Is it time to end the Ben Arfa love affair?

toonsy

Time to move on?
Time to move on?
As a football fan I like to be excited. I like to be perched on the edge of my seat wondering what happens next.

I also like winning and having both is ideal, but at Newcastle we’ve had hardly any excitement or a decent run of wins for some time.

I think this is why I always look to go back to the excitement. Do we play exciting football? No, and we haven’t for a good few years now. Do we have a player who can excite and produce the extraordinary? The answer to that is most definitely yes. Yes we do. And at his brilliant best you’ll be hard pushed to find a more exciting player that has strutted his stuff at St James’ Park in the black and white for a good for years at least.

The problem is that the relationship between that player – Hatem Ben Arfa – and manager seems to have gone beyond the point of repair, which is a crying shame.

With clubs such as AC Milan and former club Lyon linked with the player it now seems just a matter of time before the talented playmaker departs, and although it pains me to say it, I think that moment can’t come soon enough.

A lot of fingers will be pointed towards Alan Pardew if or most likely when Ben Arfa departs, and I agree to a point. I do feel that Hatem was scapegoated by the manager especially towards the back end of last season.

As a manager it’s Pardew’s job to get the best out of a player. The strength of Ben Arfa is not in his tracking back or his work rate, his strength is making things happen in attack with his unpredictability. Pardew should have accommodated that, in my humble opinion at least.

However not all of this is Alan Pardew’s fault and the player himself must take his fair share of the blame. Are we just seeing history repeat itself?

In terms of performances we all know that Benny can win games on his own, but in all the time he’s been here you can count those types or performances on one hand and more often than not he drifts out of the game.

Apparently he’s come back to training not in an ideal state although the player contests this, he’s rumoured to have had arguments with team mates and he’ll throw digs at his state of affairs in interviews in his homeland. Not good is it really?

Thing is, I’d agree with him if this was the first time he’s found himself isolated at a club, but it happened at Lyon, Marseille, with his national team, us. You have to wonder don’t you? Maybe he is L’enfant terrible after all?

Maybe it’s time he was moved on, for the good of all concerned?

About toonsy

A lifelong Newcastle fan and current webmaster of this very 'blog who has the sole aim of creating a place by Newcastle United fans, for Newcastle United fans.

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844 thoughts on “Is it time to end the Ben Arfa love affair?”

  1. Yes Santii, I think we need one who is going to give us a better chance of replacing the goals Remy scored last season.

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  2. Stuart – For me it would be a little wasteful. In terms of wages and players not getting enough minutes on the field. Of course i am assuming we are going to play with one up top for the majority of the season.

    I think Riviere & Ferreyra will be more than capable of getting 14 between them and I think we will have more goals from midfield as well. Cisse is done but it looks like he will be given time to try and prove us wrong but when he doesn’t he should be moved on asap. I think January will be when we get another striker if its needed.

    It’s unrealistic for a club our size to have 4 senior strikers (in a 1 striker formation) just like its unrealistic to have 5 senior centre backs. I agree with you sort of but for the amount of senior strikers we have, its not a good idea imo. If we can get rid of Cisse somehow then it would be fantastic.

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  3. Without reading any previous posts, I’m quite confident that 99% of us would like to see Barfa stay and be part of the squad.

    I hope he stays and fights for his place.

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  4. I just noticed that the Schalke v WH is on telly live. Woo hoo I thought and searched for the Newcastle game. Not live. O well, I thought, maybe it has something to do with the time or because it’s the host, but no. The Malaga v WH is also live but Newcastle v Schalke isn’t.

    What a load of bollocks! Eurosport programmers are blowing bubbles out of their arses.

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  9. Sharpy…That seems to be something he’s said before the supposed loan deal, he said “on the second day he regretted it and his fears were dispelled” and yet he still didn’t go back, he had ample time to go back before this loan deal was arranged so I think it’s just the typical bullshit players come out with to keep the Shaktar fans off his back. If were paying a loan fee I assume it’s for a year and so he’s here for at least the season anyway.

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  10. Richie – aye he’s defo here for the season, it’s just how likely that will be made into a permanent deal if things in the Ukraine settle down. Mind that said, if he does a Luuk De Jong we’ll be happy to send him back I reckon.
    I still think its a canny deal though.

