In a real statement of intent for the season ahead, Crystal Palace splashed a club record fee of £12 million to sign Yohan Cabaye from Paris Saint Germain. The 29-year-old reunites with Alan Pardew after previously plying his trade for the Eagles boss with Newcastle and admitted the pair’s previous ties were key to his decision:
“I wanted to come and play for Palace because there are some really strong players here. They finished very well last season and I think they can compete to get into the top eight. I also know the gaffer and have worked with him before and I’m confident with him. I want to do my best for him because he’s made a big effort to get me to come here, as well as the Chairman, so I have to say a big thank you to both of them.”
The History
Born in France, Cabaye cut his teeth at local club Tourcoing FC, joining their youth academy at the age of six. He then spent the next six years training at Lille, before being afforded a run of starts for the Ligue 1 giants’ reserve squad in the 2003/04 season. Playing in the fourth tier of French football, Cabaye netted one goal in 1tenoutings, earning himself five league starts for the senior team in the following campaign.
Cabaye was granted significantly more playing time in the 2005/06 season and went on to record one goal and two assists in 26 appearances (20 starts). After tallying just 17 starts the following year due to a recurring ankle injury, the France international posted the best attacking returns of his fledgling career in the 2007/08 campaign, chalking up seven goals and three assists in 36 appearances.
Cabaye continued to flourish over his next three years with Les Dogues, notching 19 goals and 22 assists across 100 outings, with his best attacking output arriving in the 2009/10 campaign (13 goals and eight assists). Impressed by his playmaking prowess on the continent, Newcastle United snapped up Cabaye in the summer of 2011.
Following on from a successful debut season at St James’ Park that harvested four goals and eight assists, Cabaye registered six goals and two assists in the 2012/13 campaign – despite contending with a groin injury that sidelined him for ten matches. Cabaye would transfer back to Ligue 1 with Paris Saint Germain in January 2014 – but not before enjoying the most profitable spell of his career to-date, tallying seven goals and three assists in 19 appearances.
One of the first names on the teamsheet at his previous two clubs, Cabaye was somewhat of a peripheral figure at the Parc des Princes, only managing 22 starts in his one-and-a-half seasons at PSG. With 1781 minutes to his name over that stretch, the midfield orchestrator bagged just one goal and three assists.
After making his senior debut for France back in August 2010, Cabaye has racked up a further 37 caps for Les Bleus, notching three goals in the process. He played a prominent role in France’s 2014 World Cup campaign, starting four of their five fixtures in Brazil.
The Prospects
Cabaye operated as a deep-lying playmaker in a 4-3-3 set-up during his time with PSG and will likely assume a similar role with the Eagles, with Pardew favouring the 4-3-3 and 4-2-3-1 formations. Certainly, the Frenchman’s arrival raises question marks over Palace’s midfield for the season ahead. If Pardew opts for a 4-2-3-1, he’s likely to partner either Mile Jedinak or James McArthur in the double-pivot, allowing Jason Puncheon, Yannick Bolasie and Wilfried Zaha to line up in the attacking midfield roles.
Alternatively, and perhaps more unlikely, Cabaye could operate further up the field if Pardew keeps faith with Jedinak and McArthur in the holding roles, meaning one of Puncheon, Bolasie or Zaha could miss out. In fact, the last time the Frenchman netted a brace was during his final start for Newcastle, when he occupied the number ten role. A 4-3-3, meanwhile, would allow both Jedinak and McArthur to retain their starting berths and again place question marks over the attacking trio.
As a by-product of Cabaye’s insertion into the starting XI, Puncheon (6.0) drops down a little in our estimations as a mid-priced option, given that he’ll likely have to share set-piece duty with the France international. Out of Puncheon’s six goals and seven assists last term, 61% resulted from set piece situations (free kicks: three goals and two assists; corners: three assists), highlighting how imperative this facet of the game is to his attacking output. Cabaye claimed the lion’s share of set pieces under Pardew at Newcastle – bagging four goals from free-kicks – so you’d fancy the former Toon manager to entrust his marquee signing with the same responsibility at Selhurst Park.
With Puncheon’s prospects taking a hit, then, the appeal of Bolasie (6.5) a mid-priced differential remains just as strong. The DR Congo international amassed four goals and 12 assists in the previous campaign, with only Cesc Fabregas (19) bettering his assist haul. Bolasie fashioned attempts at a faster rate than any other Eagles midfielder (every 41.9 minutes) while ranking second behind Puncheon for key passes (45). Furthermore, Bolasie was occasionally utilised as a forward by Pardew towards the end of last term against the likes of Chelsea and Liverpool. Zaha (5.5), meanwhile, is more on the periphery of our thinking, yet his late-season spree of three goals and an assist in the final 10 Gameweeks illustrates his budget potential.
Looking at the schedule, though, Palace’s opening run may well deter initial investors. The Eagles square up to Arsenal, Chelsea, City and Spurs in the opening six rounds of fixtures, leaving them with a couple of kind showdowns against Norwich and Villa during that period. This may well afford us time to assess Pardew’s plans and Cabaye’s impact upon the Palace first XI before the fixtures take a turn for the better in Gameweek 7.
