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Nabil Bentaleb

Re: Official Nabil Bentaleb Thread

Pandy said:
Because 'Nice But Dim' 'looks' and 'sounds' stupid. He is an 'up and at em' '4 fackin 4 fackin 2' specialist with no knowledge of football (or tactical knowledge whatsoever for that matter) who is only able to motivate players. How can you not see this!? He is English after all, and therefore knows nothing about football. Clearly we know this because of his many years in football, and the fact that the similarly odious cretin that was Harry Redknapp (forget the impeccable finishes for a minute) appointed him, therefore he must be one of the amateurish 'old boys' appointed for no reason other than nepotism.
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Trying to work out if this is a serious post or one made to illustrate why others are so anti Tim
 
Re: Official Nabil Bentaleb Thread

He had a good game. Nothing more, nothing less. People ****ing over his debut are as baffling as those who would have written him off if he had a bad first game. Its feast or famine for some people, your either a world beater or your useless.
 
Re: Official Nabil Bentaleb Thread

Perhaps he'll be our surprise World Cup player for the summer - for Algeria.
Born and raised in France, has one game for their U19 side, but one or both of his parents are algerian.
 
Re: Official Nabil Bentaleb Thread

How good is he? (Honest question, not a hyperbolic "how good is this lad!") And what is his best role?

I really like how confident and calm he is on the ball, and he wants to be involved in possession and look for the smart choices. Bigger and stronger than Carroll, but not showing himself as a destroyer defensively so far.

Sherwood obviously trusts him and I'm looking forward to seeing more of him. Promising early signals.
 
Re: Official Nabil Bentaleb Thread

braineclipse said:
How good is he? (Honest question, not a hyperbolic "how good is this lad!") And what is his best role?

I really like how confident and calm he is on the ball, and he wants to be involved in possession and look for the smart choices. Bigger and stronger than Carroll, but not showing himself as a destroyer defensively so far.

Sherwood obviously trusts him and I'm looking forward to seeing more of him. Promising early signals.
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He seems to be similar in style to Dembele from what i have seen of him. Very accurate passer too.

Difficult to say what role if any he will end up doing for us at the moment though as they have been brief demo appearances
 
Re: Official Nabil Bentaleb Thread

Bedfordspurs said:
He seems to be similar in style to Dembele from what i have seen of him. Very accurate passer too.

Difficult to say what role if any he will end up doing for us at the moment though as they have been brief demo appearances
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Dembele?! Wow, I don't really see any similarities at all. Actually, that's not true - I just think their outstanding attributes are very different.

To me Bentaleb seems more like a Carrick - good defensive awareness and positioning, and likes to get on the ball in deep positions and play quick, simple forward passes. And he has the technique and confidence to make a bit of space for himself when being pressed.

So to me he could play as the more disciplined CM alongside a more attacking / creative player (in easier games), or as more of a passer alongside a destroyer like Sandro (in more difficult games).

Personally, judging him by the little most of us have seen of him, I think he has the potential to at least be a good squad player for us. Maybe even to be a top regular starter. My 'concern' at this stage would be whether he can be anything more than a 'solid' and tidy all-round player - does he have the passing range to be a really top deep-lying playmaker? Or the tackling ability to be a top holder?
 
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Re: Official Nabil Bentaleb Thread

elltrev said:
Dembele?! Wow, I don't really see any similarities at all. Actually, that's not true - I just think their outstanding attributes are very different.

To me Bentaleb seems more like a Carrick - good defensive awareness and positioning, and likes to get on the ball in deep positions and play quick, simple forward passes. And he has the technique and confidence to make a bit of space for himself when being pressed.

So to me he could play as the more disciplined CM alongside a more attacking / creative player (in easier games), or as more of a passer alongside a destroyer like Sandro (in more difficult games).

Personally, judging him by the little most of us have seen of him, I think he has the potential to at least be a good squad player for us. Maybe even to be a top regular starter. My 'concern' at this stage would be whether he can be anything more than a 'solid' and tidy all-round player - does he have the passing range to be a really top deep-lying playmaker? Or the tackling ability to be a top holder?
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Yep. The similarity in styles is quite striking, most notably in his composure and time on the ball. Have already drawn the comparison a couple of times including the ratings thread yesterday

Bentaleb 7 - totally anchors midfield, tidying things up and spraying intelligent balls around - he's our new Carrick
 
Re: Official Nabil Bentaleb Thread

elltrev said:
Dembele?! Wow, I don't really see any similarities at all. Actually, that's not true - I just think their outstanding attributes are very different.

To me Bentaleb seems more like a Carrick - good defensive awareness and positioning, and likes to get on the ball in deep positions and play quick, simple forward passes. And he has the technique and confidence to make a bit of space for himself when being pressed.