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  11. Sharpy…Aye, I just think he doesn’t want to go back otherwise he would have and has used it as a good excuse to get a move or he was lying when he said his fears were dispelled, either way just typical lying bullshit from a footballer…hopefully good move for us though :mrgreen:

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  12. I see Spurs have signed the young English defender Eric Dier!
    Still we have Saylor and Willo… Have no fear! 😆

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  15. Disapointed about that, For £4m it is next to no risk. Id have had him over Willamson right now as i just cant see where he fits in with this new style/system

    Hes also a nailed on England player of the future and weve seen with Carroll, Henderson, Smalling, Jones, Lalana, Shaw, Zaha ETC. how an England cap can inflate price tags

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  18. Santii – Only you could think having a striker who could score circa 15 league goals per season would be a waste…

    Baring in mind that Perez is very young and will take time to adjust and along with the Argentine only being on loan and may also take time to settle it would be folly not to have a main, proven striker in my view.

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  19. Santii – if the Argie does sign, the numbers do then suggest no proven replacement for Remy, which I’d worry about. Here, I’m actually with Stuart – big risk going into the season without any strikers with PL experience.

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  22. It’d be a big risk signing Messi or Pele in his prime – neither of them have or had PL experience.

    The thing is, all signings are a risk, even if they have PL experience, eg didn’t Torres have a lot of PL experience before moving to Chelsea?

    If you can play top class football you can play anywhere and in any league. You might not always succeed in making it, but there are probably many reasons for that, not all of them about football.

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  24. Yeah, we do. Every game. Home and away. In fact almost every PL game played throughout the season.

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  25. Understand that, Bris – maybe Ferreyra can be said to have proven himself in top class football, but the step up from the French League has most often proven a big one , so jury out on Rivière. I’d still be happier with a bit more experience up top. (and happier still with a starter CB, but now I’m getting silly). Even now, I’m with the bookies in believing that we’ll finish top-10 again, and can do well in / win the mini-league with Everton, Stoke, Swansea, and one or two others, and it won’t be the first time we’ve been relying on unproven talent (remember Bellamy’s unheralded arrival from Cov)

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  26. Bris…I missed the plane from here too 🙁
    …still like you I’ll get every PL game, roll on the season

    Aussie@466 It’s very therapeutic 😉 …and despite my hectic schedule I’m on to ep10 of Ray.D 😛

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  27. Richie 😀 So whats your verdict on RD mate? 😎

    So Tiote reckons the team is stronger than last season… Well that’s settled that then… I’d take Tiote’s word over some one like….errmmm Stuart 😛 😆

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  28. Aussie, He would say that wouldn’t he ,he’s hardly gonna look up and say ,on balance I think were ****** . 😉

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  29. Or it could be his honest opinion Kim! Not everyone speaks with a forked tongue at Newcastle! 😉

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  30. Cisse would probably disagree with the lack of proven goalscorer since even after last season he has better than a one in 3 record for us.

    His best spells have come with him as the focal point surrounded by creative players; When he first arrived we had Ben Arfa and Cabaye high up the pitch in red hot form and then after Ba left we put Sissoko off him with Cabs and Marveux creating chances for him.

    I still think he could be useful with De Jong, Cabella, Sissoko around him

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  32. What has happened to that ‘glass is half full’ Kim that I used to know? 😆

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  33. Aussie…It’s very good mate…it’s no “Sons and Daughters” like, but good none the less 😆

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  35. What happened to that fantasy PL thing you were going to do, Oz?

    And Richie, are you doing that tipping league again?

    Is there any interest in a head-to-head fantasy league? I find them to be much more interesting.

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  36. Vegas… the ox is slow but the earth is patient! :mrgreen: I will post the details shortly! 😉

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  37. I thought if seen somewhere that this Argentine Kid scored 6 goals in 22 games last season in Ukraine. Can anyone confirm this? If true it’s hardly a good record and especially with Ukraine not the strongest league either.

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  39. 18 in 23 Stuart in his last season in Argie for Velez. I really like the look of him and have already seen he’s a real battler for the ball. Typical Argie.

