Arsenal’s good news about Diaby ahead of the Dortmund match
Ahead of the game that could seal the Gunners’ progression from the group stages, Arsène Wenger offered very little bad news regarding the Arsenal squad for the Borussia Dortmund encounter on Wednesday evening.
While Tomas Rosicky will be disappointed to be unable to face his former side with “a small thigh strain”, Abou Diaby’s recovery time from his ankle trouble has not been as long as first feared. Wenger said of the player’s return, “He is back in the squad and I am very happy. It’s been a little bit quicker than expected because he looked good in training, so it’s good to have him back. He has not played one minute since the start of the season and had his surgery in June, so it’s good news to have him back”.
Now a full French international, Diaby may not have enjoyed as much first team action as he might have hoped for since his arrival from Auxerre in 2006 – mainly due to injury woes – but he has nonetheless made his mark with the Gunners. Mikel Arteta has undoubtedly become a solid figure in the centre of Arsenal’s midfield but statistically, there is very little contrast the two players.
Diaby’s last intense season came in 2009/10, in which he played 34 games for Arsenal. During that campaign, he averaged a goal every 4.8 games and an assist every 6.8 games while showing a shot accuracy rate of 37.5%.
For Arteta, 2010/11 was another full season for the Spaniard, as he played 32 matches for the Toffees averaging a goal every 10.6 games and an assist every 6.4 games. Another statistic inferior to Diaby’s is his shooting accuracy, which came to a less precise 22.9%.
If one was to compare Diaby with a more attacking member of Arsenal’s squad, on-form Tomas Rosicky during the 2006/07 season is a fair link to make. Here, Rosicky managed an average of 5.2 games per goal and 6.5 games per assist. Diaby’s goal ratio is higher, while the assist average is near-identical. Admittedly, Rosicky’s shot accuracy of 45.7% is far more impressive, but the statistics still look to favour the Frenchman in his pursuit of more first team football in the seasons ahead.
Arsène Wenger will undoubtedly allow Diaby plenty of time to regain full match fitness – as well as his confidence after such a lengthy absence – but his return could well be similar to Vermaelen’s in seeming like a new signing.
Could the Arsenal midfielders have a genuine competitor for a first team place in the coming months?
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diaby had 27 injuries in 4 years for us. Clearly not comfortable with the rigours of the epl. Let him play till january and ship him to a less physical league for his and arsenal good. PSG i hope
Opinions divided. What do you think?
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psg will pay us well because diaby usually play well after injuries. similar to TV5. He is still highly rated and psg will jump at the chance to sign him albeit a big money. Get the money and get us a CMF.
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its great to have him back. definetly with the fact that jack wont be kicking ball until jan/feb. excellant news considering the amount of games till then.
Top Gooner!. Agree or not?:
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Does Diaby still dwell on the ball? That, together with his injuries and occasional temper issues makes him a not-so-great player. If he could sort himself out, I see a terrific player in the making. His best position may be further forward than what he’s currently playing. It’ll be interesting to see how Wenger keeps all our midfield players happy when everyone is fit, and when, as expected, Goetze comes on board ~
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OFFICIAL NEWS!!!!
Arsenal to challenge ManU with a 30m bid for Gotze!!!
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Trying comparing them in losing possession, Diaby will top the list.
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this could well be diaby’s last chance to convince wenger……arsenal has lots of good defensive midfielders right now,more than any other team in epl.problem with diaby is he gives the ball away with his sloppy passes too often(strangely being fit only for short periods),otherwise his dribbling is good,quite tall and strong.
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diaby you have our full support to show your full talent, and as long as you try like you have, we will never doubt you… yours sincerely, the gunner family…
Top Gooner!. Agree or not?:
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Diaby has all the ingredients to be a world class footballer he is strong ,powerful and has really good technical ability .He has bossed games for arsenal in the past albeit on very few occasions. And that is the most annoying thing as he could be great but as we all know he is constantly injured and often picks up suspensions, but like Rvp maybe after a run without injuries we will finally get some consistenty and then be able to judge the fella properly . Up the arsenal
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BEAST! love him
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just watched hazard vs cska moskow and i tell you this guy is some player. i think he may be out of our range now with the escalating price and many other teams realising how good he is but if we could somehow get him it would be unbelievable.
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Welcome back Diaby.
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Diaby , when full performing, can be another yaya toure
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LmFaO says:
November 22, 2011 at 6:49 pm
OFFICIAL NEWS!!!!
Arsenal to challenge ManU with a 30m bid for Gotze!!!
—————-
SOURCE! I`ll say it again, post the SOURCE or it didn’t happen.
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Diaby is a bit slow. I really don’t think he is up to scratch. Ramsey has improved tremendously, Arteta (although he had a terrible game against Norwich) has been excellent and Song, well what can you say about him, he is marvellous. We have Frimpong and Coquelin too who are much better prospects. I’m sorry but Arsenal need to start selling off deadwood, like Diaby, Almunia, Flappyhandski, Djoure. With them gone, we can afford to bump up players salaries like RvP and Walcott to keep em at AFC and also bring in the caliber players we really need.
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Diaby could be world class but I wouldn’t mind seeing him go if he doesn’t fix his inconsistencies (poor passes, holds the ball too long, temper tantrums.) he has the frame to be great and potential but he occupies a squad spot and doesn’t produce. If that continues, sell him
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I never like his football skill,gosh, useless dribble and give the ball away easily,poor temperament and highly prone to injury.Those who rate him as world class should wait for another fight and eventual red card.He and his likes in arsenal should be offloaded for better players to arrive.
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Diaby blows hot & cold and his injuries are too persistent. If he could stay fit he would be a assist. When he picks the ball up in midfield and runs straight at the defence as they back off really gets you off your seat and is definitly a different dimension to our attack.
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What is wrong with you hypocrites? How can you ever compare Arteta to Diaby. Diaby-olical and Rosicky, both, should be sold – remember what we have gone through with these two players last season?. We have Chambarlain, Coqliun, Frimpong knocking the door. No more babysitting.
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Diaby just ain’t good enough sorry to say but that’s the truth.If any club want’s him take the money and put it towards getting Gotze.
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Glad to see him return, hopefully he can stay free of injuries and put a consistent run of good form together. On his day he is terrific, and I feel he often get unfairly criticised, he will be a great asset to the team while wilshere is out and when we loose song and gervinho for te ACN.
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@sokeye
If u realy think rosicky is just ‘deadwood’ then u don’t know much about football. He’s the most underated player in the epl.
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on his day, he is by far one of the most impressive arsenal players on the pitch. lets hope for the best that he can overcome his injury woes and produce for us.
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@Josh03
FYI – Song is not going to the Cup of Nations in January – Cameroun didn’t qualify.
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Diaby is comfortable with the rigours of EPL but it’s that injury which he suffered at Sunderland the root cause of all the subsequent problems. Very talented player.
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before diabys last big injury he was out performing cesc. With diab comming back it could give frimpong/coqulan the chance of a loan or even get rid of denilson in january he is a very good squad player
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