Why Yohan Cabaye Is Under Most Pressure for France Following Win over Portugal

Just days before France’s 2-1 friendly victory over Portugal at the Stade de France on Saturday, L’Equipe (h/t Goal.com’s Harry West) published an interview with Paris Saint-Germain’s Yohan Cabaye. The French international admitted his unhappiness with his current situation with the French champions and suggested that, if his struggle for regular playing time at club level starts to harm his international chances, that he might have to look for a move away.

On the evidence of the 28-year-old’s performance for Les Bleus against the Portuguese, the tenacious midfielder should be more worried about his overall form than his current situation.

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Cabaye is in a fortunate position with the national team because he is one of France coach Didier Deschamps’ most trusted players and, as a result, is more likely to keep his place despite a lack of first team football. However, his recent performances—both for club and country—simply have not been good enough.

A largely invisible display against Portugal on Saturday has weakened the PSG man’s claims to a starting role and strengthened those of the in-form Southampton star Morgan Schneiderlin and it seems only a matter of time before the latter usurps the former.

The pressure was on Cabaye to back up his words off the pitch with a timely reminder of his abilities on it, but the former Newcastle United and Lille OSC man failed to do that and many forgot that he was even on the pitch against Cristiano Ronaldo and Co. such was his diminished role in the French capital.

These next few months will now put Cabaye under pressure because he is likely to be handed a number of chances by PSG coach Laurent Blanc thanks to a growing injury crisis at the Parc des Princes. It is up to the Parisien No. 4 to seize these opportunities and rediscover the form that he was showing prior to his move to the French capital.

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Since arriving at the club, Cabaye has struggled to justify the significant fee spent on him back in January and his decision to leave Newcatle—at least for now—appears to have been the wrong one for both parties in hindsight. The French international’s arrival has not added the desired quality to Blanc’s midfield options, with the coach often choosing to overlook a player he has previously revealed his admiration for.

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On top of that, promising youth academy talent Adrien Rabiot felt he was pushed to the fringes following the knee injury that prompted PSG to bring in Cabaye in the first place. That has resulted in a messy feud between the 19-year-old starlet, his entourage and the capital club.

However, the French champions have started to make progress in their latest attempt to persuade Rabiot to sign a new contract with the club, according to Sky Sport Italia’s Gianluca di Marzio. If the teenager is successful in securing a new deal, PSG will begin to reintegrate him into the side and that will further challenge Cabaye’s position.

Already behind Blanc’s preferred choices of Thiago Motta, Blaise Matuidi and Marco Verratti, Rabiot’s return—assuming he is not farmed out on loan immediately—could push the France No. 6 to fifth in the team’s pecking order.

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Cabaye needs to rediscover his best form and quickly. Otherwise he risks losing his position in Deschamps’ starting XI and being forced to call it quits with PSG little over 12 months after joining the French giants.

Having seen his stock plummet considerably since arriving, Les Parisiens are going to be unlikely to want to sell him for a reduced fee, so Cabaye’s best option is to seize the chances that will come his way over the next month or so and play his way into Blanc’s plans on a more regular basis.

If he fails to do that, Schneiderlin and a handful of other excellent central midfield talents are already hungry to take his place.