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Nabil Bentaleb

Bentaleb looks so 'jittery' and unfortunately he is in a very strong midfield group which is not going be easy to get back into.
Mason came straight back in and although not perfect did ok, Bentaleb was left on the bench.
Like I said he may get a run out at Palace......but I would not put money on it.
 
monkeybarry said:
Fact is, he has been average and costly and hasn't pushed on to be a good part of the current system
He needs to affect that himself - it will come down to attitude and desire
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Definitely attitude and desire will be key. As it is with all our talented young players. If at this point Dier, Alli, Kane or Wimmer stop showing the right attitude and desire it will hugely hamper their careers.

If there have been problems behind the scenes I wouldn't put it past Pochettino to make Bentaleb work his way back into contention by proving himself in training over an extended period of time.

He was certainly not average last season and I don't think he was costly either. In a team lacking a lot of the ingredients from this season he was a regular starter in the team that saw us finish 5th. The system is a bit changed this season, but there are clear similarities. He hasn't been fit for a good period of this season, and when he has been he hasn't been on form. Not sure what chance he's had to push on to be a good part of the system this season...
 
braineclipse said:
Definitely attitude and desire will be key. As it is with all our talented young players. If at this point Dier, Alli, Kane or Wimmer stop showing the right attitude and desire it will hugely hamper their careers.

If there have been problems behind the scenes I wouldn't put it past Pochettino to make Bentaleb work his way back into contention by proving himself in training over an extended period of time.

He was certainly not average last season and I don't think he was costly either. In a team lacking a lot of the ingredients from this season he was a regular starter in the team that saw us finish 5th. The system is a bit changed this season, but there are clear similarities. He hasn't been fit for a good period of this season, and when he has been he hasn't been on form. Not sure what chance he's had to push on to be a good part of the system this season...
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Last season is 10+ months ago now.
This season he has been average and put us in tricky positions due to poor decision making/sloppiness
I think how he trains and cameos from now until May will decide how his spurs career pans out
 
monkeybarry said:
Fact is, he has been average and costly and hasn't pushed on to be a good part of the current system
He needs to affect that himself - it will come down to attitude and desire
Click to expand...

Along with Kane, Mason and Rose, he was our standout player last season.

In comparison you're 'average and costly' is from a tiny sample size - perhaps 2 games - the United one and that first one back after injury
 
Gutter Boy said:
Along with Kane, Mason and Rose, he was our standout player last season.

In comparison you're 'average and costly' is from a tiny sample size - perhaps 2 games - the United one and that first one back after injury
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Agreed.
But we are still playing THIS season, not last
In his cameos he has done nothing to suggest he should be anywhere other than where he is in the pecking order.
So it's up to him to change that - prove last season was his level, not a one off
Time will tell
 
AjaxDeSuperYids said:
I can't recall anything negative from his recent cameos?
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He gave away the ball for United's goal at OT. His distribution has generally looked shaky too - but this is totally to be expected after such a long layoff.

I am a big Bentaleb fan and am in no rush to see him forced back into a team that is performing well. Many players (Trippier and Wimmer to name just two) have sat on the bench for months without anything more than a couple of appearances.

I just hope that a) the rumours are untrue and b) when he gets his chance, he proves himself. Big talent (albeit with a lot to learn).

Personally, while he is a different player, I see him as the successor to Dembele as things stand.
 
monkeybarry said:
Last season is 10+ months ago now.
This season he has been average and put us in tricky positions due to poor decision making/sloppiness
I think how he trains and cameos from now until May will decide how his spurs career pans out
Click to expand...

He's played 180 minutes of league football this season. Is that enough to say that he has fallen back rather than had an interrupted season and has struggled to find his form?
 
braineclipse said:
Where in the central midfield pecking order did Dier and Dembele look at this point last season? Where in the pecking order did Carroll look when he was returning from Swansea and then returning from injury?

People were writing off Ben Davies at this point last season.

Bentaleb is still younger than Matic was when he was sold from Chelsea to Portugal. He's also younger than Carrick was when we signed him from the Championship. And he's about 3 years younger than Andros Townsend who was still getting chances under Pochettino this time last season before being given up on.
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Townsend was getting chances because he showed the right attitude and was the consummate professional. If the reports about Bentaleb are to be believed, that may be his problem. If he can't deal with the adversity of falling down in the pecking order and is complaining about his contract, then he's going to be a problem that will affect squad harmony and we all know what a stickler Poch is about that.
 
He's only 21 for gods sake, you'd expect him to make mistakes both on and off the pitch And suffer dips in form at the best of times let alone during an injury interrupted season. He has an abundance of talent and one I hope Poch perseveres with....
 
milo said:
He's played 180 minutes of league football this season. Is that enough to say that he has fallen back rather than had an interrupted season and has struggled to find his form?
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Your the third poster to say I said he has fallen back - what I have actually said is others are ahead of him and he has done nothing so far to show this to be incorrect.
He may do so, but he hasn't yet.
So rather than him falling back, I set it as others having progressed.

I still see him as potential rather than anything else. Still young and quite raw. I actually think his lack of games this season night be good as his reputation (especially on GG!) far exceeds his current level.
 
braineclipse said:
Definitely attitude and desire will be key. As it is with all our talented young players. If at this point Dier, Alli, Kane or Wimmer stop showing the right attitude and desire it will hugely hamper their careers.

If there have been problems behind the scenes I wouldn't put it past Pochettino to make Bentaleb work his way back into contention by proving himself in training over an extended period of time.

He was certainly not average last season and I don't think he was costly either. In a team lacking a lot of the ingredients from this season he was a regular starter in the team that saw us finish 5th. The system is a bit changed this season, but there are clear similarities. He hasn't been fit for a good period of this season, and when he has been he hasn't been on form. Not sure what chance he's had to push on to be a good part of the system this season...
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I think that Poch identified the defensive "weak link" last season as the bentaleb/Mason combination. He started Dier in that position this season probably intending to play either Bentaleb or Mason alongside him. However a number of factors has seen both their game time limited; both sustained injuries early on in the season, the form of dembele has made him difficult to drop, the injuries to Mason and bentaleb has seen the emergence of Alli, finally Tom Carroll has taken his chance to impress Poch probably realising it was his last. I think Bentaleb is a fabulous talent but we have a lot of competition in his position and he has to prove to Poch he deserves his place ahead of our other midfielders which he clearly can't have done so far.
 
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monkeybarry said:
Your the third poster to say I said he has fallen back - what I have actually said is others are ahead of him and he has done nothing so far to show this to be incorrect.
He may do so, but he hasn't yet.
So rather than him falling back, I set it as others having progressed.

I still see him as potential rather than anything else. Still young and quite raw. I actually think his lack of games this season night be good as his reputation (especially on GG!) far exceeds his current level.
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He has undoubtedly fallen back in the pecking order, it would be impossible not to when injury has restricted you to 180 minutes first team league football in the season and your replacements have done really well.

I think that it would be foolish to write him off though or go overboard in our criticism (whilst not getting quite as carried away as GB in the other direction). Bentaleb showed a lot of promise in his year and a half before he got injured and is still very young. If he gets a chance of a run in the team, there is no reason why he could not force his way back into contention, as we have seen other players do under Poch.
 
I thought he was ok - no more and no less

I think he is limited in comparison to the likes of Dembele and duet who both have some assets that are too top drawer. bentelab int top drawer in anything in particular but that doesn't make him a bad player
 
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