Cabaye on Newcastle

“people there live for football”

Newcastle United new boy Yohan Cabaye talks about his first impressions of the club, how hard it was to leave Lille and life in England in general.

This interview appeared on Lille FC’s site

——–

Yohan, good morning. We are pleased to hear from you. How are you adapting to life in England?

Very well, thank you. I was fortunate to quickly find a house when I first came for the medical examination. I was able to go on holiday with the peace of mind of knowing that. Everything is going well with the other players, I was welcomed nicely. Knowing that my English is not too good, they make the effort to speak slowly so I can understand. I’m starting to get my bearings.

What were your impressions on arriving in Newcastle?

There are some things you only understand when you arrive in Newcastle. People there live for football. Wherever you go, you wear the jersey of Newcastle. This is awesome! This club has a great reputation because it has a prestigious past. For example, for first friendly match against a team from the fifth division, there were 9000 people at the stadium with 6,000 fans Magpies.

Have you noticed the differences with the French football?

Yes, the intensity is different, especially in training. I notice that every day. French players must quickly get up to speed, otherwise you may suffer. The team has good players who want to monopolise possession at all costs. But I feel good, especially since there are many other French in the group.

What is forthcoming?

We are on the back of a defeat against Leeds (3-2) and preparing for our next match on Saturday when we play Fiorentina in our last friendly. The Premier League starts on August 13 with Arsenal at St James’ Park. Then we play the derby at Sunderland. The fans keep saying you can lose anything except that game, much like the LOSC-RC Lens. The atmosphere is something crazy!

 

http://translate.google.com/translate?js=n&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&layout=2&eotf=1&sl=auto&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.losc.fr%2Factualite-foot-lille%2Freportages%2Fyohan-cabaye-une-vive-emotion

An interview with Cabaye was recently put up on his old club's site, google translated it and cleaned up the result a bit:

Yohan, good morning. We are pleased to hear from you. How are you adapting to life in England?
Very well, thank you. I was fortunate to find a house quickly when I first came over for my medical. I was able to go on holiday with peace of mind knowing that, I quickly felt at home. Everything is going well with the other players, I was remarkably well received. Knowing that I'm still not fluent in English they make the effort to speak slowly so that I can understand. I'm starting to get my bearings.

What were your impressions upon arriving in Newcastle?
The first thing you see is the stadium. We say it as soon as we arrived as it is situated in the city centre. The people live for football. Wherever they go, they wear the jersey of Newcastle. This is awesome! This club has a great following/reputation because it has a prestigious past. For example, in our first friendly match against a team from the fifth division there were 9,000 people at the stadium, 6,000 of which were Magpies fans.

Have you noticed any differences from French football?
This intensity is different, especially in training. I notice this every day. It is necessary to get up to speed quickly, otherwise you may suffer. The team has good players who want to retain possession at all costs. I feel good, especially since there are many Frenchmen in the group (Hatem Ben Arfa, Sylvain Marveaux...)

What is forthcoming?
We are emerging from a defeat against Leeds (3-2) in pre-season preparation. Saturday, we host Fiorentina for our last friendly match. The Premier League resumes on August 13 with a game against Arsenal at St James' Park. Which is followed by the derby away at Sunderland. The fans keep saying you can lose any game except what you go there, much like the LOSC-RC Lens rivalry. The atmosphere seems to be something crazy!

Back on your years with Lille. What is the first memory that comes back to you in mind when you're talking about the LOSC?
(He exhales) There are so many. I would say my first match against Istres at Nimes (0-2 win, 7 November 2004), because that is where it all began for me as a professional. I was launched into the deep end, I had to do well at all costs. This allowed me to progress and reach where I am today.

How would you summarise your seven seasons with les Dogues?
(Without hesitation) The two trophies, it seems unavoidable. As a footballer, you can not get anything better. That memory will stay with me forever. In 20 years, we know that fans will still talk about the Lille team of 2010-2011. These are things that will not be forgotten.

Have you felt a tug at your heart when leaving the LOSC?
(Smiles) I'll be honest, it was hard, especially in the final against Rennes (3-2). I felt great emotion at the time about my impending departure, and then the trophy and victory lap. I said, "that's it, it's all over!" But such is football. This business is unique, it sometimes requires change to evolve and grow. In England, I will discover another culture, another life.

Finally, did you have anything to say to the fans?
Thank you very much from the heart. They have always been exceptional and I was very proud to have been able to win these titles with the team for them. I sincerely hope that they will get to see the team win more trophies. Whatever happens, I will remain primarily a supporter of the LOSC. This is my club, it will never change. I have subscribed to the French TV channels and will not miss out on the upcoming season.

Yohan Cabaye, thank you and good luck this season with the Magpies.




It's refreshing to see a player leave on good terms with his previous club.

 

beat you to it

mods merge please

 

You see, straight away the new players are up for the derby.

Get in!

 

rofl Secret Ingredient pwned u mate

 

think this guy will soon be up there with tiote in the fans eyes

 

I like Cabaye

 

That's all good to hear! Especially as this was after the Leeds match, meaning it wouldve been after JB supposedly had a go at him.

 

Mine's better though

 

Can't wait to actually see him play, he sounds exactly like the kind of player I love seeing at Newcastle.

A good one.

 

With Joey listed and not likely to play again do ppl think he will be given the 7 shirt?

 

It has bold titles and everything.

 

Abit Gay there <ski>

 

This is all good, apart from seeming to settle quickly in the area he has got gist of how passionate supporters are here. He seems to be level headed when talking about his team expectations also, I'm expecting him to be a success here and a fans favourite.

 

I like this guy. I hope we as fans remember give him the time to adapt (he may not need it). We need to think like Nobby Solano. He was cack for a year and a half but if they are good enough they adapt eventually. He is of better physical stature to Nobby and seems to have a bit of fire in his belly. A midfield of him and Tiote with Ben Arfa and Barton out wide would be very strong. Have to be Jonas or Marveaux down the right I suppose!

 

Marveaux blimey what team could understand them

 

This guy knows how to say all the right things. hes been very impressive in his interviews since joining. future captain maybe?

 

Interesting:

I wonder which player he may be referring to?

 

That might not be an accurate translation, original French was;

"L'équipe possède de bons joueurs qui cherchent à tout prix à monopoliser le cuir par une importante possession de balle." which google took as "The team has good players who want to monopolize all costs by a large leather ball possession."

 

good old google translate