Tony Adams: Nadir Belhadj was a defensive liability for Portsmouth - but so exciting

Nadir Belhadj was a defensive ‘liability’ whose swashbuckling nature panicked Tony Adams.
Pompey's flying full-back Nadir Belhadj takes on Chelsea's Joe Cole in the 2010 FA Cup FinalPompey's flying full-back Nadir Belhadj takes on Chelsea's Joe Cole in the 2010 FA Cup Final
Pompey's flying full-back Nadir Belhadj takes on Chelsea's Joe Cole in the 2010 FA Cup Final

But Pompey’s former manager admitted he loved watching the attacking left-back in full flow.

The Algerian international is fondly remembered by the Fratton faithful after initially arriving on a season-long loan from Lyon in September 2008.

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Belhadj’s stay was made permanent halfway through that campaign, going on to make 65 appearances and net six times during his two years with the Blues.

He was among the scorers in the 4-1 FA Cup victory at Southampton in February 2010, while later appeared as a substitute in the final against Chelsea.

And Adams recalls the impact of the adventurous full-back who favoured attack as the best form of defence.

He told The News: ‘Nadir couldn’t defend, he used to give me heart attacks, bless him.

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‘I saw him in France playing for Lyon and he was just flying, another great spot by our recruitment boys.

‘They alerted me to this kid bombing forward down the left side, so I said let’s get him in. The price was reasonable, it was a no-brainer for me.

‘We had Armand Traore as well down that left during his first season, they were liabilities defensively, not a Nigel Winterburn, that’s for sure. But were very exciting.

‘I suppose if Nadir had been good defensively, we wouldn’t have had him, he’d be at Arsenal, Liverpool or Manchester City.

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‘It was his enthusiasm, the distance covered, while his athleticism was incredible. I could understand fans jumping out of their seat when he got hold of the ball.

‘He was very direct, putting balls into the box and galloping down the left flank. He was amazing.’

On occasions, Belhadj was also employed as a left-winger as Pompey sought to utilise his talents higher up the pitch.

Then, following relegation to the Championship, he left in the summer of 2010 for Al-Sadd, in Qatar.

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Adams added: ‘It takes time to develop somebody defensively. They need the inert ability to learn from their mistakes – and sometimes it’s too late because they have already developed technically.

‘In Holland, you must have the technique before the age of 12. After that it is tactical, then above that psychological. Over there, it is pretty much in the bag between 21-22.

‘If you haven't learnt it at that stage it’s very difficult. I would needed to have had Nadir for a couple of years to improve that part of his game.

‘It took Martin Keown eight years. Arsenal let go of him and won six trophies, then George Graham brought him back eight years later – it took us some time.

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‘Credit to Martin, by the end of the year he had the organisation and zone, he was a marvellous player.

‘One part of his game was that his distribution was always really poor, so he kept it simple and had really improved by the end of his career.’

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