Hatem Ben Arfa

[Trickykid]

I've only said it once, mate. If that's what you call "Running with it" then for all I care, go nuts.

He's had a mediocre career at best whether it's for mental issues or not, and at 29 we'll only have another Arda Turan situation on our hands if (Probably not if, but when) he starts playing for us and the entire world realizes he's nowhere near ready to play for us.

Ah, must've been someone else then; gasgas, Thwix, Jombi or someone... Hard to tell you guys apart.
My apologies.

 

[Jombi]

Dont think the point is to bring in someone to replace Suarez and none of the players mentioned are as good on the wing as Ben Arfa. Not even close I would say.

Messi and Ney can play through middle if needed when Suarez out/rested. Maybe Ben Arfa could as he is decent with back to goal and a good finisher.

Ben Arfa never plays on the wing for Nice though, and he was a big flop in that position, so I am not convinced. No backup for Suarez is of course a major problem, as the whole point of Gameiro was to get that backup, while Messi and Ney are never played as strikers these days. Ben Arfa to steal minutes from Denis, Roberto and others? Roberto at least works his a** off and had a great game as a RW against Real Madrid no less, while Ben Arfa is lazy. Not sure this sends the right signals.

 

[JamDav1982]

Ben Arfa never plays on the wing for Nice though, and he was a big flop in that position, so I am not convinced. No backup for Suarez is of course a major problem, as the whole point of Gameiro was to get that backup, while Messi and Ney are never played as strikers these days. Ben Arfa to steal minutes from Denis, Roberto and others? Roberto at least works his a** off and had a great game as a RW against Real Madrid no less, while Ben Arfa is lazy. Not sure this sends the right signals.

Messi and Ney never play in the middle these days as Suarez plays virtually every game.

Ben Arfa looks like he had more of a free role for Nice rather than strictly through the middle and popped up out wide a lot and did good work there. The wide players at Barca are given a lot of freedom to come centrally anyway.

Roberto had a great game vs Real because he matched Marcelo energy and came inside a lot. He is nowhere near a proper winger though despite playing his role well there. I dont even think he has enough pace or trickery to play RB as a starter let alone a winger.

 

[Jombi]

Messi and Ney never play in the middle these days as Suarez plays virtually every game.

Ben Arfa looks like he had more of a free role for Nice rather than strictly through the middle and popped up out wide a lot and did good work there. The wide players at Barca are given a lot of freedom to come centrally anyway.

Roberto had a great game vs Real because he matched Marcelo energy and came inside a lot. He is nowhere near a proper winger though despite playing his role well there. I dont even think he has enough pace or trickery to play RB as a starter let alone a winger.

Whenever Suarez is out, Messi and Ney never replace him. So I dont know what the solution is for the striker position. I feel we have enough options out wide especially with Denis returning as well. We also have Vidal for 20m but I guess he is discarded already. You always defend all our purchases and were very enthusiastic about Arda, and its not looking good.

Playing as a "proper winger" as you think he will do for us, is miles away from his position in Nice as THE man behind the strikers. He wont be given alot of freedom, and he will need to work his a** off for the team. I'd rather see those minutes go to Denis and Roberto if this is the strategy.

 

[JamDav1982]

Whenever Suarez is out, Messi and Ney never replace him. So I dont know what the solution is for the striker position. I feel we have enough options out wide especially with Denis returning as well. We also have Vidal for 20m but I guess he is discarded already. You always defend all our purchases and were very enthusiastic about Arda, and its not looking good.

Playing as a "proper winger" as you think he will do for us, is miles away from his position in Nice as THE man behind the strikers. He wont be given alot of freedom, and he will need to work his a** off for the team. I'd rather see those minutes go to Denis and Roberto if this is the strategy.

Messi and Ney cant really replace Suarez as there are no other winger players similar to them in terms of pace and dribbling. So no real point weakening two positions by that much.

What the fuck has Arda got to do with anything? Half the arguments about him was the lies you told about his price etc. I said for the money paid it was not a huge fee for a player of his age/ability and expected him to be a good squad player. Dont think he has been as bad as people like you make out anyway and expected Lucho to use him as Iniestas back up more.

Roberto will barely ever be used as a winger again. He cant play there effectively week in week out you need to lose that idea. Roberto will get minutes in midfield and RB.

