What can Crystal Palace expect from Yohan Cabaye? A tactical analysis

Published: 10 July 2015

Written by Michael Wicks

Wow, what a day. Seemingly the most protracted transfer in Crystal Palace history, but yet it still feels like the most amazing surprise. When the initial euphoria dies down - which will take a while - a legitimate question is: what can we expect from our record signing, Yohan Cabaye?

One thing is eminently clear. Palace have signed a multifaceted midfielder who can adapt to a number of roles. One of the more obvious questions that Palace fans have been asking is ‘who does he replace?’. The answer seems to be any of the midfield three, be it in the deep roles which Mile Jedinak, Joe Ledley and James McArthur have filled, or the role behind the striker which Marouane Chamakh and Jason Puncheon have both done so well in.

Some people have questioned whether it’s wise to spend such a large part of our budget on a player in a position where we’re already well stocked. It’s a fair question and there are two answers to it. One is, simply, you should not pass up the opportunity to sign a player of Cabaye’s class. The second is more nuanced.

Alan Pardew has spoken to wanting to change the way Palace play, becoming less reactive and controlling possession more (see his attempts to play Puncheon in a slightly deeper role). Despite Pardew being around for half the season, and Palace being the sixth best team in that period, we still finished rock bottom in the following categories: passes per game, average possession and pass completion percentage.

Clearly, a player who averages about fifty passes per game and who last season had a pass completion percentage of 89% is going to improve this. But this is not news to anybody. The harder question to answer is whether Cabaye will play deeper, or more advanced. Cabaye gave a little clue in his first interview with Chris Grierson where he stated “I know with Alan Pardew I can play higher up the pitch, just behind the striker”.

But throughout his career Cabaye seems to have been more of a classic central midfielder. Neither a holding midfielder, nor a ‘number 10’, the Palace player he is most similar to is our previous record signing James McArthur. Note the two heatmaps below, with both players roaming almost everywhere between the two penalty areas.

James McArthur; Crystal Palace 3-1 QPR 14th March 2015

Yohan Cabaye; Crystal Palace 0-3 Newcastle 21st December 2013

Every Palace fan will remember Cabaye’s man of the match performance at Selhurst that day, which was the first time we had been taken apart in Tony Pulis’ reign. Cabaye completed 83% of his passes, managed four shots on target and of course scored the opening goal. His heatmap above shows how he covered almost every blade of grass, but with a slight fondness for the pocket of space to the left of the centre circle.

That was a consistent theme during his Newcastle career. A look at one of his other big Newcastle performances was in the 2-0 win over Liverpool at St James’ Park, the season the Magpies finished 5th.

Yohan Cabaye; Newcastle 2-0 Liverpool 1st April 2012

Again, Cabaye roams all over the pitch but the preference for that pocket is apparent. On that day in March 2012, Cabaye demonstrated his qualities on and off the ball. Whilst still managing two key passes, he also completed two tackles and one interception.

Going back further, to Newcastle’s 3-0 win over Manchester United in January, Cabaye put on a performance which highlighted his defensive capabilities.

Yohan Cabaye; Newcastle 3-0 Manchester United 4th January 2012

Cabaye hardly set foot in the Manchester United penalty area (although still managed to score a sumptuous free kick) and did most of his work in his own half. He only touched the ball 36 times (less than half of the 80 he managed against Liverpool) and he only attempted 22 passes, but he completed four interceptions and was hugely influential in Newcastle’s dominant performance.

As a final demonstration of his versatility, Cabaye played a completely different role for France at the 2014 World Cup. His best performance came in Les Bleus’ opening 3-0 win against Honduras. Cabaye took up what can best be described as the ‘Pirlo’ role, sitting in front of the back four, not as a holding midfielder, but as a playmaker.

Yohan Cabaye; France 3-0 Honduras 15th June 2014

He hardly left that position, but was the conduit for all of France’s attacks that day. He touched the ball 84 times, attempted 79 passes (in only 65 minutes) and completed a phenomenal 96% of them. As Stuart James wrote in a fabulous write up in the Guardian, “Cabaye made France tick, using the ball intelligently not only to start moves but also to deliver decisive passes when he ventured further forward.”

Suddenly Cabaye seems less like a marquee signing for the sake of it and more like a player who can fundamentally change the way Pardew’s Palace play and who adds great versatility to our midfield. Jason Puncheon and James McArthur were strong Player of the Year contenders last season, so the immediately obvious combination would be those two and Cabaye in midfield. Which would leave Mile Jedinak, Joe Ledley and Marouane Chamakh - three players who contributed hugely to our 11th placed finish in 2013-14 - on the bench. Of course, you can imagine any number of midfield combinations including the aforementioned three, and indeed Lee Chung-yong and Jordan Mutch, demonstrating the plethora of options that we now have in the engine room.

But one thing seems certain; Yohan Cabaye will be the player that the Palace team is built around next season.

FYP Fanzine