Rarely, if ever, do I read a critical analysis of his contribution to the team.
There’s no doubt that he’s our best player for that position. A creative midfielder whose main responsibility is to play in front of the defensive midfielder and be the main link from defence to attack. But how does he compare to other midfielders from the top teams in the Premier League?
Here are some comparative stats;
| Played | Goals | Assists | Shots | |
| Yohan Cabaye | 22 | 2 | 5 | 31 |
| David Silva | 25 | 5 | 13 | 62 |
| Frank Lampard | 22 | 10 | 5 | 43 |
| Luka Modric | 20 | 3 | 6 | 57 |
| Mikel Arteta | 23 | 5 | 1 | 34 |
| Charlie Adam | 20 | 2 | 6 | 47 |
| Kieran Richardson | 24 | 2 | 4 | 30 |
The above includes the top midfielders from the top teams but I’ve included Kieran Richardson from the Mackems, who surprisingly is on par with our so called magical maestro.
I appreciate statistics don’t tell the full story, but they should be taken into account when they cover the most important aspects of a players role.
In my opinion, attacking midfielders should be largely judged on the above criteria. Strikers careers live or die on goal stats and quite rightly so.
We can all see the effort and commitment shown by Cabaye, the constant demand for the ball to his feet, his tidy passing and the eye for a long precise pass, but does this deceive us into believing he’s more effective than he actually is?
Your thoughts?
Written by Troy Stavers.
I’ve got that many questions I don’t know where to start.
To make it easier, I will summarise.
If I’ve been misled by people on here stating he would be our creative midfielder then I apologise.
I must now accept he’s a defensive midfielder who plays alongside a better defensive midfielder in Tiote.
I suggest it doesn’t work and one of them needs to be replaced for a better all round player. We got rid of Barton for Cabaye.
Barton was box to box.
Shamrock / Solano.- we’ve played two thirds of the season. Give me a few examples of where Cabaye has done something special offensively.
Discuss 😉
Troy Stavers(Quote)
@Big Dave
If you can’t beat em, join em 😉
Troy Stavers(Quote)
Barton played basically all of his Newcastle career as a right mid not a box to box midfielder!
SolanosTrumpet(Quote)
@whumpie
Well spotted. 😉
Troy Stavers(Quote)
Troy that goal against norwich the chip over the top to BA. 😀
Liam Southern Toon(Quote)
@solano
Silva plays in CM at planet Etihad. Agueiro and Dzecko play just in front of him.
You are probably confused having watched Cabaye too much but Silva actually does the role of attacking midfielder very well and gets in the box to support the strikers. 😆
Troy Stavers(Quote)
Ice I have noticed that there is players that get loads of stick, and then there is players that seem to be above being critisized.
Imo that is what the blog is for to talk about this player and that player and what their doing or not doing
Big Dave(Quote)
@liam
That’s one . I said a few . 😆
Troy Stavers(Quote)
I’d still take Barton over any of our current right mids though.
The pass against Norwich was world class, something Xavi would be proud of, up untill now we have only had Ba to aim at or making the runs, meaning it is hard for him to make good runs without being doubly marked, with Papiss here now we will see a lot more from Cabaye offensively as he will have two strikers constantly looking to get in behind and moving.
Troy do you at least admit that Silva isn’t a centre mid so you have found one central midfielder in the league with better stats than Cabaye.
Think you need to reevaluate what you think a centre midfielder is important for these day…
Wingers or midfielders off the strikers are a lot more responsible for assists. Centre mids often play “the pass before the assist”, as those that have ever had Modric in fantasy football know to well!
I do wholly agree though that because he does sit deep it means our wings need proper investment, Modric sitting deeper for Tottenham is fine because they have the likes of Lennon and Bale on the wings, if we had wingers that could get to the byline and whip a ball we would be a lot more threatening. The difference between you and i is that you seem to see a central midfielder sitting deep as a problem, pining for Nolan maybe 😉
SolanosTrumpet(Quote)
@solano
We all know where Barton played. Thanks for sharing that with us. 😉
He did however play the role of CM for us and just in my opinion did it more effectively than Cabaye.
