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Player Watch: Nabil Bentaleb

Schitzophonic

There's only one
Jan 23, 2009
862
1,368
Ricketts' faux French accent is a little embarrassing. And the fact he calls him 'Nabil Bentalem' and says he's 'very Italian.' :lol:

But anyway, he's signed a 2 year youth contract, it seems. He was with Lille's B team, Mouscron in Belgium and Dunkirk. But he isn't on Football Manager, so how are we supposed to know how good he is!?
 

Locotoro

Prince of Zamunda
Sep 2, 2004
9,326
13,915
Moroccan youth players always seem to come through with highly technical skills at a young age. it'sva shame we don't as many technically gifted defenders.
 

eddiebailey

Well-Known Member
Oct 12, 2004
7,452
6,672
One question

WTF is Ricketts doing at the club in a current Spurs training kit?
Supposedly training with us while he looks for a new club; maybe he found out we offered Simon Dawkins a contract under the same circumstances and figure he'd give it a go...
 

Kendall

Well-Known Member
Feb 8, 2007
38,502
11,933
Yeah he was released in Jan from Shamrock.

I dunno what happened to Ricketts. He was never amazing, but he was never that shit. I find it amazing that he hasn't made it at least at a Championship side. It's like he went off the rails or anything, seems a decent, down to earth bloke who works hard.
 

chinaman

Well-Known Member
Jul 19, 2003
17,974
12,423
He played for Toronto FC couple of years ago. When he came, he outran everybody, but grew a fat tummy in about 2 months and couldn't even walk.
 

PrettyColors

Rosie47 Fan
Aug 13, 2011
3,866
10,074
Bentaleb looked like a Taarabt with some purpose and a workrate when I saw him (vs. Liverpool)

good signing.
 

Spursidol

Well-Known Member
Sep 15, 2007
12,636
15,834
Ricketts' faux French accent is a little embarrassing. And the fact he calls him 'Nabil Bentalem' and says he's 'very Italian.' :lol:

But anyway, he's signed a 2 year youth contract, it seems. He was with Lille's B team, Mouscron in Belgium and Dunkirk. But he isn't on Football Manager, so how are we supposed to know how good he is!?

Scouted playing Fussbol (Indoor 5 a side to you and me much more popular on the continent than in UK) apparantly, rather than football. Seems a talented attacking midfield player - just hope he doesn't turn out like Taraabt !
 

dav3j

SC Supporter
Jan 28, 2011
2,995
760
Yeah he was released in Jan from Shamrock.

I dunno what happened to Ricketts. He was never amazing, but he was never that shit. I find it amazing that he hasn't made it at least at a Championship side. It's like he went off the rails or anything, seems a decent, down to earth bloke who works hard.

The even more puzzling bit was his disastrous moves to iffy third-world European sides like the one in Moldova that ended up screwing him over wages. I'd sooner drop down the leagues and play for Gillingham than some dodgy outfit in the Balkans.
 

AB27

Active Member
Jun 17, 2012
328
558
Really impressed with the lad after today's showing.

Think he deserves more time in / around the first team now?
 

CrazyKen

Well-Known Member
May 19, 2006
534
1,066
I was surprised. Really liked what i saw. Excited to see what's coming in the future from him (y)
 

Archibald&Crooks

Aegina Expat
Admin
Feb 1, 2005
55,533
204,721
I'm surprised there hasn't already been a thread on the kid. He looked calm and composed when he came on and did very well. Very impressive. Credit to Sherwood for giving him some game time.
 

XSuicideBunnyX

FM Champion 2015
Aug 3, 2013
839
1,191
I never knew we had guys like this hanging around the academy - even though I always hear about how our youth teams usually do well, I always assumed we were miles behind everyone else because we weren't really ever bringing guys through. But now with Rose, Townsend, Bentaleb etc. it looks like our academy may be bearing its fruits sooner rather than later.
 

kohn

Member
Jun 25, 2013
66
38
Delighted too see our youth getting some game time at last.. And yeah keep playing the kid. He had an outstanding debut, really calm on the ball, and good deliveries aswell. Keep it up Bentaleb
 

punky

Gone
Sep 23, 2008
7,485
5,403
Same as Fredricks the other day, he came on, didn't look overawed, was composed and mature and put in a good shift. Kept the game ticking over nicely.

We do have some great kids coming through. I wish they had more oppotunities in the Europa League and Carling Cup
 

Montasura

Well-Known Member
Mar 15, 2008
7,256
6,768
Was just thinking of starting a thread so kudos.

The comments in the match thread when he brought the lad on instead of other were funny, usual SC end of the world stuff. But if we have to trust Sherwood on anything it is his knowledge of our youth players. Not only was it a composed and assured debut but a game changing sub IMO. He was at the heart of most of our attacks in the second half, always looking to play the ball forward. I would certainly like to see more of him although that just adds to the selection headache in midfield I guess. Gonna be hard keeping them all happy if Bentalab starts playing regularly.
 

AB27

Active Member
Jun 17, 2012
328
558
Was just thinking of starting a thread so kudos.

The comments in the match thread when he brought the lad on instead of other were funny, usual SC end of the world stuff. But if we have to trust Sherwood on anything it is his knowledge of our youth players. Not only was it a composed and assured debut but a game changing sub IMO. He was at the heart of most of our attacks in the second half, always looking to play the ball forward. I would certainly like to see more of him although that just adds to the selection headache in midfield I guess. Gonna be hard keeping them all happy if Bentalab starts playing regularly.

Agree, great move from Sherwood to blood the youth here.

Might be pre-emptive at this stage, but I feel like he bears a fair bit of similarity to Dembele? Strong on the ball, decent in the tackle, and a good short range pass.
 

L-man

Misplaced pass from Dier
Dec 31, 2008
9,979
51,364
Why are we spending £17mil on the likes of Paulinho when we could promote this guy or even Carroll. Based on todays performance, he's been no worse
 
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