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Jonas On His Bike Once Ben Arfa Fit?

11 years ago
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So after another welcome 3 points the attention of ‘le toon’ turns to the weekend trip to Wales.

Now  there is something extra special to look forward in this game. No it’s not the sight of Swansea showcasing a piece of silverware to our frustration but more the return of one of our own crown jewels, Hatem Ben Arfa.

(To feature like Adam, send in your letters/articles for the magazine/website to contribute@themag.co.uk – write about anything  that is NUFC related – past, present or future )

Now I’m sure most Newcastle fans will have been dreaming of the sight of Ben Arfa showcasing his talents alongside our new exciting recruits, especially Gouffran and Sissoko. No more bigger factor for some, than this will hopefully lead to a certain Argentine been left out the team. Now I’m not going to rant about Jonas but the fact is, apart from a fortunate header against Chelsea he has been a shadow of the player he once was. We could talk about his workrate and his experience but fact is, on merit he doesn’t deserve to be in this team.

Now why this man is our vice-captain is another debate altogether and I’m confident I wasn’t the only person who was shocked, embarrassed and angry when our (at this point in the game) captain pulled pathetically out of a 50-50 challenge near our dugout. The crowd’s response suggested I wasn’t alone.

I wrote an article not so long ago suggesting it was time for Cabaye to take the reins as captain, or at the very least vice-captain.

Now I’m not going to suggest that Yohan hasn’t backed out of a tackle in his time here but yet again on Sunday, he illustrated a football ability so superior to his team mate. I would never suggest Jonas shouldn’t be, or isn’t respected by his colleagues, but Cabaye has more than that.

His involvement with several of our recruits suggest the players respect his judgement, after all, this is a man who is a regular for France and turned down Champions League football to join us.

The fact that when the penalty was given I could see Cabaye sprinting from the halfway line (having just played a 50 yard inch perfect pass to get the pen) demanding his teammates let him take it, it is because he leads from the front and by example.

Ben Arfa’s return may give us that match winning spark we need to take us to the next level but through Cabaye we have a superstar leading by example.

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