I just don’t see the need for him to play so deep all the time when we’ve got a better defensive midfielder behind him.
Is he frightened to let Tiote pass more than 5 yards or something? 😯
Troy Stavers(Quote)
Unfair to judge Cabaye on goals and assists.
Other things make him the player he is, such as his link up play, commitment to making a tackle and winning back the ball, pass completion and perhaps more importantly his ‘assists to assists’. The fact that he often sits deep means he supplies the ball earlier. He doesn’t get many goals or assists as he doesn’t get that close to goal. He’s not an out and out attacking midfielder.
I’m sure his ‘pass completion’ rate would up his stats considerably. I bet he’s had plenty of ‘assist assists’ as it were.
Rodzilla(Quote)
Jarrad_Lad @70 – “Also we already have the creative potent attacking midfielder we need, he’s called Hatem ben Arfa, but he doesn’t play very much!!!”
That’s because the only things he creates are for himself. He creates chaos for defences, but so far has been very limited in being able to provide assists. At least, that’s my understanding of the problem. At least twice on Saturday he went for goal (and missed) when some would argue a pass was needed. But to be fair to Wolves, they had that goalmouth packed with defenders so it was hard to see any other option at times.
Whumpie(Quote)
Troy – the goal against manu 😀
the goal against wigan? 😀
The tackle on lee cattermole 😀
Liam Southern Toon(Quote)
@Troy
Silva sometimes plays attacking midfield, Cabaye plays centre mid. Huge difference.
You recognise the difference in defensive mid and centre mid don’t you? Well the gap is just as big between attacking midfielders and central midfielders, you could play Ben Arfa in a Silva role but never in Cabayes role.
As a football fan you should really recognise the difference.
Anyway regardless, Silva plays on the wing the majority of the time you nutter!
SolanosTrumpet(Quote)
@solano
I totally disagree with you about Silva.
I’ve explained his position in the post regarding planet Etihad. 😉
Troy Stavers(Quote)
Rodzilla guessing like me you have fallen victim to Modric’s “assists to assists” on fantasy football before as well lol.
SolanosTrumpet(Quote)
Wilshire is another example of a player who if you looked solely at goals/assists/shots wouldn’t look too special offensively.
SolanosTrumpet(Quote)
Solano, I play the fantasyleague.com one, but gave up buying Modric a couple of years ago cos his points tally was never actually that good, and he kept snapping himself all the time. 😆
Rodzilla(Quote)
I’m with troy. He was over hyped at the start of the season. Fans reaction to losing, nolan & barton. He is a good player. International, not world class. If he is being touted on goals and assists he should be compared to Nolan not barton. However he is more box to box.
premandup(Quote)
Tbh Troy every single one of the top teams play at least two central midfielders that are important components of the teams defensive displays, so far you to claim it isn’t necessary for him to sit deep with Tiote playing doesn’t suggest you’ve done your homework.
Maybe you should email Fergie and Mancini and tell them that Carrick/Yaya should get more forward when Fletcher/Barry are playing!!
I’ll let someone else take over from me for explaining the difference in football positions to Troy 😆
SolanosTrumpet(Quote)
@ whumpie 87
Agreed mate, he IS too selfish when he comes on…..because he’s DESPERATE to do something that makes AP play him..
Its a whole new thread and too repetitious to even bother with to go there..but the ideal system for me is 4-1-2-3 with Tiote in the DM role, Cabaye and A N Other prolly Guthrie as CM (Deep lying Playmakers), Ba Left sided and Ben Arfa right sided supporting Cisse
Bench of wingers in case 4-4-2 needed
but that team will turn over virtually all of the mediocre and mid-table!
Think AP is a brilliant Man manager, but sometimes cannot see beyond his own beliefs and/or try something different
anyways, good thread to get the blood going in the am, cheers Troy
Jarralad_in_Exile(Quote)
@solano
I take that nutter remark as a hoooge bite. You really shouldn’t do that. It makes you look a righ nutter. 😉
I’m so pleased you’ve have me an unnecessary lesson on football positions.
