The Police Officer Speaks
By: John | August 1st, 2008
Lyon’s backline patrolman Cris has given a candid interview about former teammate Hatem Ben Arfa. Even though Inara wrote an excellent “cathartic” piece on HBA’s departure and most of us have closed the file on Hatem’s Lyon career, I thought this would be of interest.
In an interview with FranceFootball, The Policeman spoke about his relationship with HBA and his attempts to keep Lyon’s “ex-resident juvenile delinquent,” [These are my words not Cris'] on the straigth path. Here is the interview verbatim:
Hatem is a great player. But he must learn. He can do great things on the pitch. On the other hand, off the pitch he can have some stupid reactions. It’s strange, because when you talk to him and try to suggest little things to help him out in his life and career, he always tells you that he will take into account the things that you have told him. But the problem is that ten minutes after you turn your back, he does the exact opposite of what you told him[Cris Laughs]! Hatem must understand, that in order to have a great career, it’s not sufficient to just be successful on the field, it is also necessary to respect a certain number of rules off the pitch as well.
It would have been interesting to hear accounts from more of HBA’s ex-teammates. Anyway, it’s interesting that the evidence just points more and more towards the fact that Hatem’s departure was necessary and inevitable, and that I was wrong in criticizing Alain Perrin for his benching. Hopefully Miralem Pjanic will help fill the void left by that departed talent.
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Tags: Alain Perrin, Cris, Former Lyonnais, Hatem Ben Arfa, Miralem Pjanic, Player News and Rumors, Team News and RumorsSubscribe
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Comments
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Two months ago, there was an interview of Mathieu Bodmer, who talked about Ben Arfa and whether he would leave Lyon (this was before he went to OM). Bodmer admitted that Ben Arfa was often isolated from his teammates. I’ll try to find the link. There was also a recent interview of Toulalan, except Toule said that he thought Ben Arfa leaving Lyon was unfortunate.
I’m still waiting for Alain Perrin to release an expose on Ben Arfa one of these days.
Posted from
United States
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I love that you bolded Inara’s name, as if she’s a player — that’s the status to which I now aspire as a blogger.
(It’s odd that the players are taking these problems with HBA public. What’s the point?)
Posted from
United States -
Maybe this is a stupid question, but I dont get the “Police Officer” thingy … Cheers
Posted from
United States -
It’s Cris’ nickname (originally from Brasil, I think).
Posted from
Italy -
Martha, I’m the 12th player
MrCham, he’s called “Le Policier” because of his absolute authority in Lyon’s back line and the strict way he marshals Lyon’s defenses. A hothead, he’s the closest thing Lyon have to a badass and sometimes gets into scuffles with the opposition if he feels one of his teammates were unfairly fouled.
http://lyon.theoffside.com/files/2007/07/policecris.jpg
Posted from
United States -
this HBA could be the next cantona if his not carefull
such great talent but extremely lacking in discipline
Posted from
United States -
i always thought they call him a police officer because when a striker comes near him he yells “FREEZE!” and confiscates the ball from him
Posted from
United States -
I’m pretty sure he’s pulled stunts like that on many occasions - people get pretty scared when they see an enraged bald man shouting as he runs towards them. As defenders go, he’s one of the more scarier ones that a player could encounter.
Posted from
United States
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