.

[DJ_NUFC]

The issue, Ron, is that criticism for HBA is the same criticism for a lot of flair players. Not tracking back, bad attitude in training, etc., none of this is new under the sun. A decent manager with half a brain works WITH these issues instead of using them, and players like him, to hide his own inadequacies by laying the blame entirely on their colourful doorstep.

 

The fact is most football lovers and connoisseurs of the game are willing to forgive and work with these drawbacks for that little bit of (cough) "magic" that has us repeating it on youtube and in our minds over and over again long, often years, after the game is done. Those are the very first moments that drew us to the sport in the first place.

[KaKa]

Watching the Football Mavericks ITV series, so much of it rings true with what happened to Ben Arfa at this club.

 

Such a shame so many fans buy into the propaganda and revisionism. If you're not going to enjoy your football then what is the point.

 

Yeah, watched that too. Really enjoyed it.

 

Couldn't believe how under appreciated Hoddle was.

 

Seems there has never really been that much of an appreciation for flair players over here.