Hatem Ben Arfa arrived at Newcastle on loan from Marseille last month, and despite lugging a serious amount of baggage, the skilful French winger showed enough promise on his full debut against Everton to give Newcastle fans hope that they may have uncovered a real gem. A stunning 20-yard strike won the game at Goodison, leaving Newcastle fans beaming and his team-mates purring; Kevin Nolan had this to say..
“It just shows what he’s got. He’s a top, top player. He’s showed it in training but he was great in his first Premier League game…I’m sure there’s more to come.”
Despite being voted France’s ‘young player of the year’ in 2007/08 and winning eight senior caps so far, it is the 23 year old’s disciplinary problems that have won most of the headlines. Pushed out of Lyon after a training ground bust up with former team mate Sebastien Squillaci, the fiery Frenchman’s behaviour didn’t improve after moving to Marseille. Further clashes with Djibril Cisse and Modeste M’bami followed, and he also had a public dispute with manager Eric Gedet when he refused to warm-up during a game. Even the move to Newcastle was surrounded by controversy, after he flew to the UK without permission in the hope that he would get the transfer he desired. Let’s hope he stays well clear of Joey Barton in training, then.
As he has only played 101 minutes of Premier League football in total so far, it is difficult to establish what his long term role in the side will be. He played as a left winger for Marseille, and as he played in place of Jonas Gutierrez last weekend, we can safely assume that for now at least, he will be battling the Argentine international for the wide role. While he linked up well with Jose Enrique down the left against Everton, he looked far more comfortable coming inside and running at defenders, which suggests that long-term he may end up playing off the main striker, a move that would further improve his Fantasy potential.
A quick look at the stats show he has made nine successful dribbles so far, easily the highest rate per game of any Newcastle player, but conversely, he has only contributed one cross. Not a natural winger then, but with Enrique providing the pace and width on that side, he doesn’t need to be. His strength on the ball and skillful touch means he is able to run at defenders and hold the ball up for supporting midfielders, qualities highlighted in the build up to his goal on Saturday.
As discussed in the recent Frisking the Fixtures article, with the exception of the away game against Man city, Newcastle’s upcoming opponents look very appealing. They have three home games plus a trip to Upton Park in their next five, so we would expect goals, as well as clean sheets, to come their way. He’s a punt given that he’s far from proven himself over a run of matches, but if you’re on the search for that bargain fifth midfielder, at 5.0M, Hatem Ben Arfa has to be an option well worth considering.