Great piece on Nabil Bentaleb.

[stemark44]

http://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/2896/premier-league/2015/01/09/7794322/-

"He trains like every day is the last day of his life, he cries his eyes out when he loses a five-a-side match. He would die for the club."

 

[nicdic]

It's quite good, but I find the self-referential quotes from Sherwood throughout the article a bit much.

 

[stemark44]

It's quite good, but I find the self-referential quotes from Sherwood throughout the article a bit much.

No surprise there.
I should have mentioned that its not really very good reading for Sherwood haters but if they can get passed that.....it provides a great insight into one of our best players and someone who will be playing in our midfield for many,many years.

If Nabil played for Chelsea,Arsenal,City or United he would be fawned over by newspapers every week.

 

[Japhet]

I've got a lot of reservations about Bentaleb, especially in the DM role. I'm quite happy with him playing a bit further forward because he keeps the ball moving quickly and accurately. What he doesn't do well enough for my liking is read the game, track runners or make the 50/50 balls his own. If he did those things I'd be more than happy with him at DM.

 

[nicdic]

No surprise there.
I should have mentioned that its not really very good reading for Sherwood haters but if they can get passed that.....it provides a great insight into one of our best players and someone who will be playing in our midfield for many,many years.

If Nabil played for Chelsea,Arsenal,City or United he would be fawned over by newspapers every week.

I think Nabil is a really good player, and could see him wearing the armband in the future. Wouldn't say I go all the way with the article, all the Sherwood spin is a bit much, and I don't think he passes forward half as much as the article would lead you to believe, but it's good to see him getting positive press.

 

[stemark44]

I've got a lot of reservations about Bentaleb, especially in the DM role. I'm quite happy with him playing a bit further forward because he keeps the ball moving quickly and accurately. What he doesn't do well enough for my liking is read the game, track runners or make the 50/50 balls his own. If he did those things I'd be more than happy with him at DM.

I agree with some of your comments and for me he is a very young player, playing in a system that doesn't quite suit him.
I also like to see him playing a bit further forward and the same can be said of Ryan Mason...however they have to play where the manager puts them and try to make the most out of it and he prefers his 4-2-3-1 system.
I think both would blossom even more playing in a 4-3-3 with a good DM behind them.

 

[Shadydan]

I've got a lot of reservations about Bentaleb, especially in the DM role. I'm quite happy with him playing a bit further forward because he keeps the ball moving quickly and accurately. What he doesn't do well enough for my liking is read the game, track runners or make the 50/50 balls his own. If he did those things I'd be more than happy with him at DM.

He'll learn those traits in good time, I'm happy for him to keep playing in that role, he will make mistakes like any young player would but we'll get a lot more out of it in the long term if we persist.

The rate he has progressed since coming into the first team is scary and bodes very well for us in the future.

 

[Shea]

I love the way he, Mason and Kane have burst on to the scene and are not looking out of place in the PL

I hope the likes of Pritchard and Townsend will do the same

What we need is some experienced quality in and around them to really provide them the final pieces of their footballing education

As Naybet gave a young Ledley King, as Davids gave the youngsters of the time, as even Scottie Parker provided a talented team not so long ago

We don't really have that figure, I think we miss it

We have a world class keeper but he doesn't seem the type of personality to provide that intangible something to a group of youngsters, I look to our centre backs and again I don't see those qualities in anyone

I think most importantly we could use such a player in the centre of the park right now, to help develop Mason and Bentaleb and any other youngsters at the club

Capoue isn't that guy, Paulinho isn't that guy nor is Dembele - I think we should be looking to sell two of those and replace with a midfielder of experience and captain/leadership qualities to inspire the team and provide that education to our crop of young stars

Someone like Davids - doesn't need to play every game, a lot of what he brought was on the training ground I am sure but it would translate on the put through the kids. Still capable of playing a vital role in the short term but the long term benefits being reaped through the young kids who have so much potential

 

[Larryjanta]

Still puzzles me that some of our fans can't see quite what we've got in Bentaleb. At 20, he's about the most exciting young CM in the game at the moment. He has off days, which will be more frequent than for a 28 year old, but his "on" days show not only how good he is now but how good he can become. That's why I always think it's short sighted when people call for him to be dropped after a poor game - he needs time on the pitch and time to make mistakes to reach his full potential. Love him

 

[Gassin's finest]

http://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/2896/premier-league/2015/01/09/7794322/-

"He trains like every day is the last day of his life, he cries his eyes out when he loses a five-a-side match. He would die for the club."

