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Nabil Bentaleb

He needs to work hard on the training pitch and work harder when it comes to doing his homework (reviewing game footage, working with coaches to shore up his weaknesses, etc.) The benefit of him being so young should be that he's a fast learner. I think he has great technique and drive during matches but he needs to cut out his brain farts.
 
He needs time and someone with experience to help him in games, Perryman had Peters & Mullery, Hoddle had Ardiles that's what will help the whole team. I don't know who, but I'm sure I'll be told.
 
parklane1 said:
Tend to agree with this he is only 20 for GHod sake and he is bound to make mistakes, the biggest hurdle he has to overcome is the over the top hype that was placed on his shoulders by some fans last season. He is still learning and some of the hype that was spouted about him last year has not done him any favours.

There is no reason he will not grow into the player we hope he will but he needs to lean a lot and leaving him out of the team for a few games will not do him any harm.
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A very fair assessment. I am certaimly guilty of heaping praise but I am genuinely excited by the potential of what I see in him...
 
The guy is still very young, and (just my opinion) I think he demonstrated more than enough quality - and potential - last season to make him a central part of the squad this season.

But at the same time, he's clearly not hit the ground running this season and needs to sharpen up (it looks to me like a complacency / focus issue... he's just negotiated a big contract for a 20 year old and has started to believe his own hype). A spell on the bench might be a good thing. I think he has a great future at Spurs, but players should never be careless on the ball out there. And especially not right at the start of the season. There's no excuse for that... no excuse for not concentrating or not working hard.

He'll come good. But right now he needs to sharpen up.
 
DublinSpur said:
The guy is still very young, and (just my opinion) I think he demonstrated more than enough quality - and potential - last season to make him a central part of the squad this season.

But at the same time, he's clearly not hit the ground running this season and needs to sharpen up (it looks to me like a complacency / focus issue... he's just negotiated a big contract for a 20 year old and has started to believe his own hype). A spell on the bench might be a good thing. I think he has a great future at Spurs, but players should never be careless on the ball out there. And especially not right at the start of the season. There's no excuse for that... no excuse for not concentrating or not working hard.

He'll come good. But right now he needs to sharpen up.
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Why do you think he has started to believe his own hype? I didn't see evidence of him not working hard, just a sloppy pass against Man Utd. Against Stoke I thought we would've been better off leaving Mason on and replacing Dier with Bentaleb (as Dier wasn't getting near enough to Ireland).
 
Finney Is Back said:
Why do you think he has started to believe his own hype? I didn't see evidence of him not working hard, just a sloppy pass against Man Utd. Against Stoke I thought we would've been better off leaving Mason on and replacing Dier with Bentaleb (as Dier wasn't getting near enough to Ireland).
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I seem to recall at least 4 sloppy passes against United, including the one that cost us the match. My impression (and that's all it is - my impression) was that he was playing as though he could just hit the ball in the general direction of a Spurs player and his natural talent would do the rest. Multiple poor passes - and when I say poor, I mean short-to-medium length passes directly to an opposition player (not passes that were heroically intercepted) - tend to mean the player either isn't very accurate at passing (which Bentaleb demonstrated is not the case last season) or else just isn't concentrating.

So yeah, to me when a player starts doing that it's a sign that they aren't working hard enough (on the mental / focus side of their game). I'm not someone who automatically equates "running around a lot" with "hard work".

My own view of the Stoke match was that we should have left Mason on and brought on Bentaleb for Kane (shifting Chadli forward and going to a solid three in midfield). I know that's not Pochettino's way but the moment Ireland came on we were getting over-run in midfield. Lamela and Bentaleb for Mason and Kane was never going to solve that.

And yes, I realise that sounds like a contradiction (regarding Bentaleb) but there wasn't really any other option in terms of shoring up midfield; and I'd have hoped Bentaleb would have upped his game after the bad performance at Old Trafford.
 
I think the criticism that this board has given him and other players plus Poch is way OTT. Expectation is one thing, but it seems like a large, vocal contingent have some belief that we should be challenging for the title! Never happy, always sensationalist and flitting between saying someone is a world beater to they are brick, with no inbetween.

