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Ever since Diaby, a 6 ft 3 in midfielder, joined Arsenal in 2006, he has been earmarked as the heir to Patrick Vieira’s throne.
The comparisons are all too easy given his size, stature, playing style and, well, nationality. However, as we all know, one thing Vieira did have over Diaby was the ability to remain fit.
Honestly, it is like the bloke is made out of candy floss; every injury seems to take Diaby five times longer to recover from than any other footballer.
The Frenchman is now 28, and he is fast running out of time to make an impact at Arsenal. However, when he has played, he has impressed, he has got us Gooners excited and he has shown why Arsene Wenger placed so much faith in him – I’m thinking about his superb performance against Liverpool at Anfield in the Premier League three seasons ago.
Diaby returned to the starting line-up against Southampton in the Capital One Cup and there is a real belief that if Diaby can get a few games together, remain fit then he certainly will be close to Arsene Wenger’s thinking when Le Professeur considers his starting XI.
Whether Diaby is the defensive midfielder so many of us crave, I’m not so sure. Don’t get me wrong; I’d certainly start him ahead of Mathieu Flamini and probably, but not as eagerly, ahead of Mikel Arteta. However, much like the myth surrounding Vieira, Diaby isn’t a DM; he is a box-to-box midfielder – Vieira carried out the same role with Emmanuel Petit or Gilberto Silva carrying out the defensive duties.
Diaby possesses the attributes to perform the DM role – strong, good in possession and an imposing presence – however, does he have the discipline to play like a table-top football player and just play along the invisible horizontal line along the back four? I’m not so sure.
