The sight of Yohan Cabaye limping off the Stade Saint-Symphorien pitch with a calf injury 20 minutes into Paris Saint-Germain’s 3-2 win over FC Metz on Friday could prove to be one of the final sightings of the French international in PSG colours.
With the severity of the 28-year-old’s problem not yet known, it could be weeks or even months before he is fit to play again.
If that proves to be the case and Cabaye is out of action until January of next year or beyond, then the next game he plays could be for another club.
While it would be unfair to heap criticism upon the PSG No. 4 after his unfortunate injury against Metz, the fact remains that the pressure was on him before the Metz match.
Cabaye’s recent misfortune emphasises just how unlucky he has been, but it also deprives him of some of his final chances to impress after a woeful start to the season.
According to quotes published in L’Equipe, h/t Goal.com’s Mark Doyle, Cabaye is not happy in Paris after his move last January failed to work out.
The Frenchman finds himself behind Thiago Motta, Blaise Matuidi and Marco Verratti in the PSG pecking order, and that is unlikely to change between now and January, with his poor form starting to threaten his place in the national team.
Prior to the Metz clash, the injuries to Verratti and Matuidi that prohibited them from starting offered Cabaye a rare chance to shine. He was deprived of taking that opportunity, but time will continue to tick away as an inevitable move away from PSG draws closer.
Even had the former Newcastle United man been able to impress against Metz, the outcome would likely be the same still. Cabaye will remain behind at least three players in coach Laurent Blanc’s pecking order, possibly dropping even further down the list now that Adrien Rabiot is back in action after recently inking a contract extension.
The PSG man is essentially playing for a move away but was not even able to do that for more than 20 minutes.
Now, depending on how long Cabaye’s injury will keep him out for, the pressure will build and build on one of Les Bleus’ key figures under coach Didier Deschamps.
With no international football to come now until early next year, the French No. 6 faces a long wait to find out if he figures in the former FIFA World Cup and UEFA European Championship-winning captain’s next squad.
He cannot afford to still be in Paris and in the same vein of poor form when the 46-year-old names his next squad for the friendly clash with Denmark at the end of March.
Cabaye needs to sort his future out and he needs to do it in January. Right now, the Metz game aside, the midfielder is playing under immense pressure and is clearly scared to put a foot wrong.
The self-confidence that the Frenchman arrived with in Paris after an excellent spell of form with Newcastle is gone, replaced by a player clearly unconvinced that he will ever be given a chance to establish himself as part of Blanc’s first-team plans.
Cabaye’s injury and performance against Metz prior to that does not directly put him under pressure, but it is the wait until he next gets an opportunity that will see that build to an unbearable level now. The PSG man could ill-afford to pass up another opportunity, as he has do so often in recent weeks, but that is what happened.
Now Cabaye’s future may not lie in his own hands.
from Bleacher Report http://ift.tt/1uQAtZ2
via IFTTT November 22, 2014 at 05:58AM
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