Cabella

A good piece from Oli written before Burnley.
Personally I think it's just a case of Cabella taking a little longer to adapt to the English game.
Some of our foreigners (Jose, Colo, Robert) took a while to get to grips with the PL.
I still have high hopes for Cabella and think he will come good.

http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/sport/sport-opinion/newcastle-united-winger-remy-cabella-8209310



Candid Chronicle columnist Oli Bernard admits that Remy Cabella's struggles at Newcastle United mean he cannot expect to be undroppable

Remy Cabella getting dropped by Newcastle seemed to take many supporters by surprise on Saturday but it wasn’t a shock for me.

I’m not turning my back on Cabella or saying that he won’t prove valuable for Newcastle in the long run but he’s not in-form at the moment and his form is a bit of a cause for concern for me. He’s taking longer than I expected to get used to the game in England.

He is struggling with the tempo of the English game and he is making the wrong decisions when he’s in possession.

Of course it’s to be expected that some of the players who come over from France will take a bit longer than others to get used to the game and we all remember that it took Fabricio Coloccini a year to be the leader that he is now.

But that doesn’t mean that I can’t be a bit concerned by the way Cabella is performing. It’s not the physical side of the game anymore for him – it is about making bad decisions when he has the ball.

He isn’t making the right choices when he’s on the ball and that’s a worry for a playmaker.

I think when you see him play, he just needs that extra three seconds on the ball that he doesn’t get over here in England and when that happens, he’s making the wrong pass or not picking out the right player.

That’s a worry for me because Cabella’s job is to be the one making the right decisions in the middle of the midfield, sparking the play and making sure that when Newcastle get possession they make the most of it.

He was probably dropped at West Ham because Alan Pardew was worried about giving away possession in what he knew was going to be a tight game.

The other worry for me is that Cabella doesn’t look like he suits the system of play that Pardew wants to play.

Moving forward, to get the best out of Cabella he will probably have to change the system to accommodate him.

I think you probably need to shape a system around him to get the best out of him this season and looking at what he’s produced so far, would you be prepared to do that?

I know many Newcastle supporters will go on red alert when they hear that because it was the same thing that was always said about Hatem Ben Arfa: he can’t play in the Pardew style.

Well my argument was that Ben Arfa couldn’t play in any system! He is not the kind of player that just slots into a system but that is Hatem: on his day he is so good that you shape an entire system around him. You know he is capable of doing those kind of things.

Ben Arfa was like David Ginola or Laurent Robert – a real talent who could change the passage of play. He could make a difference with one shrug of his shoulder or one run that ends with a chance or a goal.

The problem with Cabella is that he has a long way to go to get to that level and it is a bit of a difficult situation. Do you change the system to suit Cabella when he’s not producing? I doubt it, but it you don’t change the system you might never find out if he can be that good.

It is a situation that has happened a few times with players coming over from abroad and not settling at Newcastle. It’s tough.

I will not turn my back on him because he’s clearly got talent. No one who plays in the France team gets there by chance and he is a good player who Newcastle are not going to give up on.

But I can’t see him producing his best this season now. We’re in December and I think it will be next season at the earliest before we see the best of Cabella, so expect to see him in and out of the team again between now and the end of the year.

West Ham was a disappointment because Newcastle never really got themselves going for that game.

It’s an awkward place to go and it’s a difficult team to play against but Newcastle just didn’t show enough there.

We’ll need to offer more against Burnley, that is for sure.

 

I think the signs are he is starting to get a handle on things. Obviously he'll have games like QPR. We have to be realistic about his abilities and how long he has had to adapt.

 

His decision making will be a confidence issue.

I think once De Jong is in the team we'll see the best of Cabella, as the the pressure of being the main playmaker will be removed.

 

Agreed.

Also think we are seeing more flashes of what a good player he can potentially be.

 

Can we afford to have him AND De Jong (once fully fit) in the same line-up though? And how would that change the team shape/system?

I hope he shows more of the glimpses he's shown so far - and manages to stay on his feet more. I think one goal could make a massive difference to his confidence. A bit like Benni after he scored. The type of player who thrives on recent success.

 

Yes.

Midfield 5 of Cabella - Tiote - De Jong - Sissoko - Aarons

Buy a more commanding centre half to go with Colo and we shouldn't require 2 defensive midfielders.

Much more attacking and relevant for games against lower and mid table teams. Can always bring in Abeid or Colback for top end teams.

 

With Sissoko deeper, alongside Tiote? Or Tiote alone then Sissoko & De Jong both advanced?
Not sure about the former. I'd try the latter in home games vs 'lower' teams (not that there are many we could class as that), but would definitely shift one of the more attacking players out when away or playing bigger clubs - so about 2/3rds of the season?

 

Definitely the latter and for me and for most of the home games save perhaps the top 4(5) and the away games against the lower teams.

We should be more attacking and when fit and on form we have most of the team that can play that way.

 

Don't get me wrong, I like the intent and would love to see a more attacking line-up - I just think with those lads we'd be over-run in midfield.

Can't see Cabella + De Jong both tracking back and working hard enough to keep up with Prem pace.
Likewise, Aarons is good going forward, but again, would put a lot of responsibility on him to get back when needed too.

 

It would work on the old inside forwards/ half backs logic or the Rugby Union wingers covering logic.

Essentially Tiote "sits". Cabella and De Jong take turns going forward with other one covering. Cabella and Aarons hugging the touch lines going forward and tucking in defending. Up front we have an out and out "goal scorer".

 

But who will be in the scrum? And there's no obvious drop-goal kicker!

 

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