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da gbg bet： Nabil Bentaleb has revealed that he still holds regrets over his exit from Tottenham Hotspur, in an interview with The Independent.
Bentaleb, currently at Schalke 04, left Spurs for the Bundesliga club, initially on loan, in 2016 and has since made 91 appearances in Germany.
What’s the word?
Bentaleb appeared set to become another home-grown hero at Spurs.
He made 66 appearances in total for the club, having been brought through by the divisive Tim Sherwood.
Mauricio Pochettino placed his faith in Bentaleb in his first season at the club, handing him 35 appearances in all competitions, but he fell out of favour and played just 14 times the following season.
Speaking to The Independent, he opened up about his failure to make it at the club, and his regret at not kicking on under Pochettino’s management after sustaining a number of injury blows.
“Pochettino was one of the first ones who always believed in me,” Bentaleb said.
“There were some players the club bought but he put me, a 19-year-old boy, in to play every game. He put a lot of trust in me.”
He added: “I was young and when I came back from injuries, I wanted to play,” he says. “I was so hungry to play straight away, and so frustrated when I didn’t play. I know that the coach was just doing this to protect me.
“I got injured and when I came back, I wanted to play so bad that I had some arguments [with Pochettino]. I was a little bit frustrated, and I was learning basically. Being on the bench is a learning curve.
“I know I made mistakes. But they helped me learn, as a man. And they don’t stop me from sleeping at night. And if I was 24 right now, and I had been at Tottenham, I don’t think I would make the same mistakes.”
Refreshing attitude
Bentaleb is not bitter about his exit from Spurs, just aware of what could have been.
When he broke through at the club, he appeared for all the world to be the next great midfielder at Spurs and would surely have been a replacement to Mousa Dembele, who has moved to China.
But if your attitude isn’t right under Pochettino, you rarely last.
Bentaleb accepts that and is now attempting to make his name in the Bundesliga. Schalke play Manchester City in the Champions League this week and Bentaleb will be a key member of the starting XI.
Pochettino may well be looking on with interest – maybe he can forgive and forget, and one day Bentaleb will have another chance in north London.