Hatem Ben Arfa was described as a ‘football genius’ by new Girondins de Bordeaux manager Jean-Louis Gasset when the playmaker joined the Ligue 1 side on a free transfer ahead of the 2020/21 campaign. We’re now beyond the midway point of the season, and you could argue that the 33-year-old has lived up to that billing.
He is the third-oldest player in a Bordeaux squad that is, on average, the joint-second oldest squad in Ligue 1 (27.7). However, it seems like nobody has informed Ben Arfa of this from the performances he’s been producing on the pitch.
Despite enduring a disappointing 2019/20 season, the first half of which he spent without a club and the second half of which he spent in La Liga with Real Valladolid, where he made just five appearances and failed to provide a single goal contribution, Gasset was full of praise for Ben Arfa when he signed him, while Ben Arfa was also complimentary about his new coach, explaining that he was attracted to Bordeaux by his football philosophy. So, it seems like it may have been a case of ‘love at first sight’ for Gasset and Ben Arfa, but what is for sure is that the 67-year-old coach has managed to get Ben Arfa producing some impressive football.
In this tactical analysis piece, we’ll provide some analysis of just why Ben Arfa has been so useful for Les Girondins this season in the form of a scout report. We’ll look at his role within Gasset’s tactics and how it has brought the best out of him, by making the most of his most remarkable traits on the pitch.
Positioning
Bordeaux has primarily utilised a 4-2-3-1 shape this term. Ben Arfa tends to occupy the ‘number 10’ role within that system, just behind the centre-forward typically Hwang Ui-jo and in front of the double-pivot usually, Toma Bašić and Otávio.
The image above shows us Ben Arfa’s heatmap for the 2020/21 campaign, and this tells us more about the attacking midfielder’s specific role within Gasset’s tactics.
While Ben Arfa usually plays as the ‘number 10’ in this system, he doesn’t just play in central zones. Ben Arfa enjoys a remarkably free role, in possession, within this system, which sees him pop up on the left-wing, right-wing, deeper positions and everywhere in between.
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