You really do complicate things. I never realised a CM could not feed the forwards or go into the oppositions box. So it’s only if you are “labelled” an attacking midfielder.
That’s where I’ve been going wrong.
Sorry lads, rip up the article Toonsy, Solano has it sorted. Wooo hoo hoo hoo 😆
Troy Stavers(Quote)
Prem and up – i agree he isnt world class otherwise he wouldnt be at newcastle; thats the reality of it
Liam Southern Toon(Quote)
…bottom line is, we’re not getting enough assists from our wingers or full backs. Ryan Taylor has our highest number of assists this season with a WHOPPING 5!!! 😯
Nuno Valencia has only played 14 games this season, not all from the start, and has 10 assists already. I think it’s the flanks that need addressing, not the centre. All down to what formation and tactics Pardew wants to play I suppose. ❓
Rodzilla(Quote)
I see Cabaye playing more of a deep lying defensive midfield role for us, which is a problem because it leaves a hole between our midfield and strikers,
If he’s going to play that role, he needs someone like Ben Arfa in front of him, which means we sacrifice our wingers, (which I’m fine with as they do very little).
If we persist with 4-4-2 he has to play a more advanced role, but I don’t get it. I think his creativity is restricted by Pardew’s defensive tactics…
JJ(Quote)
I tend to agree with you on that JJ. It’s puzzling. 😕
…having said that, I’m not too arsed. I hope Pardew gave himself a massive slap across the chops for throwing away 3 points on Saturday though. One tiny little bad decision fkd up the game for us. I think the substitutions he made were correct, for me, but extremely badly-timed by about 3 minutes. You don’t make a double substitution when defending a dangerous free kick.
Ah well, ye live and lorn…
Rodzilla(Quote)
Good article Troy – would have been interesting to see a yes/no votey thing for this one.
I think based on the fact that this is his first season in the premier league Cabaye – for the money he cost has done really well. He won’t be named player of the season IMO but I see him and Tiote as our first choice midfield everytime.
It does boil down to tactics and formations, and I don’t thing he can be compared with Silva who is a winger of advanced midfielder. City’s central midfield is Yaya Toure and Gareth Barry usually so probs Toure who have been a more realistic comparison – but I still don’t think Cabayes stats would be better than his.
We don’t play through the middle though and I agree with Premandup – Cabaye is more a box to box player. I like the fact he’s there to help Tiote out. Also other comments suggesting our wingers stats for goals and assists should be better than CM are correct.
We have a defensive attitude as a team and as such he performs the role Pardew instructs very well – I do believe there are goals in him and hopefully with a stronger defensive and a bit mote freedom to focus on attacking play we will see that side of his game.
I have tried to be as balanced as possible because at the moment he is my favourite player 😉 😆
Sharpy17(Quote)
I have to agree with Troy Stavers post 22: I had never heard of Cabaye prior to his arrival and I am sure many praising him likewise did not know him.
When the season kicked off the word ‘class’ and Cabaye became synonymous on this forum. He neither excels in goals nor assists one is left to ask what is his main contribution to the team.
I miss Kevin Nolan because his bursts, positioning, ability to be in the right place at the right time, his leadership and most importantly his goals from midfield were truly an asset to our team.
If asked who would I prefer Cabaye or Nolan, 10/10 times Kevin Nolan all day any day. Cabaye is overrated!
Michael12(Quote)
Get in Michael12 for bringing a touch of reality to the forum. 😉
Troy Stavers(Quote)
Cabayes a big player for us. You cant really judge him just on goals and assists. He’s got the knack of always being in space and willing to take the ball, a commodity i highly rate in CMs. He’s also very good and keeping the team ‘ticking’. doesn’t seem to misplace many passes and has a cool head. Lampard and silva both play as second strikers essentially, a role we cant really afford to have. No way would i have barton ahead of him, barton was excellent on the field for us last year at rm pinging the ball into a big striker but didnt really impress when he played in the middle plus i dont think he would have been as succsessfull in our current side. Why no man united players? Did he outperform them and scew the stats? Is cabaye as good as some say? No. Does he flatter to deceive? No. Does exactly what he says on the tin. A good all round CM.
