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When he is well managed, Hatem Ben Arfa is up there with the very best in the world on his day and Newcastle United simply did not get the most out of him because they messed him around.

Alan Pardew did not allow Ben Arfa to express himself and play his own game and that affected his performances and his attitudes. If he had been allowed a free role on the pitch, Ben Arfa would have thrived at St James’ Park.

I don’t just think he was poorly managed, I think he was wrongly managed. He’s back in the France squad now, because he’s that talented.

We saw in glimpses and flashes on Tyneside exactly what he is capable of but we never saw him at his very best, and that, to me, was down to bad management.

NEWCASTLE UNITED GAVE UP ON BEN ARFA TOO SOON

Newcastle gave up on him too soon.

Wherever he goes, Ben Arfa needs to be delicately managed – there is no doubt about that – but if you are able to do that then you will reap the rewards.

You’ve got to manage him properly.

It’s like when I was at Newcastle and Laurent Robert was there. You don’t sign Robert and then play him at left-back. You can’t sign a David Ginola and tell him he has to defend.

When you sign that sort of flair player, who is capable of doing something out of this world, you have got to allow them to play their own natural game out on the field and not shackle them.

You don’t ask Lionel Messi to defend, do you?

Potential matchwinners have got to be allowed to just play as they naturally do and to inspire the game in their own unique way.

NEWCASTLE MISSED THE POINT WITH BEN ARFA

If you try to dictate to them then you’re missing the whole point in them being there. And Newcastle missed the point with Ben Arfa. Absolutely 100 per cent they missed the point.

A lot of people said that he doesn’t love football anymore earlier this year but the fact is he now has a manager at Nice who knows how to get the best out of him.

He is a top-quality player who needs to be approached differently to others.

A lot of managers understand that, but I do not believe Pardew did with Ben Arfa.

You can’t get the quality Ben Arfa offers by asking him to be an all-round player. He is very good at what he does, so just leave him to do that, rather than encourage him to do things he doesn’t like to do.

Flair players need to be played week in, week out. You can’t just drop them after a couple of bad games because, if they are out on the pitch, they can win you games.

A system should be formed around those players, rather than pigeon-holing them into a formation you have already preconceived.

You either sign them knowing that, or you simply don’t sign them at all.

Was Hatem Ben Arfa badly treated at NUFC? Chronicle Live

BEN ARFA IS A SPECIAL PLAYER WHO WAS BADLY MANAGED

For me, Ben Arfa was definitely ready to be back involved in the French national side and I would have liked to have seen more from him in the last two games in all honesty.

He fully deserves his place in the France squad at the moment because he is in superb form.

Not only is he in superb form for Nice, not only can he makes things happen out of nothing, and not only would he add something extra to the France starting line-up - he would add something extra to any team in the world.

Ben Arfa was not on the field long enough at Wembley but, even in that short space of time, because if he had been - and there hadn’t been the awful events of last Friday hanging over the game - then the English public would have been able to see exactly what they are missing with him being across in France rather than gracing Premier League football grounds.

He is a special, special player - and Newcastle simply managed him wrongly.