How do you solve the conundrum of David Bentley?
Thursday, December 3, 2009 at 2:27PM Where do we even start on this one? Let's go back to the beginning.
There is no shadow of a doubt that at the time David Bentley fitted into the Tottenham criteria as a big-money summer signing.
Player of the moment
Much hyped
England International
Poster boy
With Robbie Keane leaving for Liverpool, we knee-jerked (as we've always done) and spunked £15M on a player that arguably was signed to fill a gap. Just not the one out on the left side. The reason we are perpetual pretenders and usually perpetual perpetual pretenders is because we have a track record of signing superfluous (I love that word) players who are more style than substance. They look the part but don't offer enough strength or intent and in this particular case did not complement what we already had. He simply wasn't needed from the perspective of logic. But then when have we ever done logic? We did once upon a time, but thanks to our revenue, we have always been able to sign the player people expect us to sign rather than the player we desperately need. Although things have changed post-Director of Football.
So, in he came. To his boyhood club. Ex-gooner? We can forgive and forget for that minor indiscretion. But it's here the conundrum begins. He's signed for 15 big ones when he's probably only really worth half of that. He's all smiles, star-jumping, loving it at Spurs, well up for the season. We thrash Roma (I told everyone at the time to keep their panties on, but most wouldn't listen) and he stars. Pre-season is a blast and as far as he's concerned he's the new Beckham in the making. Which is where the conundrum begins to eat away at him.
Bentley, for all the glam and show-boating off the field is a fragile almost glass structure of a man in reality. Easily broken. And it didn’t take long for him to smash into thousands of pieces. Mainly thanks to two points from eight games. Ramos out. Harry in. His form was all over the shop. And Lennon's re-birth was under way. That's Lennon - signed for £1M. That's Lennon, yoof investment that plays on the right-wing. See that Spurs logic? Two right-wingers, neither can truly play on the opposite wing or anywhere else effectively (although Lennon through the middle has worked on occasions) so if one plays, the other won't ever get a look in. There's no scope for mixing it up.
We had that goal in the 4-4 but it failed to disguise the obvious. Bentley was a man playing football from memory of how football should be played if you wanted to be seen as the new Becks. Everything was a show-boat or flick or attempted bullet-turning-corners-in-the-air pass. Nothing was basic. Nothing was simple. His form continued to degrade. With Azza tearing it up, there was no reason to even consider Bentley for the right wing. Yet he still found time to kick balls off roofs into skips.
At this point, possibly, not sure - it might have always been there but only manifested because of the pressure of football…David cited 'personal problems' for his lack of form. Are these problems because of his form or is there something outside of football bringing him down? Not our business tbh, I'm not going to speculate. Either way, the club and people around him should support him. As for the fans, well, we are fickle lot. In some ways, we see footballers as commodities, representatives of our club and demand 100% because they're millionaires thanks to people like us and blah blah blah. But the moaning and groaning and the internet-slating was completely in full effect. As ever, because of the weight of expectation - everyone was losing patience. And David continued to lose all hope.
In the summer, we had an alleged interview which was apparently conducted without the player knowing he was being interviewed (nice under-hand tactics there by the reporter) which IMO would deem it completely void of importance as anyone can be mis-quoted in this cheap shot way. The suggestion was Bentley was looking for a move to Villa. And yet, he's still with us. Even after his car crash. A wake-up call apparently, that doesn't appear to have made a difference with his quality of football. And why should it? We don't even have a reserve team for him to play in. His quality remains distinctly average. Which is what you expect from a player who appears lost and without direction.
Not playing games will do little to increase interest in him and his value will be nowhere near the £15M mark this time round if we are looking to sell him in Jan. He wasn't that bad against Utd the other night. Average yes, but not terrible. Just a disappointing, not helped by the fact that he had little to aim for when he crossed the ball in.
I'm not sure there's a way to solve this conundrum. At the moment there are plenty of fans who still want him to succeed. Why would you not? He obviously has the talent to do so. But he's sadly the right player for the wrong team. If Lennon didn't exist, he might well be dominating the right-wing for us. There is no room for him at Spurs. He's a Lego brick sitting in amongst a jigsaw puzzle.
A move away would reignite him, for sure. It's the way football tends to work. He'll go somewhere and the pressure wont be as harsh and relentless and he'll re-discover his spark.
