|
Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Nabil Bentaleb says he has no regrets about moving on loan to Bundesliga club Schalke as he feels supporters in Germany back players more than in England. Schalke signed Bentaleb in August on a season-long loan deal with an option to buy next summer, and the 21-year-old has so far featured in every match. They lost their first five league games, enduring their worst ever start to a Bundesliga season before they beat Borussia Monchengladbach 4-0 at the weekend, and have won both their Europa League group matches. Spurs, by contrast, are the only unbeaten team remaining in the Premier League and sit second after seven matches following Sunday's 2-0 win over leaders Manchester City. "Even if Tottenham were on top of the league, I would not regret my transfer," Bentaleb, who made just five league appearances for Spurs last season, told German daily Bild. "They believe in me at Schalke. I made this decision, and a few defeats won't change anything. We worked hard enough, in every match, in every training session. But we've made mistakes, and we need to cut them out. "But we fight and I believe that's also the reason that the fans support us. I don't know that from England. If you lose there, nobody supports you in the stadium." Bentaleb, who was born in France but represents Algeria at international level, was also asked about his footballing idols. "Idol is a big word," he said. "But I very much liked Zinedine Zidane's playing style. He was a player who allowed me to dream. Right now, I think Sergio Busquets and Toni Kroos are great. "Kroos makes things look easy on the pitch, even when he's attacked by three players. Looking at Kroos, you can think that he's doing the easy things. But he isn't. Players like him work in the shadow. You first see Ronaldo, Neymar, [Karim] Benzema or [Lionel] Messi because they catch your eye."
|
