Nok et intervju!
http://www.nufcfans.co.uk/i-feel-happy-and-comfortable-with-my-surroundings-hatem/
Where would Hatem Ben Arfa be if it wasn?t for Newcastle securing him on a season long loan deal from Marseille back in 2010?
The answer? ?I was ready to stay until the end of my contract and not play for a year.?
Hatem has been speaking to French culture magazine Les Inrocks, about his revival in the North East. At 25, the world is at his feet and he has been given another chance to capture the moment by Laurent Blanc.
?I feel happy and comfortable with my surroundings. It does not surprise me that he [Blanc] has selected me. I deserved it.
?My ambition is to win [Euro 2012].?
Ben Arfa admits he?s always carried an angry streak, but one which he is now using to benefit him on the pitch.
Speaking about his battle to move to Newcastle after burning his bridges at Marseille, he adds:
?We had agreed to something with the club [Newcastle]. I was within my right and okay with it.
?I waited quietly in my apartment in Paris. If the situation had not moved forward, I would have stayed like that.?
Despite failing to make the France squad for Euro 2008 and World Cup 2010, Ben Arfa has a lot of respect for his teacher Raymond Domenech:
?His words touched me, he took time to talk to me, saying stuff like ?Your passion should serve you on the ground, not run against you.?
?I felt a real affection, he was protective and sincere.?
?At times, due to the pressures, constraints and obligations, I doubted my love for football. When I returned from injury at Newcastle last year, my passion had left me. I thought football didn?t resemble what I had once fallen in love with.
?Then, slowly, I rediscovered my passion and enjoyment of the game.?
?Since I was a little boy, I?ve dreamt of lifting the world cup. Today I am ready for it.?
?I lost some time during my career, but the difficulties I have overcome have made me stronger.?
Edit:
Også Yohan Cabaye har snakket om Bennern i media:
http://www.themag.co.uk/the-mag-wire/cabaye-ben-arfa-is-the-opposite-of-what-people-think/The team spirit at Newcastle United became legendary last season and in an exclusive interview with L?Equipe, Yohan Cabaye has given us a great insight into how his opinion of Hatem Ben Arfa has changed so much over the year they?ve spent together at St.James? Park.
?I only knew him from when selected (for France) so you don?t really know the person, the man, to be able to judge but now I have spent a year with him and I think that he is the opposite of what people have described him as being. He has always had the talent but now what is also his strength is his attitude towards the team, by defending well, by playing for the teammate next to him and that?s an extra asset for him which he did not have before.?