Newcastle United

It seems strange when a side that struggled so badly for inspiration toward the end of last season would be so willing to part with one of their most creative talents so cheaply and easily.

But that is exactly the position that Newcastle currently find themselves in with Hatem Ben Arfa, who was, fairly recently, not far off being Alan Pardew’s prize asset.

The desperate fight of just a couple of seasons ago to get him fit enough to play regularly has been replaced with an equally impatient battle to get him out of the door of St James' Park fast as conceivably possible.

If and when Ben Arfa left, it was going to be to one of Europe’s big boys, as Newcastle fought tooth and nail to get the best possible value for him out of the deal.

But instead, as reported by Craig Hope of the Daily Mail, his star has now fallen to the point that he is being used as an attempted makeweight in a deal for Lyon’s Alexandre Lacazette.

So where did it all go wrong for him? And why are Newcastle trying so hard to get rid of a player who is more than capable of doing this?

Because any regular attendee at St James’ Park would tell you that that kind of skill and trickery was far from a one off.

There is little doubt that he has the skill and talent to match almost any hero of Newcastle legends past, but temperament and attitude problems have played their part. In the modern game, you can not succeed on talent alone.

His occasional moments of brilliance are, unfortunately, too often offset by average displays and underwhelming levels of effort. 

If you are not pulling your weight on the pitch, then you're just not worth the trouble off it.

As was mentioned earlier, this is not exactly a Newcastle team who ended last season on a high. From January onward they tailed off badly, and when you're a creative talent who isn't playing even when the team isn't scoring, then there is clearly a problem.

There has been more recent talk of Ben Arfa's unprofessional attitude, particularly surrounding accusations of unacceptable weight gain over the summer.

All this from a player who said less than a year ago that he still dreams of winning the Ballon d'Or.

If it is all to be believed, then moving him on is the only realistic course of action. If Pardew thinks that the player is a lost cause then, regardless of his talent, he is no longer an asset but a burden and a drain.

Newcastle have been active during the summer. Midfielders Siem de Jong and Remy Cabella have been acquired from Ajax and Montpelier respectively, with forward Emmanuel Riviere coming in from Monaco. With a Lacazette deal in the works, there appears to be more activity to come.

Ben Arfa has proved himself to be a liability over the past year, and if more signings are on their way, then the fans will happily accept that moving him on is the right thing to do.

Good performances on the pitch have been too few and far between in recent times, and if Pardew feels that he can be adequately replaced, then the Frenchman’s time at Newcastle should be well and truly up.

But it doesn't stop it being a shame when a player with such ability never quite fills his potential. At his best, the real Ben Arfa is an incredible talent.

Unfortunately, though, it is highly unlikely that we'll ever see the real Ben Arfa in the Premier League again.

Newcastle United improved their attack significantly Friday as they agreed to a season-long loan deal to acquire striker Facundo Ferreyra from Shakhtar Donetsk.

The transfer was first reported by the Daily Mail:

Ferreyra is a 23-year-old forward from Argentina who turned some heads last season in Ukraine. He netted six goals in just 13 Ukrainian Premier League appearances for Shakhtar after making the jump from Velez Sarsfield.

The deal certainly made sense from Newcastle's perspective as they landed him for the bargain price of €2 million with the option to make the deal permanent for another €8 million, according to William Joyce of Goal.com.

As pointed out by Graeme Bailey of Sky Sports, picking up an immense talent like Ferreyra at such a reasonable price was likely a no-brainer:

In many ways, the Magpies were the beneficiaries of a somewhat uncomfortable situation between Ferreyra and Shakhtar. According to Shakhtar Donetsk's official website, Ferreyra initially declined to report to the team due to concerns about instability in Ukraine.

Ferreyra did join the team eventually, however, and apologized for his actions.

My family was very worried about me, persuaded not to go to Ukraine. They thought it was very dangerous. So I decided not to go back. But on the second day I regretted it. My fears were dispelled by a conversation with the club CEO Sergei Palkin. He calmed me down and assured that all of us would be safe. Plus other players have returned and all of them were fine. I really regret that I have not come immediately. I apologize to the fans, teammates and coach. 

Despite Ferreyra's regrets, relations between himself and Shakhtar were certainly strained to some degree. That likely made it easier for the Ukrainian side to ship him to the EPL.