For every one person slating Bentaleb, Mason, Alderweireld, Lamela, Davies, Walker, Chadli and Ericksen I say show a little loyalty by being constructive in your criticism. Sensationalist drivel is just going to kill discussion on here as there just is no reasonable response to "A statue would be better than Lamela", "Walker is brick and there's no way we will win anything with him", or "Bentaleb is believing his own hype". On that last one, the hype has been generated by the majority of you!! The majority of those players are going to be a part of this year's squad, and if that means you having to reset your expectations, then I suggest you do so. Then we can get on with having sensible debate and discussion and stop getting so bloody emotional.
 
I said it was my impression that Bentaleb is believing his own hype. Should I not offer my opinion - even when I preface it with "it looks to me like..."? I am one of the most consistently optimistic and positive posters on this board (seriously check my posts) and it depresses me sometimes how negative this place gets. But I don't want to see it turn into some kind of happy-clappy cult where you can't express an honestly held opinion.

The reason I think that of Bentaleb has to do with how blasé and careless he was playing. That's not acceptable at any point, but when you do it in the first game of the season, away to United, then you need to be bloody called out on it. We had a summer where the press regularly reported that Bentaleb was refusing to sign a contract that didn't put him in the same bracket as our top earners. At 20 years old, that smacks of a kid believing his own hype. Follow it with a performance that seemed to scream "I'm so damn good I don't even need to put any effort into passing the ball 7 yards" then yes, I think it's a fair point to make that in my view he looks like he's believing the hype (and it doesn't matter who generated it).

As for my Lamela comment; it was an obviously over-the-top remark based on the fact that his first two involvements in the game were to give away needless free kicks in tricky positions. Right now, the guy is a liability out there. And that's a problem. I want him to succeed. I would love him to succeed. I have spent the past 2 years swearing blind that he would succeed. But it isn't happening for him.

I will praise a Spurs player to the rafters if they are doing well. I will even make excuses for them and suggest they need to spend a short spell on the bench when their form drops. I would never boo a player at a match. But I will also point out what I see as problems with the team - that's very much part of what this place is about - and right now Lamela isn't good enough to feature for us; while Bentaleb needs to start concentrating more. Sorry if you disagree.
 
DublinSpur said:
I said it was my impression that Bentaleb is believing his own hype. Should I not offer my opinion - even when I preface it with "it looks to me like..."? I am one of the most consistently optimistic and positive posters on this board (seriously check my posts) and it depresses me sometimes how negative this place gets. But I don't want to see it turn into some kind of happy-clappy cult where you can't express an honestly held opinion.

The reason I think that of Bentaleb has to do with how blasé and careless he was playing. That's not acceptable at any point, but when you do it in the first game of the season, away to United, then you need to be bloody called out on it. We had a summer where the press regularly reported that Bentaleb was refusing to sign a contract that didn't put him in the same bracket as our top earners. At 20 years old, that smacks of a kid believing his own hype. Follow it with a performance that seemed to scream "I'm so damn good I don't even need to put any effort into passing the ball 7 yards" then yes, I think it's a fair point to make that in my view he looks like he's believing the hype (and it doesn't matter who generated it).

As for my Lamela comment; it was an obviously over-the-top remark based on the fact that his first two involvements in the game were to give away needless free kicks in tricky positions. Right now, the guy is a liability out there. And that's a problem. I want him to succeed. I would love him to succeed. I have spent the past 2 years swearing blind that he would succeed. But it isn't happening for him.

I will praise a Spurs player to the rafters if they are doing well. I will even make excuses for them and suggest they need to spend a short spell on the bench when their form drops. I would never boo a player at a match. But I will also point out what I see as problems with the team - that's very much part of what this place is about - and right now Lamela isn't good enough to feature for us; while Bentaleb needs to start concentrating more. Sorry if you disagree.
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I don't want this to turn into a happy cult either. I have no problem with people being critical of our performances etc... As you say, discussion is very much what this place is about. However, the mood in this place after the man united draw has taken an absolute nose-dive. Since the very beginning, this place has been known as a place for discussion and not one for blatant overreaction which is what COYS and Thespursweb have been known for. Let's not use sensationalism to bring a rise out of each other.

I'm sorry if this felt in some way a direct message on you. I hadn't really thought of who actually said all those things, they were just bits of posts that really rankled me, because there was no balance. And I don't know what constructive reply could be given! If it feels like I am overly positive all the time, then that is only really to balance the abject negativity that is here. I know that Lamela is not performing as we like, likewise Bentaleb et al.

