Hatem "Number 26" Ben Arfa

[Howay 12452]

Or a wealthy mans Stephen Glass.

[Andrew 4210]

Yeah I don't think Ritchie will ever be the kind of player we look back on and remember moments of him scoring 'that' wondergoal or 'that' mazy dribble, but if he hangs around long enough he could end up with a similar sort of reputation as people like Rob Lee (not saying he's as good, but you know what I mean).

Cabaye already has that title im afraid.

[Dr Gloom 19806]

Stephen Glass

[Alex 30372]

Looked decent before that cunt Boateng done him tbf

[Tooj 17]

http://thelab.bleacherreport.com/to-hull-and-back/

[essembeeofsunderland 811]

Ritchie has yet to prove he can regularly do it in the Championship.He certainly won't be good enough in the Premier League.

[The Fish 8989]

Ritchie has yet to prove he can regularly do it in the Championship.He certainly won't be good enough in the Premier League.

Matt Ritchie with 1 goal and three assists, Matt Ritchie who has consistently been one our better performers in every game he's played... that Matt Ritchie?

[Andrew 4210]

Matt Ritchie with 1 goal and three assists, Matt Ritchie who has consistently been one our better performers in every game he's played... that Matt Ritchie?

Matt Ritchie who got 15 goals and 17 assists last time he played a season in the championship.

 

That one.

[Howay 12452]

The very same one that was one of Bournemouth's better players when they came above us in the PL table.

[Tooj 17]

Matt Ritchie who got 15 goals and 17 assists last time he played a season in the championship.

 

That one.

Don't know why you bothered man.

[Anorthernsoul 1221]

Ritchie has yet to prove he can regularly do it in the Championship.He certainly won't be good enough in the Premier League.

 

 

[Kid Dynamite 5902]

He's been our best player by a country mile

[Dickie 0]

Ritchie has been quality so far, definitely a key player for us this season and a good buy. For me Ritchie is a long way off Robert at the moment in terms of quality but you never know how a player is going to develop. Rafa sees himself as an improver of players in the same way KK did: I hope Rafas message to the players is that we're going to get better year on year and it's up to them to keep up, otherwise they'll be out. For the likes of Ritchie, Shelvey, Lascelles, Hayden, and actually the majority of our squad, you'd really hope they can improve along with the team and stamp their authority on the premier league if we can get back up there, in the way that lee, Cole, Howey, even older ones like venison, sellars and Bez did under KK. Most of the current squad are all young enough that they should still have plenty of time to improve their individual games, and they won't get a better manager than Rafa to help them do it. As with Keegan though, rafas going to have to be ruthless if we go up cos some of them just aren't going to be up to it

[Dickie 0]

http://thelab.bleacherreport.com/to-hull-and-back/

Canny read that Tooj, I didn't know much about his time at hull. However in a way it just confirms what most of us would have guessed anyway: Ben arfa is a prodigiously talented and awkward kid, and if anyone is ever going to get the best out of him it's not going to be the likes of pardew and Bruce. Although some people might think that quote about him being technically as good as messi is exaggerated, I think he genuinely is that good. I think in terms of pure technique he's in the same class. Obviously he's missing a lot of other ingredients and he seems to be very, very difficult to manage, and there's no chance he'll ever be as good a player as messi. However you could also ask the question, how good would messi be if he was playing for hull in a relegation fight under Steve Bruce? He'd certainly be better than Ben arfa was but you don't know, maybe he would also throw a hissy fit at the long ball tactics and not bother running around either. I hope Ben arfa finds a club and a manager in the champions league who can allow him to play to his potential for at least a couple of seasons, otherwise it's going to be one of the all time lost talents. Anyone who thinks he's just a fat lazy so and so musnt have been watching that half season he was playing well for us - in terms of pure ability on the ball he's different class to Gascoigne, Pedro, waddle, ginola in my opinion (never saw tony green). And I'm not belittling any of those - I'll never forget some of the moments Beardsley produced, and Ginola's first half a season was probably the pinnacle from an nufc player in my lifetime.

[Dr Gloom 19806]

Great post, Dickie, I Wholeheartedly agree

[Dickie 0]

Great post, Dickie, I Wholeheartedly agree

Cheers mate

[jonasjuice 0]

CHRIST

[jonasjuice 0]

Technically as good as Messi. Barmy.

[The Fish 8989]

He is though, it's the other facets to Messi's game that sets him apart; his vision, his application, his generosity. On pure control of the ball Ben Arfa is as gifted as Messi.

 

One thing I've wondered, would Messi worked as hard and been so generous had he started his professional career elsewhere? He's unbelievably good at football, but if he'd started life at Sevilla would he have been honed into the player we see now? Frustrated at the ability of his team mates would he have taken on responsibility to try and beat 6 men and score himself, rather than passing? Seeing the brace he scored wiped out by poor defending would he become fed up and stop putting in the effort? Without players making clever runs would he know how to spot them?

 

Dunno, and it's no excuse for a lot of Ben Arfa's faults, but is Messi the best player on the planet as much because of the opportunities as it is because of his talent? Or simply that he grasped those opportunities with both hands where Ben Arfa watched them go by?

[Howmanheyman 26767]

Are we still talking about Ben Arfa?

[sammynb 2929]

He is though, it's the other facets to Messi's game that sets him apart; his vision, his application, his generosity. On pure control of the ball Ben Arfa is as gifted as Messi.

 

One thing I've wondered, would Messi worked as hard and been so generous had he started his professional career elsewhere? He's unbelievably good at football, but if he'd started life at Sevilla would he have been honed into the player we see now? Frustrated at the ability of his team mates would he have taken on responsibility to try and beat 6 men and score himself, rather than passing? Seeing the brace he scored wiped out by poor defending would he become fed up and stop putting in the effort? Without players making clever runs would he know how to spot them?

 

Dunno, and it's no excuse for a lot of Ben Arfa's faults, but is Messi the best player on the planet as much because of the opportunities as it is because of his talent? Or simply that he grasped those opportunities with both hands where Ben Arfa watched them go by?

 

Nature or nurture in football!

Fish = football's Freud, thanks Sigmund.

[Tooj 17]

Looks like he's off to Fenerbahce. Completely fucked up and only has himself to blame.

[Kid Dynamite 5902]

What's he done like? He's just out of favour with the manager

[ewerk 26282]

Aye, probably someone else's fault again.

[Gemmill 34412]

It's time to face up to the fact that this kid might be an even bigger arsehole than Alan Pardew.