It’s heartening to see how Bentaleb has turned around the adverse and uncertain times he had to face during his youth career. He has been clubless, wandering in wilderness and sending his CV to clubs all over Europe asking for trials. Lille, where he spent 5 years of his youth, rejected him because he was ‘too small’ (Nabil is 6’2 now) while he failed to get a contract at Birmingham City following a trial. Fortunately for him, he was snapped up by Tim Sherwood when he was managing the Tottenham Hotspurs development squad. This partnership with Sherwood would catapult Bentaleb to great heights in a very short time. Before joining Hotspurs, Bentaleb had spent varying duration of time at 4 different clubs at youth level and given trials at many more than that. It might have broken a lot of youngsters but it has had a maturing effect on Nabil, something which is quite visible in the way Bentaleb plays football.

Bentaleb’s first season at Tottenham (2012/2013), with the Spurs U21 squad, saw him being used mostly in an attacking position, majorly through the middle and sparingly down the wings. 4 goals and a further 3 assists from 14 appearances showcased his attacking potential while simultaneously justifying Sherwood’s faith in the youngster. Slowly and slowly the then 17 year old was shedding his old image and replacing it with one off being a serious character, a hard worker and a hungry kid.

The next season (2013/2014) saw him shuttle between attacking midfield and central midfield duties. If there were any questions that Sherwood wanted to try him out in a more central midfield role they would be answered soon. Responsibilities, though in the mean time, would start to get piled on the then 18 year old and he would captain the U21’s thrice during the campaign. However his campaign with U21’s got cut short as Sherwood took over as the manager of the senior team (after Andre Villas Boas was sacked) and in doing so called upon Bentaleb to join him. Bentaleb managed only 10 appearances in his cut – short 2013/2014 campaign with the U21’s, during which he scored and assisted one goal each.

The second half of 2013/2014 campaign saw Bentaleb featuring regularly in the Sherwood’s playing XI. There were talks that Bentaleb was Sherwood’s lovechild and hence was receiving special treatments; but his performances week in week out gave a befitting reply to all such hogwash. Comfortable on the ball, a strong tackler, having a great work rate and most importantly having a calming presence in the middle of the park personifies Bentaleb on the pitch. Something every manager requires rather demands, from his holding midfielder.

2.6 tackles to go along with 1.7 interceptions per game is a promising return from a 19 year old in not even his full – debut season. Moreover Bentaleb averaged 45.2 passes per match with a pass completion rate of 87.8% (A completion rate which a holding midfielder would not be proud off though). Only the defensive trio of Walker, Dawson and Naughton had higher average passes per game than Bentaleb. A comparison between Bentaleb and other Spurs midfielder shows that Bentaleb has done pretty well for himself in the limited time he has had at Hotspurs.

League Stats Compared for 2013 / 2014

So much so was Bentaleb’s immediate impact that three FA’s – French (due to his birth, he was born at Lille), Algerian (because his parents are Algerian) and English (trying to see if they can work around the eligibility rule somehow) wanted him to play for their national teams at the world cup. In the end Bentaleb choose to play for Algeria and even had a decent outing at the World Cup Finals featuring in the 3 group matches helping Algeria reach the knockout rounds.

Match of the Season: Tottenham Hotspurs 2 – 0 Crystal Palace

It was just Bentaleb’s 4th match in the top flight and the way he dominated the centre of park showed a level of maturity and calmness beyond his age. Nabil attempted 120 passes with a completion rate of 93% thus helping Spurs dominate the play with 68% overall possession. Moreover 4 tackles, 2 interceptions and a shot on target only to be denied by the woodwork summed up an impressive evening for Bentaleb.

Bentaleb is obviously a work in progress and although he is a promising young player with raw talent, there is an obvious downside to it. Youth is often rash and error prone and therein lays the biggest challenge of the management. Bentaleb will be overawed by his opponents sometimes, as it happened last year notably against Arsenal and Manchester City where he was almost run over at times. The challenge is how it is channeled and more importantly how fast and how much does he learns from it. One thing is for sure, in Pochettino, he is in good hands regardless of what decision Pochettino makes about him.