Hatem Ben Arfa (still a free agent)

On the official site they have Estrella Galicia on the shirts...

 

Yeah, it's an old shirt.

 

Estrella Galicia 0 to be precise.

 

Which one's old?

Patricio’s is for a valid reason tbf.

nah, sympathy for carl ikeme and all that but the only valid reason to be wearing number eleven is that you're a left-winger.

 

retiring numbers is wank and all.

On the official site they have Estrella Galicia on the shirts...

 

Yeah, it's an old shirt.

 

Estrella Galicia 0 to be precise.

 

Which one's old?

The one he's bought.

Cheers, thought so.

 

Vallodolid have a sale on but they’re still 50 euro.

Starting tonight.

Made a great a run a few mins before.

Was painful to watch, dosn't look like he suites their system, hopefully just a bit rusty.

Patricio’s is for a valid reason tbf.

nah, sympathy for carl ikeme and all that but the only valid reason to be wearing number eleven is that you're a left-winger.

 

retiring numbers is wank and all.

You're god damn right the sooner we strip any emotions out the game the better.

A piece about wor 'Atem: https://theathletic.com/2026610/2020/08/28/hatem-ben-arfa-newcastle-messi-pardew/

 

Fucking Pardew, man.

A piece about wor 'Atem: https://theathletic.com/2026610/2020/08/28/hatem-ben-arfa-newcastle-messi-pardew/

 

f***ing Pardew, man.

 

Good article. 

 

 

Interesting that the squad turned on him. I think it would take a Bobby Robson type manager to consistently get the best of him.

 

Hilarious that it seems many would challenge Pardew’s tactics. Cabaye straight calling Pardew out. 

 

The Anelka comparison is apt.  High self value but sensitive. Except.. worse. 

 

A piece about wor 'Atem: https://theathletic.com/2026610/2020/08/28/hatem-ben-arfa-newcastle-messi-pardew/

 

f***ing Pardew, man.

 

Good article. 

 

 

Interesting that the squad turned on him. I think it would take a Bobby Robson type manager to consistently get the best of him.

 

Hilarious that it seems many would challenge Pardew’s tactics. Cabaye straight calling Pardew out. 

 

The Anelka comparison is apt.  High self value but sensitive. Except.. worse. 

 

They point the finger mainly at Colo, and I wonder who the coach is who acts as their source.

 

If only we'd had a Bobby type in charge for his time here. 

He would have been frightening under Keegan.

There were rumours at the time that Colo and Shola had turned on him. I went right off Colo about then.

There were rumours at the time that Colo and Shola had turned on him. I went right off Colo about then.

Shola could barely eat an apple on a bicycle.

It's telling when you look back at Ben arfa highlight videos. Normally after doing something very skillful to create a crossing or shooting chance and it doesn't result in a goal, you can normally see Shola in the background throwing a massive strop and arms up in the air. As if Shola of all people would bury the chance if it came his way 😂

 

Interesting as well looking back that Ben Arfa actually produced some of his best football in that 2014 season when he was supposed to be fat and was constantly benched all the time. That 5:1 against Stoke where I think he came on as a sub early due to an injury and he ripped them to shreds, hit the post and crossbar aswell as setting up goals and winning penalties, and yet he was straight back on the bench for the next game. Fuck Pardew.

The article says that Pardew didn’t play him because Colo said the whole team would refuse to play if he put Ben Arfa in the 11, because apparently he wasn’t a team player.

 

Fuck that, I’d have built my whole team around Ben Arfa and benched Colo. He wanted to leave anyway.

 

Edit: And also fuck Pardew.

The article says that Pardew didn’t play him because Colo said the whole team would refuse to play if he put Ben Arfa in the 11, because apparently he wasn’t a team player.

 

Fuck that, I’d have built my whole team around Ben Arfa and benched Colo. He wanted to leave anyway.

 

Edit: And also fuck Pardew.

 

Pretty much.

It's telling when you look back at Ben arfa highlight videos. Normally after doing something very skillful to create a crossing or shooting chance and it doesn't result in a goal, you can normally see Shola in the background throwing a massive strop and arms up in the air. As if Shola of all people would bury the chance if it came his way 😂

 

Interesting as well looking back that Ben Arfa actually produced some of his best football in that 2014 season when he was supposed to be fat and was constantly benched all the time. That 5:1 against Stoke where I think he came on as a sub early due to an injury and he ripped them to shreds, hit the post and crossbar aswell as setting up goals and winning penalties, and yet he was straight back on the bench for the next game. Fuck Pardew.

 

He started in place of Tiote.

 

And, for the record, we were losing 1-0 before they had their second player dismissed. So yeah, he tore apart 9 man Stoke.

 

I'm sure there are better games to make the point you're making.

