Abou Diaby - Broken Potential

There has been a lot said about Abou Diaby, on here, by Wenger and by the man himself. A player who had immense potential only a few seasons ago, but has been absolutely ravaged by injuries over the past few seasons. The title of this thread is clearly tongue in cheek, however it must be taken into account that if Diaby can stay fit for an extended amount of time, he will be a weapon that we never had at our disposal last season, and thus, like a new signing.

I pose this question, what can we expect from About Diaby this season? Where will he play? Will he be any good? And perhaps most importantly, can he stay fit?

In my opinion Abou is immensely talented, and his dribbling ability is something that quite frankly, you don't tend to find attributed to someone of his stature. Last season while Diaby and Wilshere were injured, we really lacked some explosion in the middle of the park, something we only really got back when Rosicky was at his best. This is something that is very important, because if you have a player like this, you really get the opposition defence on the back foot, and opportunities arise.

I want to see Diaby operating from deep. That's where he's been at his best whenever he's played in the last few seasons, particularly when Song was out during the 10/11 season. The only issue there was his mentality, getting a red card against Newcastle, and I remember Van Persie having to blast him at half time because he was going to get himself sent off against Blackpool.
He does have his issues, like dwelling on the ball too long in good positions, however this is hopefully something that will disappear as he becomes sharper after more and more games.

I don't want to see Diaby thrown into the first team, however if he manages to stay fit, I think he'll be a massive asset to have next season.

I want to see Diaby operating from deep. That's where he's been at his best whenever he's played in the last few seasons, particularly when Song was out during the 10/11 season.

WOW!

I seriously didn't remember that perdiod so I had to dig deep. I found March.

Sunderland 0-0
Barcelona 1-3
Man Utd 0-2

edit: Song played in 42 games that season, so I'm even more clueless about your point now.

Diaby shouldn't be played deep. Sure, his physique fits the bill but his vision and awareness doesn't.

I see him having an impact as an AM/SS type player, or even playing on the wing. He needs a position that's more about skill and less about what's inside your head, and those fit the bill. Not saying they don't require any thinking, but a mistake in a SS/Wing position is far less detrimental to your team than a mistake deep in midfield, selling the entire back 4.

Diaby is clearly an AM to me. Hard to judge what he'll deliver next season since that depends on his fitness first and foremost, his playing time (closely linked with his fitness and incoming players) and how long it'll take for him to get rid of that "rust" from not playing footy for long periods.

I'd imagine that he could be effective next season as an AM with two of Cazorla/Sahin/Song (depending on who comes, not convinced about Sahin tbh) behind him, as it would spread the creative burden on more than one player, and we're even likely to see goals scored from out of the box with that setup!

I want to see Diaby operating from deep. That's where he's been at his best whenever he's played in the last few seasons, particularly when Song was out during the 10/11 season.

WOW!

I seriously didn't remember that perdiod so I had to dig deep. I found March.

Sunderland 0-0
Barcelona 1-3
Man Utd 0-2

edit: Song played in 42 games that season, so I'm even more clueless about your point now.

He came back against Huddersfield Town in January 2010, came off the bench for Song against Everton, and then started the next match against Newcastle (4-4).

Song wasn't injured during these games (maybe the Newcastle game), my mistake. Thank you for your input in completely ignoring the majority of my post, instead jumping on one inaccuracy.

Diaby shouldn't be played deep. Sure, his physique fits the bill but his vision and awareness doesn't.

I see him having an impact as an AM/SS type player, or even playing on the wing. He needs a position that's more about skill and less about what's inside your head, and those fit the bill. Not saying they don't require any thinking, but a mistake in a SS/Wing position is far less detrimental to your team than a mistake deep in midfield, selling the entire back 4.

I can see what you're saying, however I really feel that his dribbling would be an asset winning the ball and then driving at the opposition from deep. I don't think he'll make the most of this ability when too close to the opposition box.

I feel that it might be an idea to play him in place of Arteta when we're chasing a game. Win the ball, and then counter straight away. Perhaps he can be a Yaya Toure-esque player. They have a lot of the same attributes. Toure is neither the designated AM at City (that's Silva), nor is he the complete DM, he's somewhere in between, and when he runs at defences with his pace and power it's simply unstoppable.

I've never been particularly impressed with Diaby. Too slow and inaccurate on the ball, he slows down our passing and gives away the ball too much, to put it this way, having him on the field has never inspired any confidence in me. He has some technical talent and he has produced some occasional magic moments but from what I've seen he lacks the awareness/deciscionmaking/positional sense to ever be more than an impact sub for us.