It's time for goodbye. Just a quick hug. How do you solve this conundrum? You don't. You just hand it over to someone else and admit defeat.
Reader Comments (31)
"we are fickle lot. In some ways, we see footballers as commodities"
as I was saying earlier spooky.... and it ain't healthy
we solve it by selling him!!
he doesnt work hard enough for the team... and frankly just doesnt cut it for spurs!!
what did he do to get such a glowing reputation anway??? have some good performances with Blackburn Rovers!!!! great!!!
I think Bentley's problems started when he missed the penalty during the Carling Cup Final. It was at that point that the fans turned on him and complained his heart wasn't in it. His (and the team's) inability to perform at the start of the following season compounded the problem.
Personally, I'd love to see him return to the form that us pay £15m for him in the first place - terrorising defenses, knocking in great cross for Crouchie to score - but as we saw with Paul Robinson's loss of confidence, sometimes the kindest thing to do is to let someone go to a fresh start.
I realise it was widely publicised at was £15m, but was it really that much? What about all the add ons that were going to take it up to that figure? I heard Harry didn't want to play him at the tale end of last season because it meant an additional amount kicked in.
Same thing with Bent. We're told £10m at the mo, but it will rise to £15m after he scores a shed load of goals, and he makes more international appearances. Here's hoping there's a lot more meaningless 'Engerland' friendlys!
The case of David Bentley makes me sad. I genuinely wanted him to perform well against Man Utd and show us all that he is still class, but it never happened. His lack of pace has already been highlighted but what disappointed me most was his inability to produce simple deliveries like corner kicks!
I like the guy and wish he had been a success here but l can't help thinking he needs to move on for the sake of his career, which will give Spurs the opportunity to use others or invest in someone who can produce the goods.
Against Manure his crosses rarely beat the first man and he doesn't track back. Let him go, but who's going to want him? Sunderland maybe?
I dont get why everyone is having a go at Bentley for his performance against Man utd, where I think he wasn't that bad.. Think of other players that were way way worse than him.. I beloved Irish captain for instance, Palacios, Jenas. The only thing that Bentley is to blame for is that he was on the right when lennon should have been there and tormenting that young left back with his speed and tricks.
I think Bentley is a good player, just needs more confidence and a couple of good performances could see him regaining that old form of his. Only problem? Where do u fit him?
He's a good player on his day but unlike someone like Beckham (who was equally limited) he doesn't actually possess that superpower of being in the right place at the right time. He's more copper balls than golden balls.
I only saw second half, and Bentley was the worst thing there. The full-back had him exactly in his pocket - keeping him deep and not able to influence the attack. His dead-ball delivery was very poor. Surely in training you must hit millions of corners and free kicks into the box. Why were so many mis-hit during the game? Sometimes it just doesn't work out. Sometimes you have to take a loss. Sell him in January. We know what he is capable of doing, but it won't happen here.
Bentley is one of those players that shines only in teams/games where he's been carried. Same goes for Jenas. Hudds although lacking in speed hasat least this season shown harry that he's willing to put in a shift. Harry buys who have that balance of skill & graft. Pav, Dos Santos , Bentley fall into all skill no graft category completely. You remember what "H" said to Pav when he first came. "Run around just f**king run". 3 months later he buy's back Keane who does f-all else and is made captain. I think Bentley sealed his fate with that CC performance jus like Bents was with the Sandra comment.
Good piece again spooks. Nothing to say, you've said it better than I could.
Sell him to City. £20M. Upfront.
2-0 against united's reserves?! Wow. And he really was shite..."If the number 5's good enough for Zidane then it's good enough for me..."
Mark Hughes would probably buy him back if he was still at Blackburn but not for £15mill. Fat Sam..... mmn no chance.
well can you give the guy a break , he has a huge price tag a huge wait of expectation , of course he aint gonna perform if he has dick like yourselfs saying hes crap or not worth the money , respect him on tuesday he played well his final ball was crap but he got into postion and made things happen all that was missing was a goal , keane has always been mr goal scorer he is suffering because of the spurs faithful demands , you all need to get behing the players , you dismiss jenas , and huddelstone , but they are adapting and trying to become something better the boys all know there necks are on the blocks , and SIR HARRY will niot stand for flair and will tell the players exactly what he needs from each and everyone of them , bale had a good game , sell hutton , and shift pav and bring in sandro , and a quality striker to make robbie keane play more
mr s calm down dear its only opinions.
