Arrogant Bentaleb under attack


Nabil Bentaleb joined Schalke on loan for the season with a £17-million purchase option because he asked Mauricio Pochettino to let him leave Tottenham as he wasn't getting the game time he wanted.

Things started well, he was earning rave reviews but Schalke have lost all five Bundesliga games and sit bottom of the table. They have conceded 10 goals and scored just 2. national newspaper Bild believe he is one of the players showing arrogance in their play after letting the initial praise go to his head.

That rather fits with the image at Spurs with his agent asking for top player wages after one season playing for us.

Nabil Bentaleb (21), Benjamin Stambouli (26), Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting (27), Baba Rahman (21), Leon Goretzka (21), Klaas jan Huntelaar (33), Breel Embolo (19), Max Meyer (21) and Franco Di Santo (27) were all named by the paper as the Schalke Slackers responsible for the start.

Bild suggest the players are paid too much, they are not playing for the team, rather just trying to showcase their own talent and using the club as a stepping stone to a bigger one. Four of those players are specifically named as seeing Schalke as a stepping stone club Nabil Bentaleb, Benjamin Stambouli, Yevhen Konoplyanka and Baba Rahman.

Konoplyanka was a player Spurs fans wanted, well some of them anyway. There was a strong suggestion that his connections off the pitch were a problem and that his attitude prevented us buying him. Sevilla did and he only lasted there one season before they got shot of him.

Talent is not enough, you have to have the mentality to go with it and Spurs are right to get shot of players who don't demonstrate the right mentality.