3 Areas for Adrien Rabiot to Improve on to Become a PSG Great

Adrien Rabiot’s red card for two bookable offences in the 2-1 win over Lille OSC in the Coupe de la Ligue final at Stade de France on Saturday was one of the only negatives on an evening of mostly positives for the French champions’ coach Laurent Blanc.

The France under-21 international’s dismissal perfectly illustrated how much further the prodigiously talented midfielder has to develop before he can truly be considered a top player.

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Rabiot is well on his way to reaching that level, though, and has been enjoying a largely good season up until now.

The PSG youth academy graduate has benefited from the extended absences of Marco Verratti and Javier Pastore through injury, and the capital club’s midfield has rarely looked poorer for it.

In fact, when the midfield has looked below par, it has often been the boy from Saint-Maurice who has stood out ahead of the likes of Thiago Motta, Blaise Matuidi and Benjamin Stambouli.

Having stepped into the breach and contributed significantly in Ligue 1, both domestic cups and the UEFA Champions League, few can argue against the fact that he deserves more regular starts.

Blanc will certainly need to give them to Rabiot next season if he wants to avoid another acrimonious transfer-related episode after the farce that preceded him signing a contract extension until 2019 back in October 2014. 

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The 21-year-old has the world at his feet at Parc des Princes, but there are several things that the PSG No. 25 must work on if he is to go on and become an all-time great in the French capital.

First of all, Rabiot must work on his attitude. The boy knows he is a talented player and so does anybody who has watched him play for either club or country.

However, the precociously talented youngster boasts an ego as sizeable as his impressive skill set, and the former has already got him into trouble on multiple occasions in his relatively short time at senior level with PSG.

Late last year, Rabiot declared that he expected a loan move to be granted if his playing time was going to decrease as a result of Verratti’s return to fitness.

As it turned out, the Italy international was not back in action for a longer time, and the young Frenchman benefited from his extended absence.

That was a good example of how his impetuous behaviour rubs people up the wrong way, as Blanc was unhappy with Rabiot’s comments, as reported by ESPN FC:

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It annoys me. I don't want to say anymore and I'm going to concentrate on tomorrow's match. Adrien has to understand that when you have the possibility of going to the end of your contract and to leave for free, you can do it. Otherwise, when you sign a contract of five years with PSG, you have to respect your first club. I'm not going to go any further than that because otherwise I risk annoying myself.

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Although Blanc restrained himself, others did not. Former France international and ex-Chelsea defender Frank Leboeuf told RMC (h/t ESPN FC’s Mark Rodden) that Rabiot had to be taught a lesson:

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If I had the choice, Adrien Rabiot wouldn't have started against Donetsk. He's still at an age where he can receive lessons. At the age of 20, you have the right to talk nonsense but the elders, and especially the superiors, have the right to punish you.

When you're part of a club, you're part of a squad. To position yourself like that at the age of 20, it's a lack of respect in relation to the squad and to the club that employs you. It would be a good lesson in order to learn humility.

He has a huge amount of talent but he also has flaws and he'll have to learn to keep himself quiet. He doesn't have the right to talk right now. He signed a five-year contract and like Laurent Blanc said, 'you were happy when you signed, you're earning a good living—learn and be quiet.'

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On top of curbing his attitude issues, Rabiot has maturing to do on the pitch as well as off it.

Last Saturday’s red card against Lille was not his first act of petulance this season; in fact, the youngster was also dismissed against Les Dogues in a 1-0 PSG win at Stade Pierre-Mauroy on the opening day of the campaign.

Rabiot has a habit of undoing all of his hard work with a moment of immaturity, and he must stamp those out of his game if he is to truly tap into his considerable potential.

Incidents like his poor reaction to being punished for arriving late for the team’s departure ahead of the Coupe de France final last season, as reported by ESPN FC, must become a thing of the past.

He must start learning how to behave in a professional manner from the more experienced squad members, particularly as PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi has already suggested, per ESPN FC, that the player has been earmarked as a potential future captain of the side.

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That brings us to the third and final area in which Rabiot needs to make great strides if he is to become a great in Paris and that is that he needs to free himself from the clutches of his apparently over-protective mother and agent, Veronique.

Many of the issues Adrien has experienced with PSG so far actually appear to be because of his mother’s overbearing influence and poor guidance, not actually his own actions.

The reason why Rabiot missed most of the first half of the 2014-15 season is because Veronique got the pair involved in an acrimonious war with the club’s leaders that only ended when the youngster signed a five-year contract extension towards the end of 2014.

Based on comments she gave to Le Parisien (via ESPN FC's Ben Gladwell), Adrien's mother and advisor Veronique seemed to play a significant role in her son rejecting PSG's offer of a new contract in July of 2014.

The French champions tried again to extend Rabiot's deal a few months later and the offer was once again turned down. As coach Blanc revealed at the time (h/t Goal's Robin Bairner), the decision was not necessarily taken by the player himself.

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With Adrien, we could have done a lot of things because we appreciate him as a player and as a guy. But, at some point, you cannot go any further. I think he has a great opportunity at PSG but his entourage don’t want to take any notice and want to take advantage of his contractual situation. I think there must be offers. He had a very nice offer from PSG but apparently it’s not interesting. It’s a shame.

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Not long after Rabiot rejected the first offer of a new contract in July of 2014, Veronique confirmed her influence in her son's decision by telling Chronofoot (h/t Goal's Robin Bairner), that “if the supporters were parents, they would understand” her stance.

That position eventually softened and Rabiot signed a new contract with PSG, keeping him in the capital until 2019. However, the episode left many scars, most notably with the fans who are now wary of Adrien and Veronique's antics.

Veronique is regularly angling for Adrien to get a move away from Paris, and it was no doubt her influence that led to her son’s regrettable comments about a loan move back in December. That outburst immediately reminded the PSG fans of the pair's behaviour back in 2014.

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What Rabiot needs to do now is to focus on his football and learn how to be a bit more patient. He has proved that he is good enough to start more regularly for Blanc, and now he must wait for next season, when everybody is fit and healthy, to see where he figures in Le President’s plans.

There is no doubt he has the talent to go on to become one of PSG’s all-time greats, but he needs to be distracted less and to learn a bit of humility.

If Rabiot can stamp out his bad attitude, his immature mistakes—on and off the pitch—and tone down his mother’s influence, then he is well-placed to become a mainstay for club and country in the next few years.