Team Focus: Montpellier Move Towards Safety but Can They Keep Cabella?

As Montpellier closed on an unlikely title triumph in 2012, their colourful president Louis ‘Lou Lou’ Nicollin decreed such an exploit “impossible” in one of his rare printable comments about his club’s progress. A tricky start to this season, leading to the departure of coach Jean Fernandez, has left the club looking down the barrel of a rather less palatable shock – possible relegation.

“At the start of the season, I’d have given you 100/1 against (Montpellier) going down,” said new coach Rolland Courbis, shortly before Ligue 1’s resumption this month. “Today, with 10 away matches left to play, I wouldn’t bet you anything.” Montpellier’s 12 draws in 21 matches have left them looking nervously over their shoulders, particularly since Valenciennes’ recent upturn in form.

Courbis’ return, after he saved the club from relegation from Ligue 2 in 2007 and went onto to gain promotion in 2009, has been a wake-up call. The signs are that the players are getting the basics right under the new regime.

After a creditable draw against Monaco last week, Montpellier won their first match in Ligue 1 since hammering Lyon in October by winning at struggling Sochaux on Saturday night. It was a consummate away performance. Montpellier had twice as many shots as their hosts (12 to 6), despite only garnering 44% of possession.

Against one of the most physical teams in Ligue 1, it was always likely to be a matter of attrition for Courbis’ men, and that’s exactly what it proved to be. Yet Montpellier oozed control, picking up no bookings and only giving away 7 fouls in the match, an important step of progress after a ridiculous 10 red cards received already this season.

The defensive performance showed their poise, with Abdelhamid El Kaoutari proving his importance with 15 successful clearances. Star man Daniel Congré, meanwhile, made 4 tackles and 5 interceptions while Benjamin Stambouli was the steady influence in midfield, combining 3 tackles of his own with an impressive 91% pass accuracy. 

In this context, their nimble talisman Rémy Cabella was fairly quiet by his standards, completing no key passes and only having 2 shots. Courbis replaced him with the defensively-minded Jamel Saihi late on as the southerners moved to close out only a third win of the league season.

Yet Cabella remains vital to Montpellier’s battle against the drop. He leads Montpellier’s WhoScored ratings table with an average of 7.21, despite having had his ups and downs this season, with one notable setback coming in the October home defeat to Lille. The midfielder was brilliantly denied from the penalty spot by Vincent Enyeama late on, and left the pitch looking inconsolable.

They are still incredibly reliant on him. 23-year-old Cabella has scored 6 and provided 3 assists in his 19 starts to date, with only the long-serving Souleymane Camara – 2 goals and 2 assists, including the pass for Siaka Tiené’s match-clinching second versus Sochaux – coming anywhere near matching Cabella’s decisive role.

Montpellier’s slip from the top since 2012 is not unexpected. They are a club of modest means, and immediately lost their best player, Olivier Giroud, whose 21 goals in the title-winning season had been augmented by 9 assists. They have since lost key midfielder Younès Belhanda too, after his 10 goals helped to steady the ship in last season’s tricky follow-up campaign.

By then, Cabella had already taken over the creative burden, scoring 7 himself and supplying another 8 (compared to Belhanda’s 3). Now he is the sole go-to for Montpellier, but the spectre of losing him has popped up again. A Sunday night report on Canal+ claimed Paris Saint-Germain had agreed a €26m deal for Newcastle’s Yohan Cabaye – contingent on Montpellier accepting a deal to sell Cabella to the Premier League side. Losing Cabella in the summer is an accepted fact, but it would be tough for Courbis and company if he went now.

In no way can Cabella be described as a genuine replacement for Cabaye. Though they have a similar rate of tackles per game (Cabella averages 2, Cabaye 2.4), the Newcastle man’s interceptions (2.4 to Cabella’s 1) demonstrate he has an ability to break up play that his potential successor in the Toon midfield simply doesn’t.

In turn, Cabella has a more creative side than the more senior Cabaye. Though there is a gap in the amount of key passes they supply (Cabella delivers 2.1 per match, compared to Cabaye’s 1.7), the free-kicks they win show us where their characteristics really diverge. Cabella is fouled 2.9 times per game, while Cabaye suffers an average of just 0.7 fouls each match.

While this partly reflects Cabaye’s ability to master duels in the Premier League – an edge that has been apparent ever since his arrival in the north-east – it is a bigger indicator of Cabella’s quick feet drawing fouls, as he did in the first game after the winter break. The experienced Eric Abidal was lured into chopping Cabella down in the box for the penalty that led to Montpellier’s equaliser. Cabella’s 1.3 dribbles per game is significantly ahead of Cabaye’s 0.3.

Cabella’s ability to assume responsibility is nothing new. On the home strait of that title-winning season, he came in to provide the creative impetus for René Girard’s team after Belhanda was banned for his part in a mass brawl at the end of a fractious draw with Evian. Taking on the number 10 role, Cabella stepped up and showed his sang froid in a pressure situation, setting up both goals as Montpellier won 2-0 at Rennes. After winning the remaining two games of the season, they were – improbably – champions.

There will be no repeat of those exploits in this campaign. Given the teething problems encountered in replacing Girard, mid-table would be a good achievement. Montpellier would be taking a big risk in thinking they can reach that target without Cabella.

Would Montpellier be relegated were they to lose Cabella in January? Let us know in the comments below