Cheick Tiote - The impressive Ivorian.Whilst the vast majority of the headlines and adulation may have been directed at Hatem Ben Arfa over the weekend, we mustn’t forget the role that some of our other players played in the victory at Goodison Park on Saturday.
It is correct that Ben Arfa should recieve some praise for the way he played during his full debut. His goal was fantastic and some of his play was exceptional, but how did the other debutant of the day get on?
Very well by all accounts, and if I was Alan Smith I would be quite concerned over how I was going to get back in the team after the way that Cheick Tiote performed on Saturday. The Ivory Coast international looked every inch the accomplished Premier League player on his debut and went about his work exceptionally well. I hope that is a flavour of what is to come from Tiote. (more…)
Cheick Tiote - A pleasant surprise.The aftermath of the result against Everton yesterday is still rumbling on in the minds of many today. After all, it was a fantastic result, and far more than most of us has thought we could get from Goodison.
I’ve been out most of the day taking in some fresh air and walking the dog up and down some big hills, which has given me a fair bit of time to reflect on things.
Are we not getting just a little bit carried away?
As I said in the opening paragraph, there is no doubt beating Everton in their own back yard is a fantastic result. My concern now is that after the exceptional full debut performances of Hatem Ben Arfa and Cheik Tiote yesterday we get ourselves into the position where too much is expected of them. I mean they have started off pretty well in the black and white, but what if they don’t perform like that in every match? (more…)
