Some things never change. As Hatem Ben Arfa responded to questions in the media area of the Allianz Riviera after his match winning performance on Friday night, the Nice midfielder was interrupted by a tap on the shoulder. It was from the hand of Saïd Chabane, the president of Angers, whose team had just been beaten by Ben Arfa’s late brace.
Chabane, and his club, were far from impressed by Ben Arfa’s criticism of the promoted high-fliers’ defensive style of play in the immediate post-match. “I don’t understand how they enjoy playing football like that. It’s their philosophy, it’s about staying up, but I think it’s a shame to play like that,” he told beIN Sports. “Grow up a bit, and show some respect,” Chabane shot across to his non-plussed target as he walked by.
Ben Arfa may have been rehabilitated - and at least partially reinvented - from the misery of his final months in the Premier League, but he still knows how to get under people’s skin, it appears. The attention he must really aim to get, though, is that of Didier Deschamps, as he tries to convince the France coach that he’s worth a place in the 23, which will fly the flag as the nation hosts Euro 2016.
He played his prospects down after the match - “it’s still a long way off; for the moment, I’m trying to do my best here” - but on nights like Friday, Ben Arfa’s claims are very hard to resist. His two goals to turn around a deficit against Angers were both from the spot but both were pressure penalties, calmly converted with time running out. During a match in which the influential Nampalys Mendy struggled to impose himself in midfield, rating just 6.46, and key centre-forward Valère Germain failing to have a single shot at goal on or off target, it is little exaggeration to say that Ben Arfa turned the match around pretty much single-handedly.
The 28-year-old took responsibility for doing so, having five shots and completing seven dribbles. The second part of that is no surprise. In Europe’s top five leagues, only Neymar (136) has attempted more dribbles than Ben Arfa’s 128. Palermo’s Franco Vasquez is just behind, with 123.
Though his goals were from the spot, they must have come as some relief, even for somebody who reflects as much self-confidence as Ben Arfa does. The feeling in France has been that his blistering start to the season has cooled. He had scored seven Ligue 1 goals by mid-October - beating his best-ever season total - but Friday’s strikes were his first since. He had gone scoreless in 13 straight games for club and country. He hadn’t delivered an assist in this spell either.
Ben Arfa has, to his credit, not attempted to duck the issue. “At the start of the season,” he reflected after Friday’s game, “I was more free, but today I see that there are two or three players on me. When I go out wide, there’s less traffic.”
Specific positioning is doubtless key to the statistical slowing of Ben Arfa’s progress. When he started the campaign in such red-hot form, it was in the number 10 slot that he had coveted for so long, and which was largely denied to him at Newcastle United. His combination with the front two of Germain and Alassane Pléa made Nice the best team to watch in the division, and the trio clicked perfectly.
Fellow Lyon academy product Pléa, however, has been out with a meniscus injury since September - he isn’t expected back until next month - and both Nice and Ben Arfa have missed him. All in all, Ben Arfa has played 12 games as a striker, scoring three times, and another eight in the number 10 role, in which he has scored six.
The inclusion of 21-year-old Alexandre Mendy alongside Germain for just his third start in Ligue 1 made all the difference for Ben Arfa, in terms of finding freedom in central areas. The WhoScored player average position map shows us that Ben Arfa was consistently Nice’s furthest-forward player, and usually in a central spot. When Mendy went off, teenager Franck Honorat performed a similar function - making aerial challenges and attempting to occupy the Angers defence, leaving Claude Puel’s biggest star the room to shine.
Whether this could be transferred to France is a different question. It is highly likely that Ben Arfa would be a pinch-hitter rather than a starter at Euro 2016, and he would probably be expected to reprise his main Newcastle role, on the right, in Deschamps’ favoured 4-3-3 formation. This was the case in the November friendly in England, and though it would be highly unfair to judge Ben Arfa on a match played in such difficult circumstances, he rarely looked like having the same level of implication as he does with Nice, taking 25 touches and completing one dribble in 45 minutes.
A successful return from injury for Lyon’s Nabil Fekir - who wears Ben Arfa’s old number 18 shirt for Les Gones - could hurt his predecessor’s chances of making the cut too. Fekir is expected back from a serious knee injury in March and is far more comfortable in the second striker role, despite his broadly similar qualities.
For now, Ben Arfa is right to put talk of the Euro’s to one side and keep his eye on the ball, which he has often struggled with in his career. Angers coach Stéphane Moulin, in his own reply to Ben Arfa’s criticism of his team, underlined the need for this. “I’m sorry,” said Moulin, “but we’re not lucky enough to have a Hatem Ben Arfa in our team. I recognise his talent, he’s an exceptional player. What he does best is playing.” In other words; less of the chat, more of the magic, which is what we all want to see.
Do you think Hatem Ben Arfa has done enough to warrant a place in Didier Deschamps' France squad for Euro 2016? Let us know in the comments below
