Pardew gushes over sensitive Ben Arfa, but sees trouble ahead…
Posted on September 20th, 2011 | 18 Comments |
He also likened him to a brand of well known lager which allegedly reaches the parts other beers cannot reach as he swooned over the “creative”, “elusive” French-Tunisian playmaker.
Starting with the beer analogy, Pardew purred:
“He’s a player that can reach heights that other players can’t reach – that Heineken player if you like.
“He brings a creative force to the team that is different to what we have and he’s different to a lot of players in the Premier League. He’s elusive.”
Of course though, the player has had scant chance to prove this where it counts, on the pitch, since Pardew’s predecessor, Chris Hughton, brought him to the club on loan in August 2010. Speaking on the injuries Ben Arfa has had to endure since he came to Tyneside, Pardew continued:
“He’s been out so long, so the beauty is that I don’t have to rush him. Last year, when we lost Andy Carroll, I was really desperate for him at times, if I’m honest. We didn’t have any control over games and we needed that little bit of quality around the box.
“This year, I feel that the results and performances mean we don’t have to rush him. This is a bit early for him, this game, but he needs a game. I don’t expect him to be at his full force on Tuesday.
“He’s a Newcastle type player – the type that fans love up here, but unfortunately we haven’t seen him.
“It’s just a point of getting him right, there’s no doubt about his craft, which is exceptional. He needs to fit into the work-rate of the side and all that we do, because we’re not that good that we can carry a player. But in pre-season his work-rate was tremendous.”
Pardew then moved to to the player’s temperament, something over which questions have been asked in the past since his early days as a teenager at France’s football academy of excellence at Clairfontaine, when he had already been dubbed a “prodigy”. Difficult incidents also continued at his subsequent clubs of Lyon and Marseilles, including over his eventual move to Newcastle United, when the club only offered a small loan fee for his services which Lyon were not prepared to accept. When Ben Arfa heard that Marseilles had declined Newcastle’s offer, he told French sports publication, “L’Equipe” that he would not be returning to Marseilles to train.
However, while acknowledging that some difficulties may lay ahead with the player, Pardew began by expressing some surprise at the player’s calm during his long spell out of the game saying:
“He’s been very calm, actually. Especially after the injury in America. I thought that would cause him a lot of problems – in that he might think this won’t work out and he gets injured every time he plays for us. But he’s been very buoyant around the place.
“He’s a character. He’s not going to be smooth-running. I won’t say he’s high maintenance but he’s not low maintenance either. We’re going to have our moments with him and I’m sure he’s going to fall out with me and my staff and my players, and we will with him, but along that line we’re hoping to get some great performances and a lot of goals from him.”
As a player of such great skill, it is hardly surprising that he has been targeted by hatchet men from other teams, most notably of course by Manchester City’s Nigel de Jong, who started Ben Arfa’s long spell in the wilderness with a vicious scissor tackle which broke Ben Arfa’s leg in two places. Pardew spoke of how he would feel when the inevitable happens once again saying:
“He’s not going to go into a crunching 50-50 tackle, that’s not his style, but someone will come through the back and you hope he’ll stand up and be fine when that happens.”
Amen to that Alan.
NUFCBlog Author: workyticket
workyticket has written 1096 articles on this blog.
He’s one of the best but it’s his weakness also. Last time he’s easy to be our opponent target because he’s only our playmaker with Nolan,Barton,Jonas and Routledge alongside. But now with Kabaye,Tiote or even Obertan and Marveax is perfect for his style to play.