Adrien Rabiot, the mother lover
28 minutes. Against Lille for the 1st game of the ligue 1 season, it’s the time Adrien Rabiot stayed on the pitch. Two yellow cards at the 23rd and the 28th minutes forced him to come back to the dressing room before his team-mates. Yet, even if the second one is totally deserved, on the first one action he touched the ball with a clean tackle. His lack of experience has been playing tricks on him. However, it would be an understatement to say that Laurent Blanc count on him this season. Much more than last years.
After Yoann Cabaye’s departure to Crystal Palace to join his English mentor Alan Pardew, PSG has only five midfielders: Thiago Motta, Blaise Matuidi, Marco Verratti, Javier Pastore and Adrien Rabiot. Even if Angel Di Maria could play instead of Matuidi as he did during the so-called “décima” season when he was in Real Madrid. With the injured and the suspended players, he will, no doubt, have a more important role this year. He is able to play everywhere in the midfield.
Laurent Blanc makes his team playing in 4–3–3. His midfield is composed of a lower peak that takes care of the revival. The latter shouldn’t hesitate to get down looking for the ball at his centre-backs level. Most of the time, the player who has this role must play with a high-head position as well as in one or two touches maximum. It is a key role on the pitch. It is Thiago Motta position. The two other positions of this midfield are the central midfielders. Their role is to be the relay between the full-backs, the centre-backs or the lower peak and the wingers or the forwards on the pitch. They are extremely important. It is especially necessary to be technically skilled to take care of the game construction and to be in a good physical condition to cope with all the physical duels. It is Marco Verratti and Blaise Matuidi positions. Obviously, Adrien Rabiot could play everywhere in this midfield. His gestural as well as his above technical skills make him an elegant player.
Adrien Rabiot started playing football at US Créteil in 2001 when he was six. He did not leave l’île-de-France until 2008 when he signed a six years contract with Manchester City. Six months later, nothing has happen as planned and he came back to France at Pau FC (south of France). The year later he played with the Pôle espoirs de Castelmaurou before joining PSG academy in 2010. During two years, he played with the youth team and grabbed his first selections with the youth French squads (U16, U17, and U18). But in two months, everything changed. Indeed, in March 2012, Italian PSG coach Carlo Ancelotti asked the academy director Bernard Reuzeau to send him some players to train with the first team. The young Rabiot impressed the Italian and he was selected in the first team group for the game against FC Sochaux on 22 April 2012. Following that, he signed his first professional contract with PSG on 2 July 2012 and on 26 August, he played his very first official match against Bordeaux associated with Blaise Matuidi and Thiago Motta on the midfield and succeeds 94% of his passes. He also became the youngest PSG player to start a Champions League game (against Dynamo Zagreb, 4–0). Then, he was loaned to FC Toulouse during six months in 2013 but since the 2013–2014 season, he is a full player of PSG.
The funny fact about Rabiot is that his mother is his agent since his father has a locked-in syndrome (a medical condition, usually resulting from a stroke that damages part of the brainstem, in which the body and most of the facial muscles are paralysed but consciousness remains and the ability to perform certain eye movements is preserved). She is described as sensitive and clever but also paranoid and susceptible. She is every day at the PSG training centre. She finds herself comfortable and in December 2012, she refused that her son take the plane towards Qatar for the mid-season training with the team because the club did not take care of her own trip! One year later, she was on the plane… The bosses’ dressing room suggested him to break free. According to her, she is doing everything she can to preserve Adrien from this football evil environment. Last year, an Adidas representative, the Adrien’s sponsor, contacted Manchester United to pass a message. Madam Rabiot was surprised that United was not in a hurry to sign his son. But some Premier League clubs as Arsenal and Chelsea estimate that despite of the huge talent of the boy, it is not worth to embarrass itself of this heavy entourage.
However, the thing is Adrien Rabiot is going to play this season with PSG and with his talent he will take, no doubt, Thiago Motta’s succession next season. If so, his next step should obviously be French National team and Premier League or Spanish Liga where he could also get an offer from.
Raphaël Marguerit
London, United Kingdom
09/08/2015
