PLAYER WATCH: Benjamin Stambouli

[Rout-Ledge]

Bentaleb is quality. He's not a particularly flashy player but I've already seen enough from him to suggest that he's got more about him than any of our other CMs.

 

[HotspurFC1950]

It has but it's not the main news headline right now. If you click the Sandro article there's a link on the side of the page to Stabouli's interview.

Ok cheers !

 

[TaoistMonkey]

Good luck, Benji. Hope you have a strong character.

 

[teok]

So is the general consensus on this lad that he is a good all rounder?

 

[InOffMeLeftShin]

So is the general consensus on this lad that he is a good all rounder?

Aren't all of our midfielders? He looks like he has a bit of something about him, I hope he can play with a fire in his belly and look forward to seeing him play as soon as possible.

 

[TheAmerican]

So is the general consensus on this lad that he is a good all rounder?

Scott Parker without the silhouettes...

but seriously, the guy looks good and sounds consistent. France is one of the more physical leagues, he should have the same ability to break up play here.

 

[Cavehillspur]

Jut phoned my mate (French lad who supports PSG) and he loves him. Said before the cabaye transfer Stambouli was the man he wanted

Said he's got decent technique, good passer, very mobile but the main plus is he's all character. By all accounts he's known for his winning mentality, constant pressing & a focus point to drive his team forward.

An exact quote from my oversees comrade 'if he had a head on with a car, the car would move'

With Sandro's departure (gutted about that but gotta have faith in mopo) Benji seems a player that could fit in straight away and sort out our soft centre. Hopefully his positivity and self belief will rub off on the rest

Hopefully JRod to follow

COYS!!

Love this! Heard a few comparisons between him and Cabaye which really excites me.

 

[0-Tibsy-0]

“I like to talk in the locker room, it's a pleasure for me. You have to manage when it goes wrong and I'm glad to have responsibilities. I think I'm a more mature player now. I still have that desire to learn and improve. Every day I come to training thinking that I'll finish the day a better player if I work hard.”

 

[BringBack_leGin]

Aren't all of our midfielders? He looks like he has a bit of something about him, I hope he can play with a fire in his belly and look forward to seeing him play as soon as possible.

It seems that we've moved away from having a central pairing of two midfielders with contrasting abilities who complement eachother. All our midfielders can do a bit of everything pretty well, which is all well and good as it means that they can all play with eachother so injuries and suspensions won't be a big issue, but, as you and I ahve already discussed, none of them appear to have a standout quality which will really give us the dynamism we've been lacking since Modric left. Bentaleb, Demebele, Capoue and I assume Stambouli now too all see a hell of a lot of the ball, all play a lot of passesn and all have the right combination of physicality and technique to mean that they won't lose possession easily. What we need is for them to develop the speed of thought to get it to our attacking four quickly enough for those players to do something with it. I have faith that this is achievable, but patience will be needed. It is necessary though because there's no point in having an attacking quartet of that abiltiy if Eriksen will only ever get the ball when he's already got a 6ft4 centre back up his arse, our biggest forward Adebayor only when he's out on the left wing and offering no goal thread, our most flamboyant player Lamela all the way back in our own half or our biggest goal threat from midfield Chadli only once he's already been crowded out by the oppositions defence. None of these guys will ever be Xavi or Modric, but if Pochettino is what he's been billed as then I expect that they'll at least do what is necessary to not castrate our attacking talents.

