Bentaleb: ‘I would be a hypocrite to say that I would not like to be at Tottenham’

[ernest_lowrider]

He played for France up to U19 & then quite notiriously (there) forsake them for Algeria instead

Having homegrown has nothing to do with nationality; as far as I remember to be considered as homegrown one must play in English club for three years until his 21st birthday or so. Due to this, Dier is not homegrown as he played in Lisboa whilst Lukaku and Pogba are considered as homegrowns.

I think Bentaleb qualifies as homegrown too.

 

[spud]

Nice article. Thanks for posting it mawspurs.

 

[Everlasting Seconds]

Yeah fair point, but while putting on one great performance like that in a massive game at the age of 19 against a very experienced midfield like Chelsea doesn't instantly make him a great player, it's not something many players that age are capable of. I never ever saw a comparable performance from any of his contemporaries (Mason, Carroll, Livermore, etc) and I think it's no coincidence that one is playing for a team in the CL knockouts and the rest are in the Championship (except for Mason for obvious reasons).

Absolutely, look, the lad wasn't without use. He could probably have served very well as a steady rotation option. But he was being assessed by fans at the time as if he was going to become the club captain and the Harry Kane of the midfield. His blatant limitations were overlooked in favour of a young rags-to-riches fan story.

Bentaleb initially entered the senior stage not due to his own merits, but due to somebodies selfish agenda of showing the club hierarchy what great things could be done with kids. When it became evident that said selfish agenda had failed anyway, Bentaleb was in fact removed from the starting line up in favour of more experiences players. The following summer, some short sighted idiot made the silly decision of selling Etienne Capoue, and Dembele's physique started having serious difficulties. Shortly thereafter, there were not many senior midfielders who were fit and able to play, and Bentaleb and Mason became the ad-hoc partnership of some repute.

 

[pedrodelawasp]

This is an interesting one to hypothesise over.

If Pochettino wanted him to come back then I would trust in his ability to harness Bentaleb’s attributes and strong points whilst improving upon his weaknesses, provided the player has developed the attitude and work ethic he’d need. He could only benefit from playing in our current, greatly improved team, too.

 

[rupsmith]

Absolutely, look, the lad wasn't without use. He could probably have served very well as a steady rotation option. But he was being assessed by fans at the time as if he was going to become the club captain and the Harry Kane of the midfield. His blatant limitations were overlooked in favour of a young rags-to-riches fan story.

Bentaleb initially entered the senior stage not due to his own merits, but due to somebodies selfish agenda of showing the club hierarchy what great things could be done with kids. When it became evident that said selfish agenda had failed anyway, Bentaleb was in fact removed from the starting line up in favour of more experiences players. The following summer, some short sighted idiot made the silly decision of selling Etienne Capoue, and Dembele's physique started having serious difficulties. Shortly thereafter, there were not many senior midfielders who were fit and able to play, and Bentaleb and Mason became the ad-hoc partnership of some repute.

I must respectfully disagree. If a player can hold their own against a top Arsenal and Chelsea midfield I don’t care whose selfish agenda is being promoted (that agenda also got Harry Kane into our first team btw).

The boy could play. As someone correctly pointed out, at the age of 18-19 it won’t be of a consistent standard, but the fact that he was producing excellent performances against top teams was a reflection of his ability. I don’t normally post YouTube videos as a justification for an argument but that NLD when we came back to win, he put in a beautiful cross for the winner. But what always stayed with me was that he didn’t go crazy celebrating with the other players. The manager called him over and he was deep in a focused tactical discussion to close the game out - he was 19. His maturity and positional intelligence were definitely of a very good standard and that is reflected in his career today and comes through in the interview. Would have him back in a heart beat.

 

[EQP]

I must respectfully disagree. If a player can hold their own against a top Arsenal and Chelsea midfield I don’t care whose selfish agenda is being promoted (that agenda also got Harry Kane into our first team btw).

The boy could play. As someone correctly pointed out, at the age of 18-19 it won’t be of a consistent standard, but the fact that he was producing excellent performances against top teams was a reflection of his ability. I don’t normally post YouTube videos as a justification for an argument but that NLD when we came back to win, he put in a beautiful cross for the winner. But what always stayed with me was that he didn’t go crazy celebrating with the other players. The manager called him over and he was deep in a focused tactical discussion to close the game out - he was 19. His maturity and positional intelligence were definitely of a very good standard and that is reflected in his career today and comes through in the interview. Would have him back in a heart beat.

I've always liked Nabil and felt that his attacking potential was underutilized, while we were trying to shoehorn him into the DM position. He definitely doesn't have the physicality of a Dembele or Sissoko but his dribbling and technical ability really stand out. Would love to have him back as he would offer us goals and assists from the CM position. Also, credit to him for being honest and taking responsibility for how things played out when he was a Spurs player. Very rare to hear a 24 year old be as introspective about their past actions and look to grow and improve. That shows obvious signs of maturity and I Imagine that would go a long way if Poch were to decide to bring him back.

 

[Gareth88]

Great feet always had a quick step and a few dribbles in him, he has stuck away 2 pens for Schalke tonight

 

[rupsmith]

Think his value just went up by 10-12 million tonight

 

[Deleted member 29446]

Always loved Bentaleb to be honest. The passion he shows every game was amazing. Always sad to see him leave, even though I didn't understand much of it.

 

[aliyid]

Think he was a victim of Timmy pushing him a bit too early and started to believe his own hype which was a shame.

Wouldn’t get into our starting 11, could do a job as a squad player but would probably prevent players like Skipp being afforded an opportunity to grow.

Good luck to him in Germany, always good to see an ex player speak fondly of the club and score a couple of CL goals against our rivals (even if they were both pens)

 

[stevespurs]

I rated him, he had a great spell in a partnership with Mason, and Harry firing up front. They were true Spurs boys and I loved it. They lifted for the NLD and bossed Chelsea in the FA cup. I was delerious...or maybe it was from the NY partying?

 

[Sarsipius]

Come home, son.