His passing in the final third has seemingly improved — he made some very impressive short passes (5-10 yard through balls to Theo and Gervinho), and some amazing long-range diagonal balls throughout the preseason friendlies so far.

I think he could be quite dangerous on his day. I have a lot of time for Diaby.

I want to see Diaby operating from deep. That's where he's been at his best whenever he's played in the last few seasons, particularly when Song was out during the 10/11 season.

WOW!

I seriously didn't remember that perdiod so I had to dig deep. I found March.

Sunderland 0-0
Barcelona 1-3
Man Utd 0-2

edit: Song played in 42 games that season, so I'm even more clueless about your point now.

He came back against Huddersfield Town in January 2010, came off the bench for Song against Everton, and then started the next match against Newcastle (4-4).

Song wasn't injured during these games (maybe the Newcastle game), my mistake. Thank you for your input in completely ignoring the majority of my post, instead jumping on one inaccuracy.

Don't worry, the rest of it is not much better anyways.

Diaby's problem is not that he is injury prone, it is that he lacks any sort of football vision and intelligence. As you have quite rightly mentioned he slows the game down, but the post should have stopped there. His dribbling also usually slows the game down, and his defensive skills are non-existant - just because someone is big and looks like Vieira, it doesn't mean he can defend.

He cannot pass the ball, he hasn't stepped up in big games since the Carling Cup Final in 2007, and is also lazy.

I point out these after having seen him play in 100+ games, having started out as a big fan of his, just like I liked Denilson in 2006 (I'm only saying this so I cannot be accused of being biased).

I have completely written out Diaby. Even if he manages to stay 100% fit, he is not really suitable to any of midfield position:
DM - doesn't tackle well, low concentration;
CM - isn't quick in passing, doesn't seem to have a great engine;
AM - no creativity, inconsistent passing, slow decision making.

I'd say his best assets are dribbling and finishing/composure, however he dribbles at slow pace, so he offers little penetration, while lately he shies away from shooting for some reason so there is not much point in his fairly good finishing.

He's due a testimonial in a few years...

Irrespective of the fact that these days he seems incapable of playing 5 minutes without getting injured, the fact of the matter is, after 6 and half years, we're still debating what is Diaby's best position. Doesn't really bode too well for him does it?

Lost cause.

In our current set up, the best position for Diaby is the box-to-box ball winning midfielder role. I haven't had the opportunity to see Diaby play a consistent run of games for a while, so I'll reserve judgment until then. My main problem with Diaby has been Wenger reliance on him despite his poor injury record. If Wenger brings in another two midfielders as rumoured - Cazorla & Sahin - then it'll remove our dependence on him being fit. On that basis, I'm willing to give him a final season to prove himself. He's at an age where he can no longer hide behind potential, he needs to consistently perform to justify his squad place for next year.

I'm hoping having had a full pre-season, he'll be able to push on this year. He has a unique skill set which could prove valuable. He should have been sold this summer for me so he's definitely in the last chance saloon.

He's due a testimonial in a few years...

Genuinely laughed out loud.

Onto Diaby. For one, I hold him in the same bracket as Kalou - An abysmal option to have in any good squad. Moving on, he's not good as passing, he slows down attacks, is poor in the air for a 6"3 player, can't really defend, is poor at finishing, is tactically awful, is stupid footballistically, indisciplined, is prone to laziness, is supposedly on 50-60k a week, is constantly injured (Which dispels the myth of him in any shape or form as a squad player). I'm sure I could think of more but I'll give it a rest.

I pose this question, what can we expect from About Diaby this season? Where will he play? Will he be any good? And perhaps most importantly, can he stay fit?

We can't and shouldn't expect anything IMO. He won't be any good as per usual and he won't be fit once more, and yet, I bank on Wenger keeping him next summer. Where to play him? AM, or secondarily on the wing as he can have as small an impact as is humanly possible on us defensively and as an AM he can dribble through a couple of men.

He should've been sold 5+ transfer windows ago and should still be IMO.

Edit - So I clearly don't rate him. Although (To make this sound less like a rant!) I will say he's physically impressive and his dribbling is fairly good.

I want to believe.

I don't mean to be dismissive, but I'll get back to you when he lasts longer than the opening furlong.

Personally I always remember that CL goal against L'pool - fantastic close control, and physically bursting his way through players into the box to score the goal. We don't have anyone else who has both the brute strength and the exquisite control to be able to do that, so in my view he brings something to the kit that we otherwise don't have. Having said that, his running into cul-de-sacs, his temper, his dreadful injury record make me feel he'll never be a major force for us. I'm hopeful, but not expectant.