Rorycn (Bottoms up)(Quote)
Surely thats a wind up michael12? nolan over cabaye?
Rorycn (Bottoms up)(Quote)
I always find it funny that people are saying our players aren’t living up to expectations when we are in the top 6 and not too far from 4th. In my eyes every player is exceeding expectations as I only expected a top 10 at the season start. With two quality strikers playing now I am sure the midfield will find it easier to be more creative.
One foot wonder(Quote)
Comparing Cabaye to Lampard? You kidding? Completely different roles. Same with Silva. A better comparison with Modric and Adam, though. Try also Barry for Man C, or Toure. Maybe Anderson at Man u, or Fletcher. Ramirez at Chelsea, or Mata at a push. Try Rosicky or Song at Arsenal.
Even they play different roles in a very different set up, but they are far far closer than Lampard.
It seems to me, Troy, that this opinion is based on a misunderstanding of how Newcastle play (or, more usually, forced to play), and the role of Cabaye in the game.
Or is it some kind of retrospective justification of a stance held earlier in the season?
brisvegas(Quote)
@rorycn
Watch Scott Parker. A defensive midfielder who is all over the park and is constantly linking up with strikers nevermind Moderic who is also a better player than Cabaye.
Why are our two midfielders too defensive?
Cabaye simply does not have to play so deep all the time.
Troy Stavers(Quote)
I HAVE INSIDE WORD THAT NEWCASTLE HAVE AGREED A FEE WITH ARSENAL TO SELL CABAYE FOR WHAT PARDEW BELIEVES TO BE IN THE REGION ON 9-12 MILLION.
I AM PARDEWS BRO :COOL:
PIG(Quote)
Troy
Modric, is a better player than anyone bar maybe David Silva in the premier league.
Both are creative attacking midfielders who play behind the strikers.
Cabaye is box to box… Very different player, but I still agree, not in the same league.
I do believe, however, he would be far far more effective if he was told to push up more.
JJ(Quote)
@Brisvegas
The fact that Cabaye does not compare to lampard is because he hasn’t got the ability to play in the same role.
You put too much emphasis on restrictions to certain positions.
We are talking about a CM who rarely gets in the opposition box.! Do you really believe he is told to sit deep all the time?
Troy Stavers(Quote)
JUST RECIEVED WORD FROM PARDEW NUFC HAVE AGREED TO SELL TIOTE TO REAL MADRID FOR 22.5M THIS IS 100% TRUE IMO
IM PARDEWS BRO 😎
PIG(Quote)
PIG
I just got inside word that some brain damaged fool who can’t string four intellegent words together is hanging around the blog… Better watch out for him. 😉
JJ(Quote)
He may not have to play so deep but its the way we are set out to play. We defend deepish in numbers and get the ball to wingers is the aim (But we have **** wingers who cant cross) As your analogy shows Swap parker for tiote and then cabaye for modric. As you highlight modric is a better player than cabaye in a better team than cabaye and plays higher up the field than cabaye and yet has only 1 more goal and 1 more assist all be it from two less games. Which one is then flattering to deceive?
Rorycn (Bottoms up)(Quote)
JUST RECIEVED NEWS FROM SPORTS DIRECT ARENA NUFC HAVE/OR WILL SIGN MOUSSA SISSOKO FOR THE FEE OF 9.5M TO REPLACE TIOTE
PARDEWS BRO HERE
PIG(Quote)
Rorycn
Wow, that just made a lot of sense… Agree with all of that.
I also think some heroic off the line defending and a bit of fortune in playing that deep defensive style brought us a lot of victories early in the season.
However, I think missing the tactic and missing Saylor, it is now catching up with us, as those deflected shots are now going in and the clearances off the line arn’t being made… So those narrow one goal wins are now turning into draws and loses.
It think its about time we started trying to attack more, and control games, rather than sit back and hope Demba’s clinical finishing snatches us a win.
JJ(Quote)
Michael, I agree Nolan v Cabaye and Nolan was a better attacking player but that was the position Pardew played him in. More often than not he was playing off Carroll almost in a number 10 role.
