Tottenham Hotspur loan player Nabil Bentaleb has siffered a frustrating start to his Schalke career. Overhyped on arrival, it was impossible for Bentaleb to live up to unrealistic expectations.
The club’s terrible form, with Schalke losing their first five Bundesliga games, meant there was a blame game going on, and it was the players receiving the brunt of it. German newspaper Bild especially took annoyance with Bentaleb, sending a strange amount of criticism the way of the Tottenham player.
Over the past week he was labelled an egotist, arrogant (repeatedly), a Schalke slacker, and it was stated he was only using the club as a springboard. If it had only been Bentaleb getting the grilling then it may well have made the Tottenham player look terrible, but given Bild were laying into a lot of players, it instead looked like a club trying to deflect blame.
All of that can now be forgotten… because not only did Schalke not lose their last Bundesliga match, they beat Borussia Monchengladbach 4-0!
With just the one win, and three points, Schalke have been able to lift themselves from the bottom of the Bundesliga table to the lofty heights of 16th. Breel Embolo, who had come in for as much criticism as Bentaleb, despite being just 19 years of age, scored two of Schalke’s goals.
All is now well and the players can go into the international break without Bild hammering them over the head.
Bentaleb doing well at Schalke, and not being mentally ruined, is of course important for Tottenham, whether they decide to take him back or sell the player on.