I support the club and the team as well. but the fact remains Bentley & Jenas have been huge dissapointments.(Jenas 4 much longer)
Debate around the team deficiencies will always rotate around these dissapointments,. There's no changing that until they're some other teams problem not ours (see D Bent, P Boateng etc).
Never understood why we bought Bentley when we already had Lennon.
Even before he joined us, I thought he was Beckham-Lite and now I realise he is even slower than I thought.
He might get away with not being able to run if his passes/ crossing were top class but even those areas of his game are lacking. In truth, I was not expecting too much and have not been disapointed.
A far bigger disapointment is Hutton. Watched him play for Scotland and Rangers in Europe and he looked fantastic. Can't work out whats wrong with him unless the rumours re off field problems are true.
On the subject of players not performing, beginning to think we have seen the best of Keane, but as with Bentley, who would buy him and for how much ?
What kind of fee do you realistically think you would receive for Bentley?
With Aston Villa playing an ever improving Milner, the seemingly undroppable Young and recently fitting summer signing Downing into the team there is no room for him there. Man City have numerous options and I fail to see why, when they have all the money that they do, they'd attempt to resurrect his career. Everton could be a potential destination but Moyes does seem the type of manager to buy into a player with Bentley's, how can I put it, 'personality'. He likes workers and grafters, not fancy dans who need their mug in the media. That only really leaves Sunderland who have a former Spurs player and much more reliable player in Malbranque currently playing there.
I would be happy to see him at the Boleyn but for no more than £5 mill. Considering our financial situation and the relationship between the two clubs I would say that is highly unlikely.
He has to be the most frustrating player to ever play for spurs. Cameras showed him laughing around in the warm up and he didn't look like he was preparing for a professional game of football. Then the constant shrugging of shoulders as the passes go astray. He has some ability but needs to stop with the hoolywood passes and twat flicks or just do one.
Well I think you're all wrong.
DB has had his days for us but I do admit that in sum, he has been poor. As everyone seems to agree it has nothing to do with lack of talent or dedication, but rather a confidence crisis, perhaps as a result of a lack of regular first team action. But the mere fact that we in DB have a quality right winger who is (at least on appearances) prepared to sit on Redknapp's bench for extended runs, is the very reason I say we should keep him.
What (god f**king forbid it) if Azza gets crocked? I think we agree that, given enough games, hapless David would find his way, and return to his former self in due course. Maybe not a world-beater, but an able stopgap. I'm sure DB harbours some hope that he would, once settled into the team, give "greased lightning" Lennon some confidence issues of his own regarding re-earning his spot in the team.
Thankfully, for the sake of my nightly sleep, Azza is firing on all cylinders at the moment. Perhaps we could consider loaning him out for the remainder of this season, if that's what he wants. It would serve one or both of two purposes.
A. Give the boy some time playing football (away from all the distracting glitz and glamour of London Town, mayhaps?) and give him a chance to convince himself that he can play the game.
B. Put him in the shop window, hopefully embiggening (Simpsons anyone? What episode?) the eventual transfer fee.
The reason I'm so keen on at least reevaluating in the summer is for one reason only. If we do by some holy miracle qualify for the CL, and he has (at least to some extent) proven that he is in fact a footballer and not a luxury prostitute, he suddenly becomes the exact type of player we need in our squad. Maybe he'll never learn to play in the big games, but he should do dandily in the smaller games. CL seasons are plagued by smaller games...
So, in conclusion, don't sell Bentley. If he want's to stay, keep him, otherwise loan him out. Cross your fingers for some Redknapp magic this season, starting with a win over the blue hubcap-theives.
COYS
Awww sh******'t.... So meticulous, and I screw it up right at the end with the apostrophe in "wants".
I blame the drugs they're giving me in this place.
I was at Manure Tuesday evening and although hardly anyone gave anything like a performance required on the night,our David stood out for a lack luster performance (along with JJ and Keane,but i will leave the latter for another day)he was lazy,constantly out of position.Hutton's not the best but he covered acres of ground for Mr lazy.who obviously knows he has no pace and keeps coming into the centre instead of staying out wide. as an option.Harry played our best attacking player in Lenon on the left to accommodate him. what more can he do? Harry would love Bentley to come good, as we all would... but it aint gonna happen.shades of Simon Davies i'm afraid.the guy can't even take a decent corner.any other player and i'm sure Harry would have dragged them long before the end.
it seems a long time ago that bentley was largely thought of as david beckham's permanent replacement on the right hand side of england's midfield. to think he missed the u21 tournament to give him a better chance to recover for the full england side after a long season while at blackburn.