 

[Jombi]

Messi and Ney cant really replace Suarez as there are no other winger players similar to them in terms of pace and dribbling. So no real point weakening two positions by that much.

What the fuck has Arda got to do with anything? Half the arguments about him was the lies you told about his price etc. I said for the money paid it was not a huge fee for a player of his age/ability and expected him to be a good squad player. Dont think he has been as bad as people like you make out anyway and expected Lucho to use him as Iniestas back up more.

Roberto will barely ever be used as a winger again. He cant play there effectively week in week out you need to lose that idea. Roberto will get minutes in midfield and RB.

OK, so you dont like the idea of Roberto as a backup for RW (you of course dont KNOW where he will play just like you didnt with Arda). But what about Denis? You claim that Ben Arfa will be a proper winger (but playing out of position) and taking minutes from Denis as well. Is this really something you support too?

 

[JamDav1982]

OK, so you dont like the idea of Roberto as a backup for RW (you of course dont KNOW where he will play just like you didnt with Arda). But what about Denis? You claim that Ben Arfa will be a proper winger playing out of position and taking minutes from Denis as well. Is this really something you support too?

You are going heavy on me saying Arda would be a good squad playe and arguing against your lies. When I said he would be a good squad signing when you made claims about the likes of Kovacic being 'absolutely perfect' for Barcelona. Real Madrid trying to ship him out already...

I know fine Roberto will barely play as a winger again. Wait and see.

Young players will get minutes on merit. All the best young Barca players have.

 

[Jombi]

You are going heavy on me saying Arda and arguing against your lies. When I said he would be a good squad signing when you made claims about the likes of Kovacic being 'absolutely perfect' for Barcelona. Real Madrid trying to ship him out already...

I know fine Roberto will barely play as a winger again. Wait and see.

Young players will get minutes on merit. All the best young Barca players have.

You said Arda Turan was a world class midfielder and one of the best in Europe and a great purchase. I think the jury is out, but it looks like a huge 40m flop which we wont get back.

RM are stacked in midfield. They might even ship out James. And they'll get a good price for Kovacic as well if they sell.

I think all of these ideas about positions are just pure speculation. Its impossible to know this. Roberto certainly wouldnt convince Lucho to never play him as RW again after what he did against RM.

I THINK (I dont know) that Ben Arfa will be seen just like Gameiro, and thats why we might get him. Not as a "proper winger". Regardless, his current position he plays certainly doesnt exist in our team and our system so there will be a lot of adapting to do for the player with big adaptability problems.

 

[Chong Li]

Brilliant!

While we're at it, let's sign Luca Toni too. I'm sure he'll postpone his retirement if we give him a few millions.

 

[JamDav1982]

You said Arda Turan was a world class midfielder and one of the best in Europe and a great purchase. I think the jury is out, but it looks like a huge 40m flop which we wont get back.

RM are stacked in midfield. They might even ship out James. And they'll get a good price for Kovacic as well if they sell.

I think all of these ideas about positions are just pure speculation. Its impossible to know this.

I THINK (I dont know) that Ben Arfa will be seen just like Gameiro, and thats why we might get him. Not as a "proper winger". Regardless, his current position he plays certainly doesnt exist in our team and our system so there will be a lot of adapting to do for the player with big adaptability problems.

I said he has been one of top midfielders for one of best teams in europe which he had been and expected him to be a good squad signing and no issue with the price at his age. Levels above crap you compared him to like Valencias 'leader' and 'best player for two years' Parejo...he was neither by the way.

You praised players like Kovacic as 'perfect for Barca' when he clearly isnt and made ridiculous claims like Barca should move for Jordan Amavi to play RB... yes left back Jordan Amavi who has been average at relegated Aston Villa.

You also claimed vidal to be versatile to play more than just RB at Barca.

Ben Arfas current position is not just central. A lot of his good work if not most comes from wider areas. If Barca sign him it is a gamble but his type of player gives more options than what is there already.

 

[Jombi]

I said he has been one of top midfielders for one of best teams in europe which he had been and expected him to be a good squad signing and no issue with the price at his age. Levels above crap you compared him to like Valencias 'leader' and 'best player for two years' Parejo...he was neither by the way.

