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Nabil Bentaleb

thfcsteff said:
My main problem with Benji is that he is a bit 'space-invadersish' in his movement and his passing is erratic. Critically, he gets caught and tempted into rash challenges IMO...
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They are both good players ( Benji and Mason) but neither one of them is a good shield for the back four. How many goals have we conceded by runners who are not picked up. We slag Walker and Rose for being pulled inside when we get caught short, that is happening far to often.
 
parklane1 said:
They are both good players ( Benji and Mason) but neither one of them is a good shield for the back four. How many goals have we conceded by runners who are not picked up. We slag Walker and Rose for being pulled inside when we get caught short, that is happening far to often.
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I think this will always be a risk when you play the way we are playing mate. The main issues with goals conceded by runners appears to be when we have someone not tracking to cover wider areas. You could tab the goon's goal to a collective issue there, but generally speaking I don't think we're conceding many through the middle? My greatest issue in those moments is that the covering wide (ish!) player is sometimes slow to get back. I wonder if Poch will look to upgrade in those central areas? I do think we could do with one more player of quality there, though the MK Dons lad might well be 'that' guy. I think this is how we will be personally...
 
thfcsteff said:
My main problem with Benji is that he is a bit 'space-invadersish' in his movement and his passing is erratic. Critically, he gets caught and tempted into rash challenges IMO...
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For me his main weakness is his pace. He's very slow and probably the least mobile player on the team. That however can be compensated for by good reading of the game as can be seen with players like Sandro. It is certainly not an insurmountable obstacle.

The high tempo of PL games is something that every import has to adapt to. Mistimed tackles are par for the course being a DM but I'm certain the number will decrease over time and he'll get a bit more strategic when he makes them.

Mobility aside he's had some very good moments in matches and shown quick feet in possession. I have a feeling his lack of minutes recently is less to do with injuries (if he ever was) or rash tackles and more to do with his positional play. I've noticed him getting dragged into places where he shouldn't go and leaving the space in front of the the CB's wide open too frequently. Maybe Poch is pulling him up on that. He has to learn when to pass the player on and when to chase him to the sideline and for now his enthusiasm seems to be getting the better of him. Give him another few months to acclimatise and I think we'll see a better player emerge.

That's my read on him anyway. Even now I would still play him or have him on the bench ahead of Paulinho as CM cover every time. I've no time for uncommitted players Stambouli has that in spades.
 
Rorschach said:
For me his main weakness is his pace. He's very slow and probably the least mobile player on the team. That however can be compensated for by good reading of the game as can be seen with players like Sandro. It is certainly not an insurmountable obstacle.

The high tempo of PL games is something that every import has to adapt to. Mistimed tackles are par for the course being a DM but I'm certain the number will decrease over time and he'll get a bit more strategic when he makes them.

Mobility aside he's had some very good moments in matches and shown quick feet in possession. I have a feeling his lack of minutes recently is less to do with injuries (if he ever was) or rash tackles and more to do with his positional play. I've noticed him getting dragged into places where he shouldn't go and leaving the space in front of the the CB's wide open too frequently. Maybe Poch is pulling him up on that. He has to learn when to pass the player on and when to chase him to the sideline and for now his enthusiasm seems to be getting the better of him. Give him another few months to acclimatise and I think we'll see a better player emerge.

That's my read on him anyway. Even now I would still play him or have him on the bench ahead of Paulinho as CM cover every time. I've no time for uncommitted players Stambouli has that in spades.
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Spot on...I don't think we can accommodate this for much longer than short term. He is, for me, a hybrid between prime Freundy and Michael Brown. We need better long-term. Sandro's story is a tragedy really, what a player he was before the injury at QPR...
 
I would like to try Bentaleb moved forward to masons role with benji in behind sweeping. Bentaleb is a much better passer and runner with the ball than mason IMV.
 
Rumours in the paper today have us linked with Camacho of Malaga. I would expect he and Bentaleb to form a very strong partnership in midfield if the transfer happens.
 
This lad today got my MOTM. He read the play well today and covered some key defensive areas to stop their counter attacks. He held off challenges from some very strong players and still had the composure to pick out a pass to a team mate. When passing out from the back he was constantly sliding in those passes through their midfield to the feet of our front players and even in the last 10 minutes he was still making sprints to make options for his team mates.

He is a perfect fit for the Poch system, but more importantly, I think he could easily fit in with any system such is his toolkit. I'm slightly hopeful that we may see a change that involves a 3 man midfield that can centralise him and Eriksen, because we do look more threatening with Eriksen orchestrating things from deep.
 
Modric THFC said:
Hopefully he will still be at the club in 5 years.
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The fact that he's come through the system along with others, should help keep him. Plus when you see Poch speak to the players during games, in particuarl Mason and Benatlab, there does seem to be some sort of bond there.
 
AdamB said:
The fact that he's come through the system along with others, should help keep him. Plus when you see Poch speak to the players during games, in particuarl Mason and Benatlab, there does seem to be some sort of bond there.
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I know what you're saying and that's all great, but when the likes of Real Madrid come in for a player having a decent bond doesn't come into it. Bale had a great bond with the fans, players and manager but that didn't matter....
 
I know what you're saying, but Bale didn't come through the ranks. I think we just hope that we will see more loyalty from those players who come through the ranks than the youngsters we buy from elsewhere.
 
He's got such good composure for his age and shields the ball really well. Him, Dier and Kane at the spine of our team for the next decade would be lovely.
 
Jordinho said:
Costa's swing at him, then hand to the face and the ref doing nothing really set the tone of this game.
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Yep. Ref bottled it there, showed the Chelski players that he had a very high threshold for cheating today.

But back on topic, Bentaleb really was outstanding at times today. Controlled the midfield so well. He really is a gem. Our best player by a country mile. Really excited to see him develop further - think we'll see him even better next season.
 
Thank you, Timothy Alan Sherwood.

As a card-carrying AVB devotee, that is perhaps the greatest compliment I can pay young Bentaleb.
 
Cochise said:
Mason was gonna fly at him, luckily Bentaleb got inbetween them and squared up to Costa.
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Costa really is such a despicable anus. I read a nice interview with him, where he actually comes across as a likeable character, but today he really showed why he's such a perfect fit for Chelski. GHod knows where they find all those dirty cheating players. It's like a magnet.
 
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