Andriy Shevchenko made a mistake with his move from AC Milan to Chelsea. Nicolas Anelka probably moved at the wrong time to Real Madrid. As for Zlatan Ibrahimovic leaving Inter Milan for Barcelona, we now know there were various reasons involved in why he did not do very well there. We can now add Yohan Cabaye to the example of another footballer who might have made a wrong decision in his career.
It was only 3 years ago that he was the ‘flavour of the month’ for Lille. In fact, it was his stellar showing there that helped the team to their first league title since 1954. It also led to a scramble for his signature during the post-season, and he chose to go to Tyneside. 2011 is now all but a distant memory for the Frenchman.
These days he can hardly cement a spot in Laurent Blanc’s starting 11. He has only played in 6 of the 13 league matches from the first minute for Paris Saint-Germain, coming off the bench another 5 times. Blanc has instead, preferred the trio of Blaise Matuidi, Thiago Motta and Marco Verratti ahead of Cabaye. To be fair, Blanc has little reason to choose Cabaye. In the 6 matches he started, PSG only won 50% of them. The results could be down to coincidence or a plethora of other reasons. But those matches were also against teams in the bottom half of the league and a club like PSG should have easily collected 3 points from them. Plus, they simply cannot afford to lose any more ground in the league if they were to keep up with other title contenders such as Marseille and Lyon.
It contrasts to when he first joined the club in the winter transfer window. He started in 11 of the 18 remaining league matches, to help PSG win their 2nd consecutive Ligue 1 crown.
Unfortunately for Cabaye, PSG seem to play better without him in the side. They have only kept 6 clean sheets this season – Cabaye did not start in 4 of them. PSG are also currently on a 4 match winning run in Ligue 1. After the international weekend they have a string of matches against mid-table clubs. You’d expect Blanc to give Cabaye a chance at some of them as he rotates the squad. But at this rate, it looks highly unlikely as the reigning league champions look to close the gap on current leaders Marseille. Then again, PSG are already through to the next stage of the UEFA Champions League. There might be opportunities for Cabaye there in the remaining 2 fixtures, provided he stays fit and injury-free. Who knows?
To make matters worse, now he’s also fallen down in the pecking order. Blanc has shown an inclination for playing Javier Pastore ahead of Cabaye when injury or suspension sidelines any of the regular trio, as evidenced in the match against Marseille. It definitely does not help that the former Newcastle midfielder has seen a drop in his form recently too.
At Newcastle he contributed 7 goals in 19 games, created 32 chances and averaged an interception every 16 minutes in the season just before he left. This season, he has a total of 20 tackles, 10 shots on goal and no assists in 513 minutes of football, so far. Even youngsters Jean-Christophe Bahebeck and Serge Aurier are recording better numbers than Cabaye this season when it comes to chances created. And they don’t even play in Cabaye’s preferred position.
The question now isn’t whether he should leave in January, but rather where should he go? He is desperate to feature regularly as he attempts to convince Didier Deschamps he deserves a place in the final squad at the 2016 European Championships on home soil. The less he is seen, the easier he’ll be forgotten by the head coach. And competition is rife when it comes to the midfield area of the French national team.
Or should he stay, fight for his spot in Paris and complete a full season before the inevitable?
After all, he could end up moving from the frying pan into the fire, if he makes another mistake in picking a club that also fails to play him. You never know in the highly fickle world of football, managers change overnight and with that playing philosophies too. Returning to England would make sense. He did thrive in the system Alan Pardew deployed at Newcastle and enjoyed some of his best football there. Manchester United, Arsenal and even Southampton are apparently already circling. Moving to a different league could prove risky because he’ll need to adapt to a lot, from the language to the style of play.
One thing is for sure, it would be a shame to see a player of his calibre not feature at the 2016 Euros, just because he wasn’t playing more regularly at his club. You can blame bad luck when a player misses a major tournament because of injury. But to sit it out because you were not playing enough matches weekly and thus rendered not good enough is quite a low blow, and you really can’t argue against it.
Other posts by Mary Ellen
