I think Darren Bent was being complimentary when he said this. His tone suggested he was, but I think he’s a bit wide of the mark in what he said.
Speaking on TalkSPORT, Darren Bent has compared Bruno Guimaraes to Hatem Ben Arfa. No doubt both players are top tier midfielders and adored by Geordies, but that’s really where the similarities end for me.
Bruno Guimaraes’ game is all about bringing other players around him into the game, looking for the killer pass, looking for the right move to make, holding up play until there’s an opening. Ben Arfa was all about the glory, taking on as many people as possible and rifling a bullet shot into the net.
Was Bent Right To Compare Bruno & Ben Arfa?
Nope
Makes sense
There’s obviously overlap there, Bruno certainly isn’t against taking players on or scoring a goal, much like Ben Arfa would play a defence-splitting ball, but their overall style of play is polar opposite.
Similarly, their attitude and temperament are chalk and cheese. Ben Arfa was prone to a strop and often found himself at odds with Pardew, whereas Bruno seems like genuinely the nicest man on Earth – he’s always smiling, takes the time to talk to every member of staff (often seen on NUFC TV’s Match Cam videos) and genuinely raises the game of everyone on the pitch.
Bent was right when he mentioned the difference in the consistency of their performances, but to me that just highlights how off his comparison is. If we were to compare Bruno to any Pardew-era midfielder it would be Cabaye (pre-strop Cabaye), and in my opinion, even the “Dreamboat” can’t hold a candle to Bruno on the pitch.
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