Media personality Waleed Al-Farraj launched a strong attack on France's Karim Benzema after the Al-Hilal striker put in a lacklustre display against Al-Feiha on Thursday evening, in the second round of the Roshn Saudi Pro League.
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Benzema started the match, which Al-Hilal wrapped up with three unanswered goals, but the Frenchman failed to deliver the attacking contribution everyone expected. That dragged the criticism over his form with the Boss back into the spotlight.
Speaking on his programme "Rotana Sport with Waleed", Al-Farraj could barely hide his astonishment at Benzema's level, questioning why the player carries on like this at Al-Hilal given the huge expectations that greeted his arrival.
"What is Karim Benzema doing? I don't know the secret of his presence with Al-Hilal!" he said, aiming his criticism straight at a striker who has yet to convince a section of the fanbase that he can lead the attack the way they had hoped.
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The Saudi media personality went further. "Either he is finished, or he doesn't have the mood, or he wants to leave?" he added, running through the possibilities he sees for the player's condition. What Benzema is producing now, he stressed, falls short of his technical value and his great history.
He signed off with the sharpest line of all: "He doesn't have any memory, as if he is saying: thank your Lord that I am playing with you." That renewed the questions over Benzema's future at Al-Hilal, even after Simone Inzaghi insisted, following the win over Al-Feiha, that the player is "good and will serve the team".