Tottenham Hotspur

Tim Sherwood urges Mauricio Pochettino to use Nabi Bentaleb

By Joe Fish, Reporter | 30 June 2014

Tim Sherwood encourages his successor at Tottenham Hotspur, Mauricio Pochettino, to use Nabil Bentaleb next season and employ him in a box-to-box midfielder role.

Tim Sherwood has encouraged his Tottenham Hotspur successor Mauricio Pochettino to utilise Nabil Bentaleb in a box-to-box midfielder role next season.

Sherwood handed Bentaleb his Spurs debut when in charge at White Hart Lane last term, and the 19-year-old went on to make 20 appearances in all competitions.

He has since impressed for surprise package Algeria at the World Cup and his former mentor and manager anticipates that Bentaleb will only get better, providing that he plays regularly under Pochettino, who replaced the sacked Sherwood as Tottenham boss earlier this summer.

In his column for The Independent, Sherwood wrote: "Nabil is not afraid of anyone. He is perfect for the way that Algeria play, with a pressing game.

"I tended to use him in a more defensive role, mainly because I knew I could trust him to do what I asked. But in his development at Spurs, he has always been a box-to-box midfielder and he has always scored goals in the junior age groups.

"He still needs to develop and is not the finished article yet, but in the future he could be that sort of goalscoring midfielder. If Mauricio Pochettino is looking for that sort of player, then Nabil is perfect. He has to play regularly, though, if his development is to continue."

Bentaleb played every minute of Algeria's group-stage campaign as they progressed to the last 16 in Brazil.