It's telling when you look back at Ben arfa highlight videos. Normally after doing something very skillful to create a crossing or shooting chance and it doesn't result in a goal, you can normally see Shola in the background throwing a massive strop and arms up in the air. As if Shola of all people would bury the chance if it came his way 😂

 

Interesting as well looking back that Ben Arfa actually produced some of his best football in that 2014 season when he was supposed to be fat and was constantly benched all the time. That 5:1 against Stoke where I think he came on as a sub early due to an injury and he ripped them to shreds, hit the post and crossbar aswell as setting up goals and winning penalties, and yet he was straight back on the bench for the next game. Fuck Pardew.

 

He started in place of Tiote.

 

And, for the record, we were losing 1-0 before they had their second player dismissed. So yeah, he tore apart 9 man Stoke.

 

I'm sure there are better games to make the point you're making.

 

Weird thing to pull him up on tbh

It's telling when you look back at Ben arfa highlight videos. Normally after doing something very skillful to create a crossing or shooting chance and it doesn't result in a goal, you can normally see Shola in the background throwing a massive strop and arms up in the air. As if Shola of all people would bury the chance if it came his way 😂

 

Interesting as well looking back that Ben Arfa actually produced some of his best football in that 2014 season when he was supposed to be fat and was constantly benched all the time. That 5:1 against Stoke where I think he came on as a sub early due to an injury and he ripped them to shreds, hit the post and crossbar aswell as setting up goals and winning penalties, and yet he was straight back on the bench for the next game. Fuck Pardew.

 

He started in place of Tiote.

 

And, for the record, we were losing 1-0 before they had their second player dismissed. So yeah, he tore apart 9 man Stoke.

 

I'm sure there are better games to make the point you're making.

 

Weird thing to pull him up on tbh

 

I wasn't pulling anybody up on anything.

 

It's a weird game to use as an example. Hs performance against Liverpool would be my goto.

WBA away for me.

It's telling when you look back at Ben arfa highlight videos. Normally after doing something very skillful to create a crossing or shooting chance and it doesn't result in a goal, you can normally see Shola in the background throwing a massive strop and arms up in the air. As if Shola of all people would bury the chance if it came his way 😂

 

Interesting as well looking back that Ben Arfa actually produced some of his best football in that 2014 season when he was supposed to be fat and was constantly benched all the time. That 5:1 against Stoke where I think he came on as a sub early due to an injury and he ripped them to shreds, hit the post and crossbar aswell as setting up goals and winning penalties, and yet he was straight back on the bench for the next game. Fuck Pardew.

 

He started in place of Tiote.

 

And, for the record, we were losing 1-0 before they had their second player dismissed. So yeah, he tore apart 9 man Stoke.

 

I'm sure there are better games to make the point you're making.

 

Weird thing to pull him up on tbh

 

I wasn't pulling anybody up on anything.

 

It's a weird game to use as an example. Hs performance against Liverpool would be my goto.

 

Think choosing that game was to make as much a point of how Pardew handled him by not trusting him for the next game that it was to say that was his stand out performance at the club.

 

Agreed with LFEE that it's the WBA game for me as far as my favourite performance.

It's telling when you look back at Ben arfa highlight videos. Normally after doing something very skillful to create a crossing or shooting chance and it doesn't result in a goal, you can normally see Shola in the background throwing a massive strop and arms up in the air. As if Shola of all people would bury the chance if it came his way 😂

 

Interesting as well looking back that Ben Arfa actually produced some of his best football in that 2014 season when he was supposed to be fat and was constantly benched all the time. That 5:1 against Stoke where I think he came on as a sub early due to an injury and he ripped them to shreds, hit the post and crossbar aswell as setting up goals and winning penalties, and yet he was straight back on the bench for the next game. Fuck Pardew.

 

He started in place of Tiote.

 

And, for the record, we were losing 1-0 before they had their second player dismissed. So yeah, he tore apart 9 man Stoke.

 

I'm sure there are better games to make the point you're making.

 

Weird thing to pull him up on tbh

 

I wasn't pulling anybody up on anything.

 

It's a weird game to use as an example. Hs performance against Liverpool would be my goto.

 

Think choosing that game was to make as much a point of how Pardew handled him by not trusting him for the next game that it was to say that was his stand out performance at the club.

 

Agreed with LFEE that it's the WBA game for me as far as my favourite performance.

 

No. I got the point he was making. But it doesn't stand up. we were 1-0 down because we were missing Tiote and Adams had too much space in the middle. That starting line-up was not winning that match against Stoke's starting eleven.

Those stats man!

 

“Sometimes you found yourself believing the hype around him. I almost got hoodwinked.

 

“But then the day-to-day experience was, ‘No, he’s a complete pain in the neck; for the players, the coaches and the manager’. It’s such a sad tale because had the club managed to control him better, to shape him as a player and a professional, it might have worked. It could have been sensational.”

 

That's the key quote from that article, from the unnamed coach.

 

All of the stuff about him having an unpredictable, erratic, and arrogant personality - one which was difficult to manage - rings absolutely true. You need a good manager in those circumstances. We had a terrible one.

 

Ben Arfa fully justified his iconography, and so did Pardew.