Newsletter

Get your daily update and weekly newsletter by signing up today!

News

Pardew says he replaced Yohan Cabaye with a ‘Battering Ram’

9 years ago
Share

Alan Pardew has said that following the loss of Yohan Cabaye, he has eventually replaced him with a ‘battering ram’.

The Newcastle boss suggesting that Moussa Sissoko has now filled the sizeable gap left after the playmaker moved to PSG.

Sissoko has undoubtedly been one of United’s best players in this recent winning run but how he has come to be in this currently effective role, would appear to be as much by accident as design.

The early matches didn’t promise much from Moussa Sissoko who looked increasingly lost and didn’t appear to have a clue as to what job he was supposed to be doing.

Only the mostly forced introduction of more mobile and generally younger players such as Aarons, Perez, Obertan and Ameobi seems to have given the French international the impetus to get involved more and influence play.

Alan Pardew speaking to the London Evening Standard;

“Sometimes I play that system (withdrawn no.10) with a striker, sometimes with a midfielder.

“Last year Cabaye had massive success in the first half of the season. Moussa Sissoko has grown comfortable in that role and he’s probably one of the big reasons why we have picked up.”

I told the players we’d beat Man City…;

“He is not a Cabaye. He has got a different role. Cabaye was the intelligence of the team, Moussa is like the battering ram. He’ll make a run that blows the back four apart. The goal he scored against Manchester City, Cabaye wouldn’t have got.

“We made people sit up a little. I don’t think anybody saw it coming apart from us. I told them in the dressing room we could win.”

Share

If you would like to feature on The Mag, submit your article to contribute@themag.co.uk

Have your say

© 2024 The Mag. All Rights Reserved. Design & Build by Mediaworks