I would compare Nolan more with the Van Der Vaart role rather than the Modric role in fairness and Cabaye certainly doesn’t play that high up.
I do think that people get carried away and if he’s being rated as class then yes he’d beoverrated.
Does he work hard for the team – yes. Could he provide more interms of goals and assists -yes probably. Is he playing the way he does because Pardew instructs him to – more than likely.
The problem we have is that we are very defence minded this season and I dont know if that’s because Pardew is aware we have a weak back 4 or whether he just prefers having a hard to beat team.
Sharpy17(Quote)
PIG have you nothing worthwhile to say or do you just like to chat **** on here and keep the sensible stuff for your fav .com ?
Big Dave(Quote)
@Rorycn
So when the opposition are attacking, we defend in numbers. That includes Cabaye. I’ve understood that bit. That’s an obvious duty of a CM.
I’m a bit lost though when we attack? Does Cabaye have no duty in this aspect of the game?
If not then I agree with you.
But if it is part of his duty to join in attacks, set up attacks , get in the opposition box occasionally, why doesn’t he? 😯
Troy Stavers(Quote)
Troy
Because he probably instructed not to. Its the style of play you get with 4-4-2.
If you look at Barcelona, when they lose the ball, everybody from Messi down gets behind the ball, and when they have it, everyone from Puyol forwards gets into the opposition half.
What it does tell you is that the manager clearly feels there isn’t enough pace in our midfield and defence to this and so all our attacks come from getting the ball wide and into our two strikers.
It worked for a while, now its become too predictable and us sitting back is just inviting pressure which we are paying a price for…
If we push too far up, we get caught with pace on the counter… its a huge flaw because we don’t have enough pace in the team… Which is why it helps to have people like Obertan there.
We got away with it just with Taylor there, but Willo is far too slow. Its a huge problem. If our wing backs push up it leaves just Tiote and Colo and Willo to stop the counter attack and they just don’t have the pace.
This means we need our midfielders to sit deep and cover the flaw… which just invites pressure and leaves our front two isolated. The only service they get is from the wingers and that service is poor…
Ie. We NEED more PACE in defence!
JJ(Quote)
With such a conservative midfield, we should really be looking to have more attacking wingers but the whole midfield is quite defensive at the moment. We need to hope that the two boys from Senegal can form a v good partnership for this to work, they look like they can work the channels and play off each other but they havn’t actually played that many times together despite the internationals. It’s the first time we have had two proper ‘goalscorers’ on the pitch for a long time but it will be interesting to see how greedy they are if they have a chance at goal or a team mate free. That is the flip side with goalscorers! We have already seen how greedy Ben Arfa is.
DJG(Quote)
Oh ye, and we need wingers who can give better serve and final ball…
Two most important things this summer.
JJ(Quote)
Boring. Negative. One Dimensional. Oh I’m not talking about Cabaye, I’m referring to this article.
Cabaye is a key player for us, we miss him when he’s gone and we play better when he’s in the team. His overall contribution to the team is greater than the stats you have highlighted in your article. In addition, he has a very good partnership with Tiote. How many times this season have we bossed the midfield? I’d say quite a few. First season in the Prem and for me, he’s doing well.
David(Quote)
I think too many make too many excuses .
We had the same defence last year and the year before. We’ve never played this defensively though.
I think it’s utter rubbish that the back four cant be trusted, that the wingers don’t do enough anymore than Pardew instructs them both to sit deep.
The facts are that Cabaye sits too deep out of choice because that’s where he feels comfortable.
Troy Stavers(Quote)
@david
That’s exactly why I wrote this article. Because of people like you who are deceived. 😉
Troy Stavers(Quote)
I’m pleased with Cabaye, he’s had a good first season and has genuinely improved our first 11 IMO. Stats don’t always tell the whole story and Cabaye has to do quite a lot of the donkey work which doesn’t really show up in stats. I doubt Silva, Lampard, Modric ect. track back as much as Cabaye does. It is playing this boring, un-Newcastle like way that has got us where we are this season, we mustnt forget that. 😕
DJG(Quote)
Haha, oh yes. I’m deceived because I disagree with your thoughts. Must be so nice when you’re never wrong.
Cabaye is better than anyone else in that role in our current squad. That is why Pardew (A premier league manager) plays him week in and week out.
David(Quote)
Troy – no we don’t – Williamson and Santon were not in our defence last season!!!
Sharpy17(Quote)
I agree with you Troy, but it is something to address in the summer, for now we should just stick to what we know, are you suggesting we go all out attack against O’Neil and get hit on the break with Simpson trying to defend? 😕
DJG(Quote)
@David
I love it when you jump in the deep end with your hands tied behind your back and wearing your absorbent UGG boots. 😉
If you read my article I do actually state that he is the best player at the club for that position.
That doesn’t mean that I think he’s fulfilling the role well enough.
Wake up David . 🙂
Troy Stavers(Quote)
Big Dave says:
February 27, 2012 at 10:52
As Whumpie says I would love to see Guthries stats’
Big Dave I posted Guthrie vs. Cabaye stats a few weeks ago and Guthrie actually comes out on top in some areas. After that last game though. 😯 Maybe not now.
DJG(Quote)
That is one for NUFCstats though, not me. 🙂
DJG(Quote)
@sharpy
You’re right but I was generalising about the squad players but yes Santon is now here but he’s no slower than Enrique.
Troy Stavers(Quote)
I wish Cabaye was as good as many of you claim he is. I have a Newcastle in my blood and cannot think ever of supporting another team. Cabaye being as good as many of you claim would mean Newcastle are doing very well and would make me very happy. I have no reason to not want Cabaye to be very good.
People start defending him by claiming he is more defensive. A player can be one of two things, defensive or attacking either scenarios comprehensively show Cabaye is not good at any.
If he is more defensive: We are leaking goals, looks like he is not doing a good job there.
If he is attacking: There is consensus that we are not creating chances for our strikers and we are relying on individual moments of brilliance from Ba and Cisse. looks like he is not doing a good job there too. 😯
Paul scholes despite coming out of retirement halfway into the season, despite being 37 years old and only played 6 league games this season has scored as many as Cabaye. That is disappointing even if it is first season.
Michael12(Quote)
@131
And yet you could only find one player in the league that “fufils the role” better then him.
No Silva and Lampard don’t play the same position as him.
As a “football fan” you should understand the difference in positions. Christ even the same position can mean vastly different things to different teams, as Carroll at Liverpool is showing.
Whether he should be playing higher up the pitch is a different discussion all together, but Pardew has got it right so far.
SolanosTrumpet(Quote)
DAVID by your comment you have made this thread a important point to debate,being a little less rude would help too imo
icedog(Quote)
I’m glad we’ve got rid of Enrique now actually, same goes for Barton and Nolan. Enrique is a mercinary. He looks half the player he was at the toon with Jonas. He doesn’t attack half as much up the wing and he still makes silly errors that gift chances at the back where he is trying to be too clever. I can’t believe they won yesterday after not scoring the first two penalties. Kuyt has been a good player for them, I can’t wait to see the back of him.
DJG(Quote)
@Troy Fair enough.
I still stand by my first response however. If he’s the best player for that position at the club, then how can he be flattering to deceive? Because he’s not as good as David Silva? He hasn’t scored as many goals as Lampard (who takes all of chelsea’s penalties)? Hasn’t set up as many as Modric? Big deal, these players are all established premier league players.
Give the guy a break and commend his efforts, rather than questioning his ability.
David(Quote)
@Solano
I thought we agreed you are wrong. Or was it just me telling you that you’re wrong. 😉
I’ve never known such a blinkered view of a CM role.
As I’ve stated, he couldn’t play in the style of Lampard who also gets back and defends, as does Gerrard. Their great asset is, they fullfil the role by not only doing what Cabaye does but also supporting the forwards.
Stop making excuses for his lack of attacking ability.
Troy Stavers(Quote)
@David
Sorry for being critical of your untouchable player. 😯
Troy Stavers(Quote)
TROY may i say you have shocked me! in the last few days you “can”debate well done long may it last,that showed some mate eh 😉
icedog(Quote)
@Troy
Never said he was untouchable, never said the criticism is a bad thing, but I think that the article in no way gives a balanced view of the player. Instead you pitch the player against extremely good and established premier league players and question why he isn’t as good. I fail to see the point in that.
David(Quote)
not saying your reet on all points like 😆
icedog(Quote)
@135 – 😆 You don’t half talk a lot of s**t. ”Can only be defensive or attacking.” Erm, well no actually. They can be rounded and chip in with a bit of everything.
”He is comprehensively failing on both parts.” Erm, no he’s not. He has the 3rd highest total of successful tackles in the Premiership out of anybody this season. According to the above stats, he is pretty much on a par with Adam, Modric & Arteta.
Joey Barton has done far less than Cabaye this season in terms of defending & attacking, so has Danny Guthrie.
Is the team not doing well now? I must be blinkered and deluded because apparently 6th is not good enough for us considering we only expected mid table at the start of the season.
What a stupid ‘annihilation’ of a very good player this discussion is, who has contributed massively to our position during a very successful season for the team so far. WTF do you want? I suppose it’s inexcuseable that we are letting Chelsea & Arsenal run away in the ‘race for 4th’ too. Fooking mental.
Overhyped my @rse. 1st season in the best league in the world and he is having a blinder. Good on him, good on Pardew and good on Carr for getting him here and I fr one am looking forward to more of the lad wearing our colours.
Shamrock(Quote)
@Shamrock
“What a stupid ‘annihilation’ of a very good player this discussion is, who has contributed massively to our position during a very successful season for the team so far.”
Couldn’t agree more.
David(Quote)
@Troy
I don’t think that has ever happened on this thread, maybe one day petal. That you can’t get your head around DM, CM and AM being different positions baffles me, do you think Van der Vaart could play in Cabaye’s position? How cant you see that they require different attributes all together? Jesus christ man.
Does Lampard do what Cabaye does defensively? Blinkered fool.
It sums up your tunnel vision that you forever refuse to concede when you make weak arguments, whilst others will agree that Pardew maybe plays Cabaye too deep you continually just ignore people asking why you have not included MANY important stats that can be used to judge a midfielder.
QUOTE “In my opinion, attacking midfielders should be largely judged on the above criteria(goals/assists/shots) ”
yet refuse to acknowledge that as one of the best midfielders in the league Modric proves this isn’t so.
You also refuse to acknowledge that the team top of the league this season, and the team that won it last season both played two midfielders in the centre that in your blinkered view didn’t contribute much offensively (Yaya-Barry & Fletcher – Carrick)
Do you question Wilshire’s talent? One of the most talented English players to break through in a generation only got 1 goal and 3 assists last season, surely that isn’t good enough for managerial genius Troy?!
Definitely not going to waste my time reading another of your articles or rising to your troll comments, you’ve questioned the talent of every single one of our players this season with the exception of Colo, Tiote and Krul, pathetic excuse of a fan.
Btw, surely even you must be embarassed by the comments of some of the people agreeing with you, Michael12 would play Nolan over Cabaye? Never heard such tripe in all my life.
SolanosTrumpet(Quote)
Spot on shamrock at 145
Johno Toon(Quote)
Troy- This is why most of us don’t write. 😆
DJG(Quote)
Is it fair to question someone’s ability and effectiveness when your generalising though?
The team has changed massively since last season. In fact there is only Krul, Simpson, Colo, Jonas and Tiote remaining from the starting 11 last season that have played regularly this season – less than half the team!!
Then I would suggest we have played the best part of the season with at least 2 of our strongest 11 missing, and we have already said we don’t have strength in depth .. and very little depth for that matter.
These things can be written off as excuses if it suits your side of the argument but the fact is that they are contributing factors.
To compare Cabaye with players who play in an established team, who have more than 2/3rds of a seasons experience playing in the EPL is alittle unfair IMO, particularly rating him against players who play in a different role … or am I just making excuses. 😉
Sharpy17(Quote)