 

[talkshowhost86]

It seems that we've moved away from having a central pairing of two midfielders with contrasting abilities who complement eachother. All our midfielders can do a bit of everything pretty well, which is all well and good as it means that they can all play with eachother so injuries and suspensions won't be a big issue, but, as you and I ahve already discussed, none of them appear to have a standout quality which will really give us the dynamism we've been lacking since Modric left. Bentaleb, Demebele, Capoue and I assume Stambouli now too all see a hell of a lot of the ball, all play a lot of passesn and all have the right combination of physicality and technique to mean that they won't lose possession easily. What we need is for them to develop the speed of thought to get it to our attacking four quickly enough for those players to do something with it. I have faith that this is achievable, but patience will be needed. It is necessary though because there's no point in having an attacking quartet of that abiltiy if Eriksen will only ever get the ball when he's already got a 6ft4 centre back up his arse, our biggest forward Adebayor only when he's out on the left wing and offering no goal thread, our most flamboyant player Lamela all the way back in our own half or our biggest goal threat from midfield Chadli only once he's already been crowded out by the oppositions defence. None of these guys will ever be Xavi or Modric, but if Pochettino is what he's been billed as then I expect that they'll at least do what is necessary to not castrate our attacking talents.

Exactly this.

It's been our biggest problem since Modric left and it worries me that again we don't seem to have solved it in the transfer window.

Whilst those front 4 have to take responsibility to a certain extent (and they were all terrible on Sunday) if we don't get them the ball then there's only so much they can do.

That ostensibly seemed to be the reason behind targeting Schneiderlin, and I don't know enough about Stambouli to know if he's a reasonable alternative.

As you say...it's now up to Poch to work with what he's got. I hope we've given him enough.

 

[InOffMeLeftShin]

Exactly this.

It's been our biggest problem since Modric left and it worries me that again we don't seem to have solved it in the transfer window.

Whilst those front 4 have to take responsibility to a certain extent (and they were all terrible on Sunday) if we don't get them the ball then there's only so much they can do.

That ostensibly seemed to be the reason behind targeting Schneiderlin, and I don't know enough about Stambouli to know if he's a reasonable alternative.

As you say...it's now up to Poch to work with what he's got. I hope we've given him enough.

All of our midfielders can pass, the problem is that they have to do it from deep too often and without unbelievably good off the ball movement that'll never be as effective as if you can move the ball up the pitch and make passes into the front 4 from closer. My hope is that Stambouli will be the best defensive player of the bunch and he'll be able to give someone like Capoue or Bentaleb more freedom to get higher up the pitch with the ball. We'll have to see how it develops.

 

[teok]

Sounds promising. We now have a big french contingent in central midfield. Let's hope they can strike up some things together.

 

[TheGreenLily]

All of our midfielders can pass, the problem is that they have to do it from deep too often and without unbelievably good off the ball movement that'll never be as effective as if you can move the ball up the pitch and make passes into the front 4 from closer. My hope is that Stambouli will be the best defensive player of the bunch and he'll be able to give someone like Capoue or Bentaleb more freedom to get higher up the pitch with the ball. We'll have to see how it develops.

Whilst I agree with what you say (The entire post), All of our midfielders can pass, but the rarely make the right pass though. Dembele is a prime example of this, he can hold on to the ball, run with ball, win the ball back... Just doesn't when to release the ball or pick the right pass, totally undermining his strengths as a player.

That is our biggest problem, IMO.

 

[zepstar]

Apologies if this has already been talked about, but would people say that he is a 'dot on the coupon' to start most games for us?

Or will he have to work hard to earn a place in the side?

 

[Shadydan]

Just seen his interview, damn he's quite sexy - can imagine him skipping past Yaya Toure elegantly whilst flicking his hair

 

[TheGreenLily]

Well, for those who want to watch more than a youtube clips and see how he really plays.

http://livefootballvideo.com/teams/montpellier

Some of Montpellier's games for the last year or so.

 

[BringBack_leGin]

THe fact that Swansea wanted him gives me some confidence in his footballing brain and ability as, regardless of how good a player they are, all their midfielders have a pre-requisite for being able to move the ball forward quickly.

 

[danielneeds]

He's immediately likeable from the interview, seems to have a very focused and professional attitude.

 

[thePessimist]

he looks like the night stalker

 

[VegasII]

Benjamin 'Magic' Stambouli