This is a potentially big acquisition for Ferreyra since he is seemingly on the verge of becoming a special player. Even so, Bailey doesn't believe that Newcastle are done quite yet in terms of adding talent:

Newcastle enjoyed a decent 2013-14 campaign by finishing 10th in the Premier League. The Magpies would obviously love to move closer to the top of the table, though, and this move makes that a possibility.

Nobody is expecting Newcastle to contend for a title, but entering the same conversation as second-tier squads like Southampton, Tottenham and Everton is within reach.

If Ferreyra's form carries over to the EPL and he continues to blossom, then Newcastle could be on the verge of a fantastic season.

Follow @MikeChiari on Twitter.

While it’s never wise to read too much into pre-season friendlies, three Newcastle United wins in a row—and three clean sheets—suggests the mood at St. James’ Park has lifted after last season’s collapse.

A 1-0 win over Sheffield Wednesday this midweek came courtesy of Ayoze Perez’s first goal for the club, and another encouraging display from fellow new boy Emmanuel Riviere bodes well for the Magpies.

But despite their efforts in south Yorkshire, manager Alan Pardew is still seeking a new striker to carry the goalscoring burden once the new campaign gets underway.

And according to The Shields Gazette’s Miles Starforth, the Toon boss seemingly hasn’t given up on securing Loic Remy’s services after his expected £8 million move to Liverpool broke down over the weekend.

A flurry of activity behind the scenes has seen six players arrive on Tyneside this summer, but the need for reinforcements up front is weighing heavy on Pardew’s mind.

After his side failed to find the net in almost half of its Premier League games last term, it’s easy to understand why the 53-year-old is eager to bolster his attacking options.

“Looking at our squad, we’re still shy of a striker,” he said. “That would be ideal. If we could get one that suited the club, we’ll take that forward.”

And on the Remy situation he added: “I didn’t expect that. I thought that deal was sealed and done, as I’m sure his agent and the player thought as well.

“I’m very surprised with that. Our medical team had no problem with Loic. On anything, we just monitor as we go.”

One big plus for the Geordies this pre-season has been the form of midfielder Mehdi Abeid, who put in another sterling shift at Hillsborough on Wednesday.

After spending last season on loan with Greek side Panathinaikos, where he won a winner's medal and helped steer the club to the Champions League, it’s clear the Algerian has benefited greatly from his time in Athens.

Places in Newcastle’s engine room will be hard to come by over the coming weeks, with Cheick Tiote, Moussa Sissoko, Vurnon Anita and new arrival Jack Colback all vying for a place in the starting XI.

But Abeid’s impact this summer has not gone unnoticed, and if he continues in a similar vein at the Schalke 04 Cup in Gelsenkirchen this weekend, the 21-year-old will be hard to ignore.

The art of finding value for money in the transfer market has been moulded into an art form at Newcastle United, and two leagues in particular have provided some bona fide bargains.

Navigated by chief scout Graham Carr, the Magpies have found France and Holland to be happy hunting grounds since the former Northampton Town boss landed the role in 2010.

In an often-inflated economy, the likes of Yohan Cabaye, Moussa Sissoko and Cheick Tiote (to name but a few) represent some of the best pound-for-pound buys in the club’s modern history.

But scouring Ligue 1 and the Eredivisie for untapped talent is nothing new on Tyneside.

Back in 2000, left-back Olivier Bernard arrived at St. James’ Park on a free transfer from Lyon before going on to make almost 120 appearances and playing in the Champions League.

Fast-forward five years and a 17-year-old goalkeeper by the name of Tim Krul was drafted in from ADO Den Haag for a nominal fee. Some nine years later he was a Netherlands hero on the biggest stage of all.

Other leading examples prior to Carr’s appointment include Charles N’Zogbia from Le Harve, Habib Beye from Marseille and Sebastien Bassong—an unknown defender from Metz who commanded a fee of £8 million within a year.

This summer has been no different, with Dutch internationals Siem de Jong and Daryl Janmaat plucked from Holland and Remy Cabella and Emmanuel Riviere making the switch across the English Channel.

So with expert knowledge at their disposal, not to mention an enviable track record, who will be the next name through the door before the transfer window shuts in a little over four weeks’ time?

Toon boss Alan Pardew has made no secret of his desire to land an out-and-out goalscorer, as reported by the Evening Chronicle’s Lee Ryder, and while names continually surface in the media, one in particular simply refuses to go away.