I'm sorry he hasn't made it but I never rated him much before we bought him and he hasn't done much to excite since. If he was happy to be cover for Lennon and could do the job then fine but frankly I'd rather have Jenas playing right wing - he's quicker and can cross just as well.
i watched the whole MANURE game and was so pissed with Bentley that I thought even fat Maradona is better than him NOW. He can't even cross for shit, I could do better. And how much is he paid per week?
Have to agree with LosLorenzo, loaning him out seems the best way to get the man back in form. But as mentioned earlier, there's not many teams who need him. Everton crossed my mind as the best possibility.
But even then, Everton have Steven Pienaar, a soon to be fit Mikel Arteta and Leon Osman who it could be all argued are more reliable and consistent performers.
Isn't it down to David Bentley to solve it himself?
I don't go along with all this pressure stuff - let's face it, they are doing something, and geting paid mighty fine money for doing it too, that most of us can only dream of. Why the empathy?
What I can't understand is the behind the scenes stuff, the what you'd imagine was happening if the dressing room resembled any of the ones you've ever changed in over the years. Surely Harry and Jordan who see Bentley every day of the week, are able to pinpoint his problems, yet if they're not able to solve it, who is apart from the man himself? Wheh he signed for Spurs, I read his account of how this was a dream come true, of his great love for Spurs, et., fucking cetera., and I admit, I was taking in by it, thinking we had someone puting on that great white shirt - and I even thought he'd wear the number 6 and become a Mackay figure, I was that crazy - who would sweat blood out there on the pitch for us. It's all turned out to be nothing but effing bollocks. Like against Wigan. When he came on and scored that great free kick, which he should have been given, you think droolingly of his talent and yet at the same time, there's this prat out there who looks like he's just stepped out of some Kings Road hairdresser and manicurist.
It's like Jenas. I'm fed up to the back teeth of hearing how he could play, if he ever bothered realising his great potential. Like many others, I'd imagine, in that Carling Cup semi-final aginst Arsenal, he played so well as to rival Gerard and Lampard for their clubs yet half or less the time, he's a shadow of what he was in that game. Give Gerard, Lampard, Tevez, Rooney and others their due, at least they give it their best shot wek after week.\
I'm with you on a lot of that Cliffyboy and what I don't get is that even under Harry, who I believe has done wonders for confidence and motivation, we still get the occasional half arsed performance such as against Man Utd the other night where the players simply cannot be bothered.
How come you never see that from Man Utd or Chelsea ?
You know they will always put the effort in, win or lose but with our lot you're never quite sure from one half to the next, let alone one game to the next.
By the way, I think you may have stumbled on the reason for Bentleys problems if he's seeing Jordan every day.
Poor bugger, I feel sorry for him now!
For me DB is a quality player, but rumours say he has attitude and likes to party and drink.look at the time when he crashed his car after drinking and been punched in the Brookmans bar,could this be the reason for his loss of form due bto his lifestyle.
You're so right there, David, including the comment on Jordan, who personally I'd rather not have anywhere near Spurs. I'll never forget his causing our goalkeeper Aleksic, I think it was, to have to go off in a league cup tie at Old Trafford. Many United fans - the sick ones - started cheering and then later, in the same game, the wonderful Ardiles scored a beauty of a winner against Bailey. That shut the spiteful bastards up all right!
But what you've said about Harry and United and Chelsea, is spot on the money. I was over in the U.K. earlier this year and went up to Old Trafford to see our cup game against them, the one where Pav scored the first goal, and our performance after we went two one down, was an absolute disgrace. That's when you dream of Dave Mackay and how, once he pulled on a Tottenham shirt, he gave 100% no matter the opponents, the score, the competition. My mate told me of how - I think it was in our thumping of Crewe in a cup reply - the referee apparently asked Mackay to take it easy or tone his effort down a peg or two, supposedly saying to him something like, 'Yeah, but you are seven two up.'
If Bentley does wear number 6 on his back, well, how much greater an illustration can you have of just how far we have declined as a major club?
Where's the personal pride and self-respect in these guys?