Article by Nathan DurecSince the reign of Sherwood came about, Spurs fans have played witness to a rising new youth prospect making a name for himself on the top squad. Nabil Bentaleb has shown himself to be a player who is mature beyond his mere age of nineteen. However, he enters into the lineup, yet another midfield player, in a squad awash with plenty others much more experienced in this role and wanting playing time that just cannot be given to all.
Sherwood’s work with the Tottenham youth should act as an endorsement of his push into the first team. He was awarded his first start on the weekend against Crystal Palace after a respectable half hour performance against Manchester United at Old Trafford, a difficult place to play for a player of any age.
However, since his emergence, other midfielders such as Lewis Holtby and Étienne Capoue have found themselves linked with transfers away from White Hart Lane. Is this warranted? While giving youth players a chance, is Bentaleb deserving of the amount of playing time he’s been receiving to the detriment of other players?
The main contribution of Bentaleb’s game is his ability to pass the ball. Against Crystal Palace, he completed 93% of his attempts, the best rate of any player from both sides. What he currently lacks is tackling ability. Only four of his eleven attempts were successful on the weekend. Given that his pairing so far has been with Dembélé, Bentaleb will have to work on his defensive game in order to back up the creative midfielder.
The conundrum is: Who gets sacrificed for Bentaleb’s emergence? Holtby, another creative force has been marginalised. Capoue, a more defensive minded player, may still find a place, but a loan out will give him the playing time he desires. Eriksen and Townsend will be fighting over the left side of the pitch and once Sandro and Paulinho are back, that is more than enough cover in the central area.
The desire to develop from within should be a requirement for all Premier League clubs. Bentaleb’s values will only continue to rise while other more established players can be cashed in on without too much of a loss. What hurts is that these players have given their all for Spurs. Holtby is a stalwart ambassador for the club and losing a player of that calibre hurts. However, his staying would also hurt the continued development of the player.
© e-Spurs 2013 All rights reserved no part of this document or this website may be reproduced without consent of e-Spurs
We should see if we could send Bentaleb on loan to a premier league side surely someone would take him after his recent performances? Down the road to Palace, Fulham Or West Ham maybe??
ReplyDelete