In the Premier League at least, little was known of striker Alexandre Lacazette 12 months ago. But all that changed as the Frenchman netted 23 times in all competitions for Lyon, sparking a flurry of interest from abroad.

Liverpool were among those reportedly alerted, as suggested by Jamie Anderson in the Daily Express.

But perhaps unsurprisingly, Newcastle had already done their homework on the 23-year-old, and according to Lee Ryder in the Evening Chronicle, they remain hopeful of cutting a deal.

In many ways, Lacazette would represent a typical United signing—a young, promising international who has represented his country at every level before enjoying a breakthrough season both domestically and on the European stage.

As Ryder suggests, his initial price tag has failed to deter the club’s hierarchy, and just as it did with Cabella, their patience could be rewarded as the August deadline looms.

There are, of course, other options, and as Mirror Football’s David Maddock suggests, FC Lorient forward Vincent Aboubakar (above) is another typically understated name to have been checked and rechecked by the Magpies’ backroom team.

But whoever ends up leading the line for the Geordies when the new campaign gets underway, their covetable form when it comes to scouting and recruitment suggests he’ll be a good fit.

Throughout football's history, there have been some notable players who struggled with their weight.

Diego Maradona weighed 266 pounds before his gastric bypass in 2005, as reported by ESPN, and Brazil's two-time Ballon d'Or winner Ronaldo is now widely referred to as "fat Ronaldo" to differentiate him from the more slender Portuguese Cristiano Ronaldo.

But it's recent events at Newcastle United that have brought football's weight-related issues to the mainstream media.

According to the Daily Telegraph, Hatem Ben Arfa "faces [the] axe from Newcastle United's pre-season tour after returning to training overweight."

This is despite Ben Arfa's best efforts to convince manager Alan Pardew that his 1.5 kilograms extra bulk is in fact muscle and not fat.

But while this additional weight is clearly far from ideal, should players really be held accountable for their off-season diet and was Ben Arfa's £1,580 fine justified? Or, like most other jobs, is the contents of a footballer's fridge—when he's essentially on holiday—no one's business but his own?

From an ethical perspective, it could, of course, be argued both ways. However, from a sports science point of view, it seems Ben Arfa could be committing the same form of "nutritional suicide" that claimed much of Paul Gascoigne's career.

To quote Italian legend Dino Zoff, via the Daily Mail, when asked about Gascoigne, he said:

The pity was we saw the beauty he was capable of only so rarely. He destroyed that beauty with his drinking and his eating. He ate ice cream for breakfast, he drank beer for lunch, when he was injured he blew up like a whale. But a player? Oh, beautiful, beautiful.

Exploring the relevant research, here we decide if Newcastle were right in their treatment of Ben Arfa and his expanding waistline.

Undernourished and Underfed  

While most people understand that gaining weight usually means you're eating more calories than you're using, studies show that, at football's elite level, it's not as simple as that. This is because there is a big difference between calorie-dense foods and nutrient-dense foods.

As an example, a 500g chocolate bar will contain roughly 2,730 calories—that's more than the 2,500 calories a day recommended by the NHS, yet provides very few of the vitamins and minerals needed to support a professional player's health and performance.

In comparison, 100g of broccoli contains only 34 calories yet is a great source of vitamin C, vitamin A, zinc, vitamin K and B vitamins—all smaller micronutrients needed for optimal performance, both during training and on matchday.

To highlight the severity of this, researchers from the Bariatric and Metabolic Institute in Florida actually stated that high-calorie diets can lead to nutrient deficiency or a new form of malnutrition.

This in turn can leave your body underfed and so, based on this theory, Ben Arfa could be starting this season at a distinct disadvantage and almost undernourished.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmXEwv9V8PU

Nutritionally Hindered

While it's true alcohol was the main nutritional hindrance in Paul Gascoigne's career, the ice-cream breakfast mentioned by Dino Zoff probably didn't help either. This is because ice cream isn't exactly known for being a great source of minerals.

But what's worse is that a lot of ice creams contain phosphates which, according to scientists from the Department of Food Science at the University of Goteborg in Sweden, have been shown to deplete the body's iron stores.

