Hatem Ben Arfa

[iniesta_8]

I know no-one doubts his dribbling... But man, this is just ridiculous

[youtube]oAVBO9wJn4A[/youtube]

Looks to me like a college student trying to do a CR7

 

[Ode to Django]

The question needed to be asked is, is he going to cut in on his left foot

 

[Jombi]

Worst game I've seen Ben Arfa play this season. Against a tight St Etienne defense in the most important game of the season. Nice won thanks to two red cards for St Etienne and are now only 2 points behind Monaco on the CL spot.

 

[Trafalgar]

Worst game I've seen Ben Arfa play this season. Against a tight St Etienne defense in the most important game of the season. Nice won thanks to two red cards for St Etienne and are now only 2 points behind Monaco on the CL spot.

Maybe Barca's interest shattered his focus ... He was great against PSG and Lyon

 

[Jamie Cal]

I'm pretty indifferent too. He's free and a good player so you can't complain too much, but do we really have need for him? If we try him as a backup for Suarez will it be squre peg into a round hole? Denis is definitely coming back so that means he'll largely only be the backup for Messi or when we go 4-2-3-1, I can't imagine there's a ton of minutes there. I know they've got some different skills, but you've got to wonder when Arda will get minutes also.

Admittedly I don't know him as well as others here.

 

[TornAndFrayed]

Nice president Riviere on france 3 this afternoon : "I'd be very happy for him and Nice should it happen. You don't say no to Barcelona but it's his decision. If I were a player and were offered Barcelona, i'd go ! But it isn't yet done according to him"

Ben Arfa will/would be played on the wings in our regular 4 3 3, don't think he'll often play centrally if at all.

Maybe Lucho counts on Munir & Sandro for that.

 

[xXKonan]

Alternative Front 3

Denis-Munir-Afra

 

[Lelouch vi Britannia]

I'm pretty indifferent too. He's free and a good player so you can't complain too much, but do we really have need for him? If we try him as a backup for Suarez will it be squre peg into a round hole? Denis is definitely coming back so that means he'll largely only be the backup for Messi or when we go 4-2-3-1, I can't imagine there's a ton of minutes there. I know they've got some different skills, but you've got to wonder when Arda will get minutes also.

Admittedly I don't know him as well as others here.

Yup. Not too crazy about him but for free you can't really complain. His age isn't a big issue since a) we're bringing back Dennis and b) we aren't exactly in dire need of long term replacements for Messi and Suarez right now. Age is a bigger issue in other areas of the team (defense and midfield). Again, just hope he won't be overpaid and that if his attitude problems resurface, they don't affect the rest of the team.

 

[God Serena]

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

If this is some attempt to insult me by insinuating that all our arguments are the same, you should try a little harder. Perhaps if you could form a decent argument and/or look at a damn username you wouldn't come off looking that way.

 

[Aryagorn]

Hatem's age is definitely not the problem.... I mean I don't think & I hope to God we won't have to pinn too many hopes in him anyway! Just that, he could be a terribly bad influence on the squad is what that worries me

 

[D10S_JC]

Barca's becoming QPR, looking for player like Zarate and Taarabt.

 

[xXKonan]

[tw]729171485835857920[/tw]

 

[Co0ter]

Kind of shocked people want him as a back up on the wings at Barca, free or not.

An incredibly entertaining player no doubt; wonderful dribbler, strong and a trickster.

However, other than last season at Nice (in France...), his scoring record has been total garbage. Neymar and Messi are both much, much better finishers despite Neymar's terrible second half of the season. I just don't believe someone becomes a good goal scorer overnight, and our system is all about our midfield being hardworkers first (scorers second) and us scoring primarily through the front three.

Either way better than Sandro. And Munir is woefully slow on the ball.

 

[Behrox]

That's a bit of a hyperbole. If you are merely going by the video what great defender or defences did he get the better of? Unlike Leo who's done so at the highest level repeatedly. At no point did I actually felt he had complete control of the ball. His touches seemed erratic in some places. Given how opposition set out to defend against Barca, quickly closing down any space, such instances more often than not lead to turnovers. Besides, pure skill must accompany footballin' intelligence - speed of thought (as BBZ always asserts) to succeed at Barca. To make yourself available for a quick 1-2, releasing your teammate at the right moment, not dwelling on the ball in the attacking third, are more valuable to Barca when space is a premium. Being effective for Nice in Ligue 1 for an attacker is diff to doing so for Barca. The question must be if HBA is a smart footballer?

I was talking about pure dribbling and beating the man, Messi is of course a class of his own

 

[Darko]

Ben Arfa guy from a few years back is in dreamland.