Mehdi Benatia

[Xavinho]

DoB: 17 April 1987
Position: Centre Back
Height: 1.92 m

The 26-year old French-born Moroccan international who Roma signed at the start of the season from Udinese for €13.5m has been putting in some impressive performances.

Roma are top of the league with seven wins from seven. They don't seem to be missing Marquinhos at all so far. Benatia has even scored a couple of goals.

Anyone else impressed?

 

[te amo barca]

What did you expect? Udinese's scouting system knows every good player they can afford However 13.5m is a steal from Roma, well done business.

 

[coura]

This is scouting. Buying great players before they get well known. Scouting it´s not going for Thiago Silva. lol.

Roma don´t miss Marquinhos, Lamela and Osvaldo. Impressive work by the coach. They were terrible at defending and now they are great. Coach work!

 

[Xavinho]

I'm not sure but I think Udinese picked him up on a free transfer from Ligue 2 side Clermont back in 2010. That is some great scouting.

Although it has to be said Udinese are in a position where they can take the kind of chances with players that bigger clubs can't.

 

[Aryagorn]

I'm not sure but I think Udinese picked him up on a free transfer from Ligue 2 side Clermont back in 2010. That is some great scouting.

Although it has to be said Udinese are in a position where they can take the kind of chances with players that bigger clubs can't.

Aren't we in a position to be scouting the clubs like Udinese then? Or do we only go for superstars like Alexis Sanchez from these clubs!?

 

[Ode to Django]

Roma have scored 21 goals and conceded one i believe. Despite not playing any of the big hitters (apart from Inter yest, although it's still a bit early to properly judge them) it's still very impressive.

Benatia is very good and was always going to be a good signing, but also the midfield trio in front of De Rossi, Strootman & Pjanic is very strong and solid.

 

[Xavinho]

Aren't we in a position to be scouting the clubs like Udinese then? Or do we only go for superstars like Alexis Sanchez from these clubs!?

Well, I'm sure there many potential Benatias at lower division sides but they don't always pan out as hoped. There's no sure fire way of predicting how a player will adapt to a new coach, club, or country. Not all of Udinese's signings turn out as good as Alexis.

It's ok to have those kinds of players at a club where the fans don't expect the team to challenge for the title every season, and where it won't be a financial disaster to miss out on a European place. An average level player is ok for an average level club. If they turn out better than average it's a bonus.

Average isn't ok for a club like Barca though. We can't afford to be patient while we see how a player develops. And we can't afford to fill the team with Henrique or Cáceres level players who will sit around collecting wages better used somewhere else

 

[Aryagorn]

Well, I'm sure there many potential Benatias at lower division sides but they don't always pan out as hoped. There's no sure fire way of predicting how a player will adapt to a new coach, club, or country. Not all of Udinese's signings turn out as good as Alexis.

It's ok to have those kinds of players at a club where the fans don't expect the team to challenge for the title every season, and where it won't be a financial disaster to miss out on a European place. An average level player is ok for an average level club. If they turn out better than average it's a bonus.

Average isn't ok for a club like Barca though. We can't afford to be patient while we see how a player develops. And we can't afford to fill the team with Henrique or Cáceres level players who will sit around collecting wages better used somewhere else

You misunderstood me... I meant that Benatia had been playing at high level for the past 3 seasons and it would really have been worthwhile if we signed him from Udinese instead of maintaining that the returning-from-injury Puyi was our new signing... I didn't say we should have signed him from the unknown French club, it's that we should at least be scouting players from mid table clubs from the top 5 European countries if not them all!!

 

[Xavinho]

You misunderstood me... I meant that Benatia had been playing at high level for the past 3 seasons and it would really have been worthwhile if we signed him from Udinese instead of maintaining that the returning-from-injury Puyi was our new signing... I didn't say we should have signed him from the unknown French club, it's that we should at least be scouting players from mid table clubs from the top 5 European countries if not them all!!

Hmm in that case I don't see much difference between the cases of Alexis and Benatia. They were both performing well for Udinese without being household-name superstar players like Totti or Steven Gerrard.

And of course if we'd tried to sign him the price would have gone up

 

[Aryagorn]

Hmm in that case I don't see much difference between the cases of Alexis and Benatia. They were both performing well for Udinese without being household-name superstar players like Totti or Steven Gerrard.

And of course if we'd tried to sign him the price would have gone up

Alexis was a superstar man... He attracted a whole lot of attention when he was at Udinese and he had a great WC too. So much so that Sir Alex Ferguson himself said he saw Alexis as a young version of Cristiano Ronaldo and would have as much of a career!!

Regarding Benatia... Our bollocks for scouting team might not even know there's such a player The price would have gone up had we stepped in, sure, but he was sold for 12m man! Couldn't have gone above 20 for us!!

 

[FCBarca]

Well, for me, Benatia is a prime example of how poorly the club indeed scouts central defenders...You really gotta wonder who if anyone is responsible for scouting them because it's been an abject failure for a long time now

 

[Antimadridista1]

Probably the best centre-back in the Calcio this season (and one of the best during the past seasons).

 

[Cule4life]

The best CB in Serie A

 

[abual3bed1]

Scored a brace yesterday and now Moyes has set him as a possible target.

 

[KingMessi]

I still stand by my opinion that we should get him in the January transfer window. Swap Mascherano if you have to, but just do it. Benatia and Musacchio in, Mascherano out.