Iron is obviously hugely important to athletes since it's vital for the transportation of oxygen by haemoglobin and muscles using oxygen by myoglobin. Having less iron in the body means less oxygen can be delivered to the working muscles, which means Gascoigne's ability to last 90 minutes at full pace would be greatly affected.

Again, what this means is the junk food a player eats in his off-season has a much greater impact than a visibly expanding waistline.

Fat Loss

When all players turn up for preseason training, it's the job of the strength and conditioning team to refine their skills and improve their speed, strength, endurance and other fitness components needed to play at the top level.

Obviously in the case of Ben Arfa, the training protocol would have to be altered ever so slightly to cater for his additional bulk. But again, studies show this might not be as simple as cutting a few calories out of his diet.

This is because some high-calorie junk foods are very high in trans fatty acids. Often they are responsible for that "melt in your mouth"-type feeling you get from a really nice cookie or doughnut.

But while it tastes great, research published in the Journal of Clinical Nutrition Supplements found that: "There is evidence available in humans indicating that dietary fat quality influences insulin sensitivity and associated metabolic abnormalities."

Put more simply, insulin sensitivity is closely linked to how effectively your body uses carbohydrates as fuel and doesn't store them as fat. Bad insulin sensitivity means the body will release more of the hormone called insulin, which in turn reduces lipolysis (the burning of fat) and increases lipogensis (the storing of body fat.)

All of this means, depending on what Ben Arfa ate during his off-season, it might take more than a few extra hill sprints and salads to lower his body fat since the nutritional damage caused could be much more complex.

In conclusion, based on the research, it seems a player's off-season dietary habits could have an impact on his performance throughout the season.

In the case of Ben Arfa, if he was able to prove the extra bulk was in fact muscle and was a result of carefully planned, nutrient- and calorie-dense diet, then the £1,580 fine should be cancelled.

However, if it's the result of him overindulging on junk food, then the fine, media criticism and pressure from his teammates, as reported in The Guardian, are justified.

It also supports the idea of teams exercising a greater degree of control over the player's off-season diet and activities, even when on holiday.

Follow @RossEdgley 

The damage was done early as Newcastle United beat Sydney FC 4-0 in their pre-season game in Dunedin, New Zealand. A first-half flurry of three goals in 14 minutes gave Newcastle a lead that the Australian side would never look to pull in, allowing them to cruise through the second half.

The first came after 18 minutes, the result of the pressure Newcastle applied, holding the ball for long periods and forcing Sydney to live off of scraps. Sydney held them out well initially, but a horrid miss-kick from goalkeeper Ivan Necevski presented Newcastle with a simple two-on-one opportunity that they did not mess up.

Seven minutes later, they were in again, this time after a cross from Yoan Gouffran found the boot of new signing Emmanuel Riviere. The floodgates were beginning to open, and Sydney were looking extremely exposed. Newcastle began to look threatening every time they got the ball, and a big score looked to be in the cards.

It came as little surprise then, when Newcastle notched up their third goal, a long-range shot from Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa after a lovely piece of footwork saw him beat his man one-on-one. The shot deflected off Sydney defender Sasa Ognenovski and into the goal to give Newcastle a 3-0 lead.

To their credit, Sydney fought back in the second half. They began to gain more control of the ball and found themselves more organized at the back, although Newcastle had begun to make a handful of substitutions by this stage.

Despite this, Sydney still could not get a decent shot off. The Newcastle defence was rock-solid, seemingly effortlessly shutting down any attack Sydney tried to mount. They did not relinquish, and Sydney's best-looking chance came in a late long-range effort that was struck right of the goal.

In the closing stages, Newcastle finally got their game going again and made the score 4-0, running out as convincing winners.

It was a rare showing of high-quality football for the Dunedin crowd, who watched in awe of the speed, skill and precision of these overseas masters. Not for many years, if ever, has such a team come to the rugby-crazed south of New Zealand. Indeed on most nights, hosting Sydney FC would be a good event for the football community of the city and would be a step above anything else regularly hosted there.

There was a sadness hanging over the ground amongst the excitement however. This came in the memory of Newcastle fans Liam Sweeney and John Alder. Both were en route to see their team play the game when they were killed on the ill-fated Flight MH17. A moment's silence was held before the game, while wreaths were laid in the seats that they would have occupied had they made it to the ground.

Newcastle delivered a display both men could be proud of, walking away victors and showing those present just what a step up the Premier League is from football in their part of the world.