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  41. Stu – the Ronny Gill has him scoring 6 goals in only 8 appearances last season – but then you could ask, why has he only got 8 appearances last season?!

    http://mobile.newsnow.co.uk/A/726340874?-11058:809:t

    Aussie – I agree with Tiote. I reckon we will finish above Everton this season. I think that with the money spend and the players brought in, Ashley should be setting Pardew a realistic target of 8th place.
    When you consider Everton have Euro commitments, Saints have been heavily weakened and the fact that 8th could have probably been achieved last season had we not had such a **** 2nd half of it.

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  42. Got it! Finally cracked it – my preferred line-up, that is. For the numbers guys – 3421 (transitioning to 2233 in attack)

    Janmaat, Saylor, Coloccini as mainly stay-at-the-back defenders. This gives some extra cover for the quick counter attacks that teams play these days. Janmaat can go further up when attacking. Sub in Williamson or Yanga for Saylor if you want. Adjust Colo’s position as needed.

    Sissoko, Tiote, Colback, Gouffran: where Colback is free to go forward and Tiote sweeps behind the attack. Substitute Anita if you want. Sissoko and Gouffran as wider players.

    De Jong, Cabella. playing inside forward roles – number 10s – Cabella running at defences, De Jong more of a pass and space finder.

    Riviere up front (or Ferreyra – should he join).

    Big downside: It might lack some width, as Sissoko and Gouffran aren’t proper wingers and there’re no wing backs. Susceptible to a team attacking with wingers. But I guess that’s why you have substitutes, so you can change system if things ain’t working.

    Aye, that was an interesting couple of hours on the whiteboard. Enjoyed it immensely. Now, back to reality …

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  46. Brisvegas

    I only see and only hope Anita and Gouffran are bit part players and nowhere near our first eleven. Would prefer to see some of the younger brigade, Abeid Aarrons Ayoze etc given a chance to shine before Anita and Gouffran. My eyes are still hurting from last season.

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  47. They’ll be the ones that get us to the two cup finals we’ll be playing this season 😆

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  50. Rob Elliot, Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa, Steven Taylor, Fabricio Coloccini, Massadio Haidara, Mehdi Abeid, Jack Colback, Moussa Sissoko, Adam Armstrong, Remy Cabella, Ayoze Perez

    Substitutes: Tim Krul, Jak Alnwick, Daryl Janmaat, Paul Dummett, Lubo Satka, Remie Streete, Mike Williamson, Vurnon Anita, Cheick Tiote, Haris Vuckic, Rolando Aarons, Gabriel Obertan, Yoan Gouffran, Adam Campbell, Emmanuel Riviere

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  52. FSOTC long time no see mate?hope things are good,don’t know about streams,don’t look when on TV,Richie is the man for streams if he’s about

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  53. Two things;

    Why are we playing 4-2-3-1? I truly believe it leaves us short in centre mid against teams who more or less okay 3 in there.

    What the **** is Mbiwa doing at right back? Why does Pardew continue to play him out of position then try and get rid of him by saying he’s not good enough?

    Glad to see Cabella start though, looking forward to seeing what he can do.

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  54. Howdy Ice–Yeah, it’s been a long, long while. Was very busy at work for months on end and just got back from a long vacation so haven’t been on here at all, really, for months. I think I may have a stream here, but it’s showing churchill right now….

    vipbox.tv/sports/football.html

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  56. Fans, you are on the right channel mate it’s a history programme 😀 Toon kick off at 2.15pm bst not 2.30 as previously reported.

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  57. STUART I think its bloody crazy with MYM a c/b that was captain of a double winning side and played against some real good strikers to be shoved out to r/b,how is the lad going to settle into PL pardew and his ego will ruin many a good player,beyond reason imo

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  59. Thanks Ice & kim… feel like I have no idea who the team is, it’s been so long since I’ve been closely keyed in here! Looking forward to the game…

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  69. It is a friendly with a side thrown together but midfielders have to be making the effort to get in the box when we have one up front

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  70. Can somebody give me good reason why we are continually linked with letting Mbiwa go and keep Williamson. Other than the reason would nobody would want Williamson

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  71. I know its a friendly but it already shows how much we really need a quality centre half.

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