Just Arsenal News

Diaby says he is Arsenal’s Yaya Toure not Alex Song by AM

Abou Diaby has hogged the limelight with his superlative performance against Liverpool. Following Alex Song’s departure to Barcelona, there were questions about who is going to take up the role vacated by him. Diaby says that Coquelin and Arteta are the ones who will step into Song’s shoes, while he will be Arsenal’s Yaya Toure. The Frenchman said – “In our teams, Yaya Toure and me have similar roles. I am not Alex Song. We have many players who can take his place like Francis Coquelin or Mikel Arteta, who likes to play deep. I want to get forward – that’s me. .......Read the full article here

Arsene Wenger is well aware that Arsenal have lost a goalscoring genius in Robin Van Persie, but he is certain that the Gunners new arrivals and our midfielders have the ability to make up for our loss.

After ending the first two League games without a goal it was obvious that the Arsenal-loving media (sarcasm!) would try and badger Wenger by saying that Van Persie is being sorely missed by the squad, and Wenger responded by saying that the team will surely come good in the end. .......Read the full article here

There are a lot of Arsenal fans that will have given up on Abou Diaby ever returning to his brilliant form from his younger days, but we could take heart from the fact that a certain Robin Van Persie was also injured for seven years in a row before he finally turned into a top-class goalscorer.

Admittedly Diaby has probably missed a lot more playing time than RVP and just 13 starts in the last two seasons isn’t going to give us much optimism for this year, but having come through the opening game unscathed (not to mention the pre-season) perhaps we could give the French international the benefit of the doubt. .......Read the full article here

New season by SV

Yes, we have lost RVP. Yes, we are (most likely) going to lose Song. But the general mood among the Arsenal fans is still much better than I have seen in many years. I think that most fans recognize that we have handled the transfer window terrifically considering the circumstances (Song playing up, RVP wanting to leave and only one club putting in a respectable offer). .......Read the full article here

Many Arsenal fans may have already given up on ever seeing Abou Diaby in an Arsenal shirt again after his continuing series of ankle problems, which started just after he arrived at the Gunners in 2006.

He was apparently close to a comeback last month but Arsene Wenger announced that he had he had had yet another minor setback and he refused to name a return date for the French international midfielder.

Now it has been revealed today that Arsenal have sent Diaby to Qatar where he has been rehabilitating for the last two weeks, and then he is off to Miami to be under the control of a fitness trainer to slowly help him regain the strength in the damaged ankle. .......Read the full article here

The Arsenal midfielder Abou Diaby was hailed as the “new Patrick Vieira” when he arrived at Arsenal five years ago, but he immediately broke an ankle which it would appear has never fully healed.

He has never made more than 20 appearances for the Gunners in a season, and has made more comebacks than Frank Sinatra! He was said to be returning to the squad three weeks ago, but he suffered another setback after another.

With the latest small problem, Arsene Wenger has now decided to give up on forecasting when the French international will finally be returning to fitness. Wenger said yesterday: “I don’t want to give any predictions on when he comes back because every time he tries to come back he has another little setback. .......Read the full article here

Abou Diaby Wearing a Tottenham Shirt? by Max Baker

Abou Diaby has shocked and angered Arsenal fans by revealing he owns and actively wears a Tottenham Hotspur shirt. The Arsenal central midfielder claimed the shirt was given to him as a gift by his good friend, and Spurs defender, Younes Kaboul but admits he isn’t planning on wearing the top outside the comfort of his home.

“It’s more difficult to wear in the street. There you are not safe,” Diaby said. There are no photographs of the Arsenal midfielder wearing the shirt of his club’s biggest rival but this certainly raises questions about the player’s loyalty at a time where it seems like half of the Arsenal squad is being linked with a move away from the team. .......Read the full article here

Arsène Wenger voiced his displeasure at referee Phil Dowd’s performance during the 4-4 draw with Newcastle on Saturday.

Wenger believes that the referee affected the run of the game in Newcastle’s favour and that it leaves a bad impression of the English game abroad, saying: “It will not be a great advert internationally; people who see that will not agree with what happened”.

Wenger believes that the sending off of Abou Diaby was the turning point in the game and feels that the red card was unjustified, rather it should have been Barton who should have been sent off: “It was a completely unnecessary sending off and I believe Barton was very lucky to stay on the pitch because of his tackle on Diaby”. .......Read the full article here

Arsenal right back Bacary Sagna says that the referee used some surprising language during his side’s 4-4 draw with Newcastle, when he was asked about one of his controversial decisions.

The defender questioned referee Phil Dowd’s decision to award a penalty to Newcastle during the game and received some foul language as a response.

Sagna said: “I asked him for an explanation and he was pretty hard on me. I won’t repeat what words he came out with but they should never come from a referee”.

The penalty on Koscielny was a very harsh decision and it was expected for Arsenal players to question the decision. However Phil Dowd did was having none of it. .......Read the full article here

It has been revealed today that Abou Diaby is the latest player from Arsenal to be ruled out of the Sunderland game this weekend.

He seemed okay after the game last night, but Arsene Wenger revealed today: “We lost Abou Diaby last night. It is not understandable. I don’t know how it worked. But he has a medial knee ligament injury.

“We discovered it today. He came in today and he had pain in his knee.

“However Song could be available, we have a test tomorrow on him.

“I don’t know about Almunia, we’ll have a test tomorrow on him too. I’d say Song is 80 per cent to be back in the squad, Almunia is 50/50, but Diaby is zero. .......Read the full article here

Arsene Wenger has pinpointed the improvement from Abou Diaby this season which has given Arsenal another dimension with his height and strength.

Wenger could not have praised him more today when he said: “Diaby for me is the player who is going step-by-step higher and standing really as a strong player,”

“He missed a complete year with his ankle injury [in 2006/07] and since he came back last year he was out a lot but this year in central midfield he has really stepped up and improved tremendously. He has become a very strong player. .......Read the full article here

It seems to be a bi-weekly occurence this season that there is a report about Arsenal losing one or two players to injury, either on the training ground or after a game, and this week seems to be no different.

The much-improved Abou Diaby is the main loss for the Cup game against Stoke City this weekend, and Arsene Wenger thinks he may miss the following game against Aston Villa as well.

“Diaby has a calf problem,” said Wenger. “The first news is not bad but he has a scan tomorrow [Friday] and we will know more from there. .......Read the full article here