Nabil Bentaleb Was Tottenham’s Most Surprisingly Disappointing Player in 2015/16

Nabil Bentaleb finished the 2014/15 season as a central part of Mauricio Pochettino’s exciting young squad. 

Having helped the Spurs finish in a surprising fifth place, pipping Liverpool on the final day, the then-teenaged Algerian would have been expected to lead them into the new campaign. 

As the midfield counterpart to fellow academy graduate-turned international Harry Kane in the Spurs’ attack, Bentaleb had shown—in more than 50 appearances in his first two seasons—that he possesses the makings of a world-class player. 

He started on opening day of the new season at Old Trafford. But after giving away possession that led to Manchester United’s winning goal, Pochettino hauled him off after half-time as the Spurs chased the equaliser. 

While that would have been embarrassing enough, Bentaleb played fewer than 180 minutes in the remainder of 2015. 

In those brief appearances, he struggled to find the rhythm that had so impressed in the previous season and, by season’s end, had made just 12 appearances. He was booked as many times as he started a match—five.

He failed to score a goal and tallied just one assist, that coming in the 4-1 FA Cup Fourth round win against Colchester United. 

The injury problems that Bentaleb suffered were central to his disappointing season. 

He missed 134 days of this season through injury, according to …

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