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Nabil Bentaleb

AdamB said:
How many match winners do you think we have? (and name games we couldn't have win without them)
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well between the three midfielders, it would be either dembele + mason or bentaleb.

i was glad to see poch drop bentaleb from the starting line up. disappointed to see mason go off after an excellent game in defence and attack. but i was even more disappointed with bentaleb for not playing well.

but regardless of the outcome, poch made the right decision to drop bentaleb. and should continue to do so as he is now a match loser.
 
Gazzasrightboot said:
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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no i have never been impressed as most guys have on this forum with bentaleb. whole of last season too, check my posts, ratings etc.
i see potential and a skillfull young player, but i have always seen him and mason pairing as an experiment and a risk, and both too young and immature for a top 4 chasing team.
 
milo said:
What if he is just going through a dip in form?
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so don't start him, play him off the bench until he gets better. poch did the right thing and i hope we don't see bentaleb start until he produces confident displays from the bench.

but why should he be different from the rest of the young ones who have to prove themselves on loan before we risk them in the first team?
 
Just to be clear I AM on bentaleb's side and want him to succeed.

I just think that the experiment went far enough and we need to think about seriously strengthening our midfield to compete with the likes of thye top 4.
 
Limited way of thinking. Not onmy was it just one game (and he looked good against Everton) Masons injured now so we may miss him.... All about depth!
 
The Standard says tonight that he's been called up by Algeria for their two qualifiers Tanzania this week. Poch must be fuming.
 
I believe that he has been back in full training for a week or so but we know that Poch prefers to take his time over bringing players back.
 
I didnt know he was that important to Algeria? Let's hope the manager is using his head, and doesnt use him too much. If he comes through it without any setbacks, it could give him a boost as well.
 
It must strengthen Algeria's squad just having him training with them.

I suspect Nabil himself will know what he is or isn't ready for.
 
milo said:
I believe that he has been back in full training for a week or so but we know that Poch prefers to take his time over bringing players back.
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Definitely makes sense.

Also wouldn't make sense to throw him back in against the scum when we had a settled well performing midfield and cover in the returning Mason. If he wasn't ready against Anderlecht a week ago he might very well be ready for Algeria for the internationals a week later.

Might also be a case of Pochettino wanting Bentaleb brought up to a higher fitness level before using him? Wasn't really on form early in the season before his injury and giving him time to get properly fit might be a good idea. Again our strength in depth allows for this where last season Bentaleb and Mason pretty much had to always play if fit.

SpursNorway said:
I didnt know he was that important to Algeria? Let's hope the manager is using his head, and doesnt use him too much. If he comes through it without any setbacks, it could give him a boost as well.
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Was pretty much an automatic starter for a decent looking Algeria side 18 months ago at the world cup at 19. Again an automatic starter for the in the ACN last year at 20 when they topped their fairly strong group with Ghana, Senegal and South Africa and were knocked out in the quarter finals (first knockout stage) against the eventual winners Ivory Coast.

Agreed that hopefully it will give him a boost and be a good first step in recovering his match fitness.
 
milo said:
The Standard says tonight that he's been called up by Algeria for their two qualifiers Tanzania this week. Poch must be fuming.
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It could work both ways to be honest, (1) He could play and break down which is the worst one. (2) He could get a decent run out over the two games which would help us and means he will be more up to speed for us to play.
 
parklane1 said:
It could work both ways to be honest, (1) He could play and break down which is the worst one. (2) He could get a decent run out over the two games which would help us and means he will be more up to speed for us to play.
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Would not be surprised to see him move on in the next couple of windows. I know he's been injured but it does seem to have been out for an awfully long time and we have not missed him and have Mason in waiting.
 
StephenH said:
Would not be surprised to see him move on in the next couple of windows. I know he's been injured but it does seem to have been out for an awfully long time and we have not missed him and have Mason in waiting.
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I am not sure about him moving on but I do believe some think he is better then what I have seen on the pitch.
 
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