Yohan Cabaye: Reasons for Newcastle Star to Leave for Roma
November 20, 2013
Newcastle United's French international Yohan Cabaye should leave for Roma, where he will reunite with former Lille manager Rudi Garcia.
Roma have been linked with Cabaye, per Lee Ryder at Chronicle Live, and of course he should choose the No. 1 ranked Serie A club over the ninth best club in the Premier League.
NEWCASTLE'S PROBLEMS
Cabaye just inspired France to become the first-ever nation in overcoming a 2-0 first leg deficit in a FIFA World Cup qualification play-off (to the chagrin of Ukraine).
He shouldn't spend the prime of his career at a club with no direction.
In spite of Graham Carr's scouting, Newcastle owner Mike Ashley and the all-talk, no-action director of football Joe Kinnear are pulling a proud club down.
Forget about Kinnear's inability to pronounce French surnames and focus on his incompetence.
Newcastle finished 16th last season but spent the summer procrastinating on transfer deals.
Evidently, "I can open the door to any football manager in the world, anyone" or "I spend my whole life, picking up the phone, talking to Alex Ferguson, week in, week out" didn't help Kinnear.
Newcastle lack depth, the true dearth of quality in their back line is shielded by a world-class goalkeeper in Tim Krul, and the club is so heavily reliant on Loic Remy, a loanee whose long-term future at the club is still up in the air.
You can already envision the penny-pinching Ashley sinking a permanent transfer because Queens Park Rangers will attempt to use Remy's seven goals in nine league games for the Toon as leverage.
The ceiling of what Newcastle can achieve is limited.
Worst-case scenario: Championship football next season.
Best-case scenario: middle of the Premier League pack.
GARCIA FACTOR
Do you know which manager Cabaye has played the most games under? It is Garcia.
Under Garcia during the 2009-10 season, Cabaye was Lille's equal top scorer with 13 goals, which was the same amount Gervinho and Pierre-Alain Frau had scored.
The following season, Cabaye accumulated 108 tackles and intercepted 107 passes, alongside Florent Balmont and Rio Mavuba, Garcia's Ligue 1 and French Cup-winning midfield triumvirate.
Claude Puel ushered Cabaye into professional football, but he played his best football under Garcia.
The only time in Cabaye's top-flight career when he won trophies was under Garcia.
Can Cabaye start at Garcia's Roma? Not immediately.
Their midfield three of Daniele De Rossi, Kevin Strootman and Miralem Pjanic are the full package: grit, class, control and incisive passing.
| Statistically Comparing Yohan Cabaye to Roma's Midfield | ||||
| LEAGUE ONLY | Yohan Cabaye | Daniele De Rossi | Kevin Strootman | Miralem Pjanic |
| Passes Per Game | 37.3 | 72.7 | 61.5 | 61.5 |
| Pass Success % | 78.0 | 89.7 | 88.0 | 88.5 |
| Long Pass % | 51.5 | 80.3 | 81.8 | 83.3 |
| Goals/Assists | 2/1 | 1/0 | 2/5 | 3/4 |
| Tackles Per Game | 2.3 | 1.6 | 3.5 | 2.4 |
| Interceptions Per Game | 2.6 | 2.9 | 1.3 | 1.4 |
| Fouls Per Game | 1.2 | 1.1 | 1.5 | 1.2 |
| WhoScored | ||||
Cabaye will have to bide his time, which is what Michael Bradley is doing.
So, what is in it for Cabaye if he's going to be a spectator like Bradley?
Despite there being no guaranteed starting position for Cabaye, Roma management are open to selling their most important players (the exception to the rule being one-club men Francesco Totti and De Rossi).
Last summer, it was Marquinhos to Paris St-Germain for €30 million, Erik Lamela to Tottenham Hotspur for €30 million and Pablo Osvaldo to Southampton for €18 million.
Without the three, it hasn't impeded Roma's progress as they're currently the only unbeaten team in Serie A.
Cabaye would be a natural replacement for Pjanic, one of Roma's cash-cows, if the Bosnian attracts a substantial bid from a Premier League club.
Statistics via WhoScored, FFT Stats Zone, Squawka and Transfermarkt.
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