You praised players like Kovacic as 'perfect for Barca' when he clearly isnt and made ridiculous claims like Barca should move for Jordan Amavi to play RB... yes left back Jordan Amavi who has been average at relegated Aston Villa.

You also claimed vidal to be versatile to play more than just RB at Barca.

Ben Arfas current position is not just central. A lot of his good work if not most comes from wider areas. If Barca sign him it is a gamble but his type of player gives more options than what is there already.

You clearly said Arda was one of the best midfielders in Europe. Jordan Amavi was Aston Villa's best player until he got a horrible and severe career threatening injury after 9 games playing for France u-21 and of course hasnt played since. It would have been a great purchase for 7m euros for us. He played both LB and RB for Nice. Cheap, versatile and very talented backups. Lets hope we go for these types of transfers and not madness like Arda for 40m in the future.

I am sure you understand that comparing Ben Arfa's role in Nice to a position as a proper winger in Barca is quite ridiculous. The whole team plays for Ben Arfa in Nice. The fact that he moves around to wide areas just like any player who plays in that position doesnt mean he wont have to adapt to a completely different position and style for us.

 

[JamDav1982]

You clearly said Arda was one of the best midfielders in Europe. Jordan Amavi was Aston Villa's best player until he got a horrible and severe career threatening injury after 9 games playing for France u-21 and of course hasnt played since. It would be a great purchase for 7m euros for us. Cheap and very talented backups. Lets hope we go for these types of transfers and not madness like Arda for 40m in the future.

I am sure you understand that comparing Ben Arfa's role in Nice to a position as a proper winger in Barca is quite ridiculous. The whole team plays for Ben Arfa in Nice. The fact that he moves around to wide areas just like any player who plays in that position doesnt mean he will have to adapt to a completely different position and style for us.

Where did I say Arda was one of best midfielders in europe? Link me to it I want to see the context.

He had been one of the best midfielders for one of the best teams. That was an argument based on his market value and fee rather than him being a starter at Barca etc. As you compared him to the likes of Parejo.

Amavi was nothing special for Villa in a terrible team. Best player or not in that shit side proves nothing. Lets see the clubs with all the money in EPL lining up to sign this Barca standard left back to play right back...

 

[Jombi]

Where did I say Arda was one of best midfielders in europe? Link me to it I want to see the context.

He had been one of the best midfielders for one of the best teams. That was an argument based on his market value and fee rather than him being a starter at Barca etc. As you compared him to the likes of Parejo.

Amavi was nothing special for Villa in a terrible team. Best player or not in that shit side proves nothing. Lets see the clubs with all the money in EPL lining up to sign this Barca standard left back to play right back...

You said he was one of the best in Europe.

Amavi might never play a game again in his life. Its ludicrous to ridicule him after the great start he had and contracting such a horrendous injury. He had a fantastic season for Nice, a great start at Aston Villa and then disaster struck. How many games did you see of Nice last year or Nice this year with Ben Arfa to conclude what you are doing?

We dont need more crap transfers like Arda with zero sell-on value that risk destroying our financial stability. That is the point.

 

[JamDav1982]

You said he was one of the best in Europe.

Amavi might never play a game again in his life. Its ludicrous to ridicule him after the great start he had and contracting such a horrendous injury. He had a fantastic season for Nice, a great start at Aston Villa and then disaster struck. How many games did you see of Nice last year or Nice this year with Ben Arfa to conclude what you are doing?

We dont need more crap transfers like Arda that risk destroying our financial stability. That is the point.

Show me a link where I said that and where I called him world class please. Or I will assume just more lies.

You also said Arda would be a good addition by the way. The only grumble was over the price and what he was worth.

Amavis start was decent at Aston Villa not quite what you are making out and looked nowhere near a Barca player.

How many Nice games did you see? Lets see what you claim first.

 

[Jombi]

Show me a link where I said that and where I called him world class please. Or I will assume just more lies.

You also said Arda would be a good addition by the way. The only grumble was over the price and what he was worth.

Amavis start was decent at Aston Villa not quite what you are making out and looked nowhere near a Barca player.

How many Nice games did you see? Lets see what you claim first.

OK, this bickering is just ridiculous.

This is Ben Arfa thread, so let's focus on that. I have seen 5 games of Nice this season as stated earlier. Ben Arfa played in all of them.