So to me he could play as the more disciplined CM alongside a more attacking / creative player (in easier games), or as more of a passer alongside a destroyer like Sandro (in more difficult games).

Personally, judging him by the little most of us have seen of him, I think he has the potential to at least be a good squad player for us. Maybe even to be a top regular starter. My 'concern' at this stage would be whether he can be anything more than a 'solid' and tidy all-round player - does he have the passing range to be a really top deep-lying playmaker? Or the tackling ability to be a top holder?
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I agree with that. Yeah, very early to judge him. Normally it takes a long time for central midfielders to really mature into regular starters for clubs near the top. IIRC Carrick was 23 when we signed him from West Ham and clubs weren't exactly fighting to take him out of the Championship at that time.

I wonder if Sherwood sees some of himself in Bentaleb? He's had some time to work with him for the youth team and seems to trust him to make the right decisions in tight games.
 
Re: Official Nabil Bentaleb Thread

Early days so I might not of given a fair assessment but I dont see too many similarities to Carrick, I think Bentaleb carries the ball and is a better dribbler than Carrick but Carricks' passing both short and long was exceptional for us....
 
Re: Official Nabil Bentaleb Thread

Reminds me more of cleverley in style. Hopefully will prove to be better in talent.
 
Re: Official Nabil Bentaleb Thread

Hasn't done anything specifically to wow me, the wow factor has come in the fact that for the most part he's stepped in, been neat, not misplaced passes, not made poor tackles, just kept the midfield turning over.

That type of CM role is difficult, requires ability, intelligence and a calmness, no one knows how Bentaleb will turn out, but fair play to him so far.
 
Re: Official Nabil Bentaleb Thread

Raziel said:
Hasn't done anything specifically to wow me, the wow factor has come in the fact that for the most part he's stepped in, been neat, not misplaced passes, not made poor tackles, just kept the midfield turning over.

That type of CM role is difficult, requires ability, intelligence and a calmness, no one knows how Bentaleb will turn out, but fair play to him so far.
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you are kidding me?

you dont see how he makes space ffor himself? how he picks his passes ? how he is able to generate room to make an easy pass with a defender borrowing down on his back?

i'm telling you this guy is a premier league footballer....and i mean TODAYS premier league standard
 
Re: Official Nabil Bentaleb Thread

I bet you his stock will rise enough to get him into the Algerian side for the World Cup (only one appearance for France U19)
 
Re: Official Nabil Bentaleb Thread

I said in the ratings thread that he reminds me of a weaker Pogba. Not quite the box-to-box threat like Pogba at the moment but that will come with confidence. Don't think he'll ever reach the level of Pogba but he has the ingredients.
 
Re: Official Nabil Bentaleb Thread

africanspurs said:
you are kidding me?

you dont see how he makes space ffor himself? how he picks his passes ? how he is able to generate room to make an easy pass with a defender borrowing down on his back?

i'm telling you this guy is a premier league footballer....and i mean TODAYS premier league standard
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I meant no "moment of individual brilliance" no Hollywood pass or beating his man, what you are talking about is doing all the stuff right without showing off, which is exactly kind of what I meant.

If he had failed at any of those things, it would have been noticeable.
 
Re: Official Nabil Bentaleb Thread

Raziel said:
I meant no "moment of individual brilliance" no Hollywood pass or beating his man, what you are talking about is doing all the stuff right without showing off, which is exactly kind of what I meant.

If he had failed at any of those things, it would have been noticeable.
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I think the point is (if I may, african), is that Bentaleb is a young lad who immediately settled in and not only did not make mistakes but actively sought the ball and showed a ton of composure. Compare him to lots of teens who make their debut and his performances are pretty 'wow'. Yes, they are not in the Rooney class, but what he has done, in my opinion, puts him up there for impressive early starts.
 
Re: Official Nabil Bentaleb Thread

Raziel said:
I meant no "moment of individual brilliance" no Hollywood pass or beating his man, what you are talking about is doing all the stuff right without showing off, which is exactly kind of what I meant.

If he had failed at any of those things, it would have been noticeable.
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but mate those things arent easy though, or do you think they are?

what do you think of lamela?
 
Re: Official Nabil Bentaleb Thread

africanspurs said:
but mate those things arent easy though, or do you think they are?

what do you think of lamela?
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No, absolutely not easy, to me that CM role is often a role that being not noticed means you actually are doing a brilliant job, hence the old arguments when we first had Carrick/Modric and people didn't always realize what they brought to the team.

Lamela for me is almost the polar opposite of Bentaleb, producing eye catching moments of brilliance (think he's the best passer in the team along with strangely Soldado), but not being able to string a solid 30 minutes of contribution together.
 
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