Pansy...

 

[Rout-Ledge]

He's our first choice central midfielder. To think that he's still effectively in his first year of first team football, that's insane. Especially considering the amount of money we've spunked on players in that position since Modric left.

If we develop him properly...he could be up there with Modric.

 

[tototoner]

So the majority opinion that he is shit by association no longer applies?

 

[nicdic]

So the majority opinion that he is shit by association no longer applies?

He was an easy target for some last season because of the association with Sherwood, but he wasn't bad last season. He looked very promising, but did perhaps suffer a little from being played too often. His talent has been pretty obvious from the outset, and any that think he's not good enough, or doesn't have enormous potential is letting stupid bias against Sherwood get in the way of a really promising talent.

 

[Gassin's finest]

He's our first choice central midfielder. To think that he's still effectively in his first year of first team football, that's insane. Especially considering the amount of money we've spunked on players in that position since Modric left.

If we develop him properly...he could be up there with Modric.

Different player to modric, but I do see similarities to Busquets... Only much less of a cheating tart.

 

[nicdic]

Another issue I have with this article, and with many on this board, is the attributing of the presence of the youth players in the team at the moment to Sherwood. Only one of the youth players in the team at the moment was brought through by him. Townsend and Kane had already established themselves as first team players, and Mason has been brought through by Pochettino.

 

[Rout-Ledge]

Different player to modric, but I do see similarities to Busquets... Only much less of a cheating tart.

I think it's too early in his career to be sure of what sort of player he's going to mature into.

Having said that, his awareness of, and ability to create, space for himself on the the ball in an extremely composed way certainly reminds me of Modric.

 

[Rout-Ledge]

Another issue I have with this article, and with many on this board, is the attributing of the presence of the youth players in the team at the moment to Sherwood. Only one of the youth players in the team at the moment was brought through by him. Townsend and Kane had already established themselves as first team players, and Mason has been brought through by Pochettino.

It doesn't matter really, as long as they are being identified and utilised properly right now (and I think that they are).

Kane hadn't established himself as a first team player really though. Sherwood came in and gave him a confidence boost by playing him in PL games, and that's when he started to blossom.

I'm not a Sherwood fan btw, I think he was corrosive on the whole. But he did well with Bentaleb and Kane. I don't know why you'd want to take that away from him, even if you don't like the guy.

 

[nicdic]

It doesn't matter really, as long as they are being identified and utilised properly right now (and I think that they are).

Kane hadn't established himself as a first team player really though. Sherwood came in and gave him a confidence boost by playing him in PL games, and that's when he started to blossom.

I'm not a Sherwood fan btw, I think he was corrosive on the whole. But he did well with Bentaleb and Kane. I don't know why you'd want to take that away from him, even if you don't like the guy.

I'm not denying that Sherwood was the one who gave him a string of league games, but I think it's unfair to attribute the success of Kane to Sherwood, when André Villas-Boas had given him league appearances (albeit off the bench earlier in the season, and in the season before) and had used him in the cups. I think it's more the way some report it that bugs me, implying that tonnes of youth players came from nowhere to play for us under Sherwood, when really there was only player and that was Bentaleb.

 

[Gassin's finest]

Another issue I have with this article, and with many on this board, is the attributing of the presence of the youth players in the team at the moment to Sherwood. Only one of the youth players in the team at the moment was brought through by him. Townsend and Kane had already established themselves as first team players, and Mason has been brought through by Pochettino.

Had he? I don't recall Kane being played regular until the last few months of the season.

 

[Blake Griffin]

"He came at 15 years of age after he was released by a few clubs in France so it's not like he was always going to be great, he had to work at it," Sherwood tells Goal.

wasn't he 17?