Nabil Bentaleb

  • The Fighting Cock is a forum for fans of Tottenham Hotspur Football Club. Here you can discuss Spurs latest matches, our squad, tactics and any transfer news surrounding the club. Registration gives you access to all our forums (including 'Off Topic' discussion) and removes most of the adverts (you can remove them all via an account upgrade). You're here now, you might as well...

    Get involved!

Latest Spurs videos from Sky Sports

Sort by date Sort by reaction score
I agree with a lot of the positive comments on here. He never really impressed me last year, but it wasn't like was performing poorly either. The beginning of this year was roughly the same for me as well, but it is fairly clear now how important he is to this team. It wasn't like we were playing badly while he was out, but having both him and Mason in the midfield completely changed us for the better.

I'm loving what he's doing at the moment and am looking forward to seeing what he could become for us.
 
As I said before NLD he is one of the first names on the team sheet he has been immense. His desire in CM is something I haven't seen from any of our players in recent memory. He seems to be everywhere, lost track of the times Saturday where scum was advancing in decent positions and Bentaleb was there to put a foot in to snuff it out. Same against Chelsea that isn't even touching on his quality on the ball which seems to be improving with every match.
 
clevelandspur said:
As I said before NLD he is one of the first names on the team sheet he has been immense. His desire in CM is something I haven't seen from any of our players in recent memory. He seems to be everywhere, lost track of the times Saturday where scum was advancing in decent positions and Bentaleb was there to put a foot in to snuff it out. Same against Chelsea that isn't even touching on his quality on the ball which seems to be improving with every match.
Click to expand...

Agree with all of this.

I still can't quite get my head around the fact that Bentaleb, Mason, and Kane are amongst the most important players we have right now!

Who would have thought that at the start of the season?

Mental!
 
Remember the arguements about Bentaleb, the jokes about him being Sherwood's son and being told he wasn't good enough for DM last season and even part of this one. For a kid which he still is basically I think he has proved as many people wrong as Kane, got everything has the passing, tackling, work rate and of course controlled aggression of a top player and for me potential future captain.
 
Alright just got to review most of the game.

His defending looked very tidy. Not inflating the chest and shouting but the actual defending, the pressing and marking space and all. Very, very good. Mason too.

From what I can recall easily one of his best games for us.
 
NorseYid said:
Alright just got to review most of the game.

His defending looked very tidy. Not inflating the chest and shouting but the actual defending, the pressing and marking space and all. Very, very good. Mason too.

From what I can recall easily one of his best games for us.
Click to expand...

I think people sometimes think that a good DM has this massive tackle count but its more about the work rate, covering midfield runners, sheparding players away from dangerous areas, making it difficult for the opposition to pass forward, essentially keeping danger away from the box and Bentaleb does this well. The shouting and hollywood tackles might look nice and I am sure he can do them but this guy has substance beyond the fancy stuff.
 
He's fast becoming my favourite player - loving his energy, tackling, distribution, and general feistiness!! Thing is though, I've never seen any interviews with him or any articles about him. Can anyone point me in the direction of something recent?
 
Neumanator said:
He's fast becoming my favourite player - loving his energy, tackling, distribution, and general feistiness!! Thing is though, I've never seen any interviews with him or any articles about him. Can anyone point me in the direction of something recent?
Click to expand...
http://www.tottenhamhotspur.com/search/?txt=bentaleb he's actually interviewed a fair bit on Spurs TV

Comes across very likable tbh, a fiery character on the pitch, and gent off it.

http://www.tottenhamhotspur.com/spurs-tv/interviews/we-left-nothing-on-the-pitch---nabil-and-ryan/ I like this one, him and Mason seem like school mates
 
TOMO said:
I think people sometimes think that a good DM has this massive tackle count but its more about the work rate, covering midfield runners, sheparding players away from dangerous areas, making it difficult for the opposition to pass forward, essentially keeping danger away from the box and Bentaleb does this well. The shouting and hollywood tackles might look nice and I am sure he can do them but this guy has substance beyond the fancy stuff.
Click to expand...

I know a lot of people will disagree, but defending the space and tracking the runners is where I really have felt is where NB comes up short.

AFAIC see that however, was done very well against Woolwich. Which was what impressed me the most, since he was very good overall too.

Generally speaking, sufficiently defending that space in front of defence is probably the biggest deficit in his partnership with Mason at all. That is where they can develop and where they need to develop. Both of them really.

A lot of fans will think we need a top level defensive midfielder to progress, and I am inclined to agree, but if NB wants to nail down his spot for the future as well, performing defensively like against Woolwich is the key to it all for him.

Also, we probably should credit the inclusion of Dembele for the performance, having him in front of them seems to make a difference for both Bentaleb and Mason
 
NorseYid said:
Btw, I quite like the aggression and bite he shows along with Mason. Been needing it for a while.
Click to expand...
No doubt for years when we played the top sides we would often get bullied and overran in midfield. I thought both Bentaleb and Mason set the tone very early with some crunching tackles and quite frankly Woolwich were not up for the fight.
 
NorseYid said:
Btw, I quite like the aggression and bite he shows along with Mason. Been needing it for a while.
Click to expand...


It's something we've been missing in our side for the last couple of seasons. Mason and Bentaleb bring that passion and aggression that can anchor a midfield and intimidate the opponents.
 
I'll admit I hated him last season... More than likely because I really did not like Timmy and he seemed to be his love child.

I take back any negative comments I made about the kid. He's played superbly this season and that ball into Haz for the winner ........... :dier:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom