Player Focus: Remy Cabella (Montpellier)

Montpellier travelled to Brittany on Monday night knowing that anything but a win would put Paris Saint-Germain back in the driving seat for this year’s title. With Rennes chasing a place in the Europa League, it would not be an easy task.

Only six days had passed since Montpellier hosted Evian at the Stade de la Mosson, a win for La Paillade would have seen them extend their lead to eight points and leave the surprise team of the season with one hand on the Ligue 1 title. The game turned into a disaster when Evian didn’t read the script and found themselves 2-1 up and only 10 minutes from changing Montpellier’s destiny.

Ligue 1’s top scorer Olivier Giroud levelled the score with only a few minutes left on the clock. With the home fans hoping from some magic from Giroud or Younes Belhanda it was young Remy Cabella that would create the decisive moment. Deep into injury time the 22-year old drove at the Evian defence, leaving defenders in his wake, until he met the legs of Cedric Cambon. A moment of magic from the Corsican winger gave his side the chance to grab all three points.

In the end Souleymane Camara missed the penalty – it was inevitable after waiting nearly eight minutes to take it – the real story was the melee that ensued. A confrontation between Montpellier’s Moroccan midfielder Younes Belhanda and Evian’s Cedric Mongongu ended with both men being shown a red card, then continuing to fight on the way down the tunnel. A full 22-man rumble started and two more players were shown the carton rouge.

Belhanda was already due a suspension due to the number of yellow cards accumulated in the last ten games, but now with a straight red to his name and only three games left, it looks like the Moroccan’s season is over. When one door closes another opens, and the season looks like it has only just begun for the extremely talented Cabella.

Replacing a player with 12 goals and five assists is never going to be easy but with Cabella in the #10 role, there is a chance Rene Girard could have a ready-made replacement. With three games to go Cabella’s excellent man of the match performance against Rennes lifted Montpellier back to the top of the table and had Montpellier fans saying “Younes who?”

No one saw more of the ball than Cabella, when in possession he was full of tricks, releasing three key passes and finding his target 81% of the time. His 13 crosses were more than the whole Rennes team managed. He was the star of the show.

Coach Rene Girard expressed his delight at Cabella’s performance: “We were missing important players tonight but we were properly prepared and when you see the performance that Rémy (Cabella) put in...the freshness, the quality, the care-free way in which he went about his game...he just needs a bit more discipline, like Younès.”

One of his two shots on goal crashed off the post only to rebound off goalkeeper Benoit Costill and into the Rennes net. The goal wasn’t credited to the player himself but it was all Cabella. It was the winger’s hard work and tenacity that helped create the opener as he chased down John Boye, leading Souleymane Camara to pounce and put Montpellier one up.

If Montpellier are to complete the fairy-tale story without their African playmaker then this could be the chance Remy Cabella needs to move his career to the next level. When Belhanda left to play in the African Cup of Nations we got to see a glimpse of what the youngster has to offer. An assist against Brest and a goal at Ajaccio saw Montpellier stay top of the table when others expected their form to slip without a number of key players.

The stats for this season don’t jump off the page, but certainly improve when only factoring in the 14 games in which he has started (as above). Only three goals and two assists so far have led to his WhoScored.com rating of 6.81. Landing 88.1% of his passes he very rarely loses the ball. Creatively he could do more, and with only 1.1 key passes per game it’s easy to see why he only has the two assists.

What makes Cabella exciting is that feeling you get when he gets the ball, he is the sort of player that gets you out of your seat. A sense of anticipation fills the stadium when he starts to run at defenders. In his early days he used to use a flash of blonde in his hair to attract attention, now it’s simply down to his ability on the ball.

As far as end product goes the stats aren’t as impressive as they could be. When you look at his most productive games you can see the potential is there, he is a name to watch, and with Giroud and Belhanda potentially moving on in the summer, these last three games could be a window into the future of an excellent young player.