So, in an effort to have a discussion and not stray off topic:

Bentaleb, I can see why you would think that. My own personal opinion is that he is going through one of those phases of poor form that nearly every young player goes through. He is quite rightly dropped, and there is no doubt that we and Poch are expecting better from him. I do believe that he needs to look at his performances and take responsibility for them. The kid has potential though, so I don't think that he is one for writing off just yet (I know you have not suggested this). He's 20 years old, is in his second full season and has just been dropped from what he must have thought was a guaranteed starting place. Hopefully he's mature enough to deal with it. I do think that it is right that he does not start the next game against Leicester. They are on fire at the moment and it's too much of a risk playing him at this moment in time.

What i don't think should happen is that we loan him out which I think has been suggested. We don't have many options as it is and his development will be best served here in our squad.
 
Bentaleb is the only one of our young players that has literally been thrust into our team without any previous real football experience behind him.....

Kane went to Orient, Millwall, Norwich, Leicester
Mason went to Yeovil, Doncaster, Millwall, Swindown etc
Pritchard was at peterboro, Swindon, Brentford
Carroll was at Orient, Derby, QPR and Swansea

He is 20, its absolutely normal he is going to have dips in form, confidence. He has been thrust straight into PL football at 18/19 years old, and he is a midfielder where there really is no place to hide

I do hope Poch and the club handle him carefully. Right now there is a problem with him/his form, and with our crowd and how demanding they are i do worry that if Poch doesnt protect him then its going to be hard for the lad
 
Imcallingbullsh*t - He was getting called out by some members that his performances were going downhill towards the end of last season. Now rightly or wrongly then im not sure how its now due the fact that he has got too big for his boots after he got his new contract.

The guy is class but he has played 41 senior club football games. Chadli 235, Eriksen 177, Lamela 137

This is his first pre-season in the first team
 
I really like Bentaleb, I see people discussing the differences between him Keane and Viera on other thread. But at the moment other than going to the word cup he's just the current O'Hara and Livermore. He's got the ability to be great as does mason, but both suffer from a lack of leadership. If they had the opportunity to play alongside experienced player like a Davids and learn from such a great, they'd both cut out the silly mistakes that they are capable of to many times in each game.

Listening to Micky hazard on a podcast the other day summed up what we all see. Great listen
http://playbackmedia.co.uk/podcasts/the-spurs-show/

We lack leadership and it's hurting us massively from a points and player development.
 
Keithd said:
I never said we played bad against Ar5ena1 . What good is dominating a game if u dont win a game and make and create chances to win it . Eventually it took unreal good from kane from nothing really . A cross and absolute brilliant header .. That day we won and deserved but listen I want a consistent top player in middle of pitch for my team . All with attributes I said previous . Bentaleb not even close to any of these and IMO never will . A good young player who can get better but to the extent of been best In league , behave !! We were two nil up last weekend . Kane comes off n Bentaleb n lamela come on and what happens . Totally lose midfield control and concede two goals .ok one was silly pen but maybe they were totally doninant and should have won in end .. Not blaming subs but again I blame a midfield that Bentaleb in
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Just moving the discussion here.

Keithd, I have to say I I can't dance with you more. What you are expecting is a Matic, Yaya Toure, Viera and that's just an outrageous expectation for a 20 year old. If that's what you want or expect, then I'm afraid you're going to be waiting a while which will be either when Bentaleb matures, or we have the money to buy said midfield.

This average player, was a key part of the team that got us 5th in the league and you cannot put that down to luck. End of.
 
I dont care if bentaleb is young or costs a bomb, i rate him with the same yardstick i use against other epl players in the same position. If he isnt good enough to win games, just get him off i say. If he is young and has bags of potential and needs time to learn, lets loan him out.
 
metalgear said:
I dont care if bentaleb is young or costs a bomb, i rate him with the same yardstick i use against other epl players in the same position. If he isnt good enough to win games, just get him off i say. If he is young and has bags of potential and needs time to learn, lets loan him out.
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What if he is just going through a dip in form?
 
metalgear said:
I dont care if bentaleb is young or costs a bomb, i rate him with the same yardstick i use against other epl players in the same position. If he isnt good enough to win games, just get him off i say. If he is young and has bags of potential and needs time to learn, lets loan him out.
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And you're obviously rating him on two appearances this season. What about his performances last season? As @milo says, it could just be a dip in form.
 
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