Diaby hasn't played 90 minutes yet, so guessing about his impact is a bit premature. Right now I'd say that he is probably the first midfield sub assuming our starting 3 midfielders are Song, Arteta and Cazorla. In my opinion a healthy Diaby beats a healthy Ramsey.

Right now I think it is great that he is back regardless of what you may think of him as a player, but because we need options in midfield. Rosicky and Jack are injured, and Ramsey failed to impress last season. Diaby can play every midfield position.

However, lets she how he fairs once he's had some actual competitive minutes and has played two matches in a week before we set expectations. I do hope that he has beaten is injure problems.

People have a weird nostalgia when it comes to diaby. The longer he's out the better people remember him to be. the reality is that even on his fittest day he's a blundering oaf.

He's a very talented footballer, there's no doubt about it. If he could actually catch a break and string a series of games together, he might actually be able to show that.

There is a reason why not only Arsène Wenger, but also Laurent Blanc rate him so highly despite his almost constant injuries.

Phil, I really think you are being very hard on him.

I think he'll literally be like new signing. Like buying some bloke from another club and paying him to play for us. A new bloke.

His passing in the final third has seemingly improved — he made some very impressive short passes (5-10 yard through balls to Theo and Gervinho), and some amazing long-range diagonal balls throughout the preseason friendlies so far.

I think he could be quite dangerous on his day. I have a lot of time for Diaby.

probably his best assist
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYML03NmBYY

I'm not getting my hopes up about Diaby,simply because it's even hard to imagine him having an injury free season and maybe I'd rather have a real new signing instead of keeping him.

But let's hope he can pull it off and finally show us why Wenger and Blanc have so much patience with him.

One final season for him to prove his worth. Its by no coincidence that we're going all out in transfers for the CM/AM position as last season proved that we can't be over reliant on players like Ramsey and Rosicky, due to form and Wilshere and Diaby due to injuries.

And if I'm not mistaken, Diaby is probably one of our longest serving 1st team player at the moment, its his seventh year at Arsenal this season...so come on Vassiriky, show us your worth.. we've already shown you the money.

Floats like a butterfly
Stings like a bee
Who is he ?
Its Abou Diabyyyy!!!

Edit : Ok, I know, that was crappy rhyming...

I think the answers so far tell us all we need to know about Diaby.

For a while now the debate has been whether the talent outweighs the injuries.

For me, he may be talented, but he just isn't that good in practice. He's got a fantastic ability to win the ball and turn in one movement, he's got quick feet, a smart turn of pace and a pretty ferocious shot, but if we're lambasting Ramsey for dwelling on the ball too much then Diaby will give us a coronary. He's got pretty poor awareness, a limited passing range and a general lack of footballing intelligence.

It says quite a lot that Wenger still doesn't really trust him to play in the middle against any of the big teams. I can remember him having one or two good games against Chelsea, but by and large he's never really imposed himself against any of our immediate rivals.

Unfortunately for Diaby he's got too much competition around him to ever really become first choice at Arsenal. Song and Arteta are two of the first names on the teamsheet, Jack is coming back soon and we all know how good he is, Rosicky looked like a £20m playmaker at times last season and Ramsey, Frimpong and Coquelin all have serious potential. Then you've got Cazorla and possibly Sahin thrown into the mix as well.

I have given up hope in Abou Diaby. He can look very talented at times, but he can never catch a break in regards match availability. He also takes up space in the 25-man squad, as well as taking home millions of pounds annually for being injured.

It is a gamble keeping him at Arsenal, and as his contract doesn't run out soon he should be moved on.

Cazorla, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Wilshere, Song, Arteta, Ramsey, Şahin (potentially) and Coquelin > Diaby

His best position is CM really, as has been said his passing and feet are not quick enough for a CAM and he's not a natural tackler as a CDM.

However his ability to turn and run at the oppostition is quite useful especially if we want to preassure the other team.

He's good but needs a run in the team however with the midfielders we have now I'm not sure he can make the starting XI bar an injury (although that usually is him).

People have a weird nostalgia when it comes to diaby. The longer he's out the better people remember him to be. the reality is that even on his fittest day he's a blundering oaf.

Get your point but that's a bit harsh!

People have a weird nostalgia when it comes to diaby. The longer he's out the better people remember him to be. the reality is that even on his fittest day he's a blundering oaf.

Get your point but that's a bit harsh!

My lasting memory of him
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmUsSr5B ... ata_player

Yeah,thanks for reminding me about that goal! And you can't even blame Almunia for it.