Abou Diaby divides opinion amongst Arsenal fans.
His talent is clear, comparisons with Patrick Vieira are completely wrong but his fitness has let him down massively. This is partly due to being on the receiving end of countless bad challenges that have kept him out the game for a combined time of at least a couple of years. The damage done from a vicious Essien tackle earlier on in the season raised concerns over his ability to keep on playing football altogether. Thankfully, any fears of that nature were quickly allayed but his ankle (broken by Dan Smith) continues to give him grief.
This however does not excuse the fact that his comments about wanting to join Barcelona in the future were idiotic considering recent episodes between the clubs. Abou said:
“At some point I would like to play for Barcelona or Real Madrid, but I would prefer to play for Barca, because I prefer their style.”
Not much on the face of it, but to even speak of joining other clubs in the future after Arsenal have invested in him and he not yet repaying them on the pitch, is scandalous. The fact is, Abou is more likely to end up playing for Hull City than Barcelona. He is inconsistent, repeatedly injured and after having accusations of laziness aimed at him you can really start to see why his comments are so utterly laughable.
What he said was disrespectful of his current employers; we all know how Barcelona treated the club in the summer and thought they could just waltz off with out captain for peanuts – they didn’t even have the respect to offer his market value transfer fee.
Looking at it, on that evidence Diaby and Barca deserve each other.
Maybe I am over-reacting here, and do tell me if I am, but I have made no secret of my feelings towards that club; I can’t stand Barcelona. This doesn’t come from last years defeat, it is the ignorance of their players, staff and the disrespect for any other club. Their fans think they are superior too and it really, really annoys me. Beating them next week would send me mad.
Back to my point in hand; Diaby’s comments are the last thing that fans want to hear. There is always the chance of a mistranslation but there are only so many ways you can interpret ‘I would like to play for Barcelona’ – the players are trained to deal with the media and difficult situations. Just engage your brain, Abou.
For what it is worth he is one of the players that we could consider selling off in the summer and either promoting from within or buy in someone else. His place is far from certain and after his reaction to the Barton tackle last weekend, the comments will do him no favours with fans.
_ _
Xavi tries to explain why he shamelessly whored himself out to the press last summer in a bid to turn Cesc’s head towards Barcelona. Be interesting to hear what he has to say about the whole ‘forcing Cesc into a Barca shirt’ episode after the World Cup.
The Mail say that Real are after Cesc. Spare me the effort of dismissing this.
_ _
A picture of what may turn out to be our anniversary home shirt for 2011-12 will be published on here at 3pm this afternoon. Check back then and leave your thoughts. You may or may not have seen it before, it is nothing exclusive.
Til later.
Arsenal News 24/7
Lequipe saying Hazard going to the chavs
. Asking price now 21 mill! Cant see Wenger spend this sort of money. Sadly. So another great player which we will dont get cause Wenger has “his” price and the others their. Really hope Ganso comes but cant see this eiter.
Heyy Mate I totally agree with your sentiments.
I was very much on the fence with Diaby, his talent is doubtless but after these comments have really soured my attitude towards him.
As for Barca, well lets just wait till they come to the Emirates
Check the original of this interview , especiality its date.
Diaby wants to go to Barca does he? I’ll drive him to the airport myself.
The Diaby translation was loose to say the least. He was asked in an interview in Don Balon whether he was happy at Arsenal and if he liked the idea of playing in Spain. This is what he said:
“Of course I would like to play for Barcelona or Real Madrid. Every player dreams of playing in clubs like those and perhaps, someday, I will be part of a team as well.”
He was then asked if he preferred Barcelona or Real which is where the choice of the Catalans comes from.
Personally, I see it more interesting that he did not answer whether or not he was happy at Arsenal than anything else.
agree on the diaby bit.
arsenal4ever, leave it to wenger and go back to your fm11.
Did Diaby actually say it or is the English media making up stories again ,just to sell newspapers ?
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Koby Poku Boateng, The Goon Blog. The Goon Blog said: BLOG: Diaby's Barca joining comment foolish and ill-advised http://ht.ly/1bhIUr [...]
Diaby wants to play for Real or Barca. Pls go – good riddance and take along Denilson, Vela, Bendtner, Rosicky, Eboue, Squillaci, Almunia.
He has just forgotten a basic rule. For it to happen Real or Barca should look at him as a talent.
How similar to my thought of marrying Angelina Jolie or any other hottie
I dont see why we dont value players when they are at Arsenal. When Adebayor was not good
Wenger should get Benzema but now Adebayor is better that Benzema – Van Persie miles ahead of rooney, Diaby ahead of Carrick or Fletcher etc. Vermalean was nobody, Gallas is now an angel when he joined Spurs – Buy Yaya Toure now when he played against Song he was useless
I think the guy has delusions of grandeur. The way he speaks, it’s as if he’s made it already, proven himself, and is worthy of any club.
I think he can become a pretty good player, but he has a lot of work to do. And he really lacks a killer instinct. I’ve never really seen him go 110%, with a real hunger to win. To be honest, I rate him as an average player in the EPL, with mere potential to become one of the better players.
And when will these players learn. If you go to MAdri or Barca, you will sit on the bench, because you need to be one of the very best players in the world to play for those clubs.
The grass is always greener on the other side (Hleb, Flamini…)
…Adebayor was the other one i missed (his career is going from strength to strength).
He’ll soon be warming the bench when higuain/benzema come back.
Grass is always greener.
Why is the blogosphere going crazy regarding Diaby’s comments? All he said was “at some point”. Can you name a single player in world football who would say “I do NOT want to play for Barcelona at ANY point in my career”. Nearly all players, if they were being honest, would admit that at some point perhaps yes, they would like to play for the greatest team of all time. Arsenal is an amazing club and I’m certain Diaby is in no hurry to leave/has leaving on his mind at all. He was merely stating a rather obvious fact that he would not dislike playing for the greatest team ever at some point, which has almost definitely been taken out of context anyway.
I was thinking the same thing over the summer,Barcelona players and fans are very arrogant.look at what thier goalkeeper said the other day to Real Madrid.Cesc will only join them not.As for Diaby,Arsene is the one to blame cause I cant see him play anywhere in the field for us,apart from form,he is not good enough.
He had rather learn from the mistake of Hleb.
If he wants to play for Barca or Blancos ‘later’ fine; plz tel him to be Arsenal minded for nw!
diaby?..who?
PV4 : legend, full-blooded tough tackling inspirational captain.great distribution. Scored goals in big games.
Diaby: good athlete. powerful shot, poor distribution, lacks 90minute concentration.
Cant see him being a top player anywhere in the prem…more of a french league type player….where you get more time on the ball
That idiot should never play for us again after the weekend anyway…..
Diab-olical.Always was ,always will be!
He is obviously a pea-brain and should be replaced by players like Ramsey,Lansbury,Eastmond and Frimpong.His lack of character and intelligence invites the Bartons of the world to seek him out.Stop comparing him to his look-alike (won’t even mention the name as there is no comparison)and weigh up his contribution against that of Jack ,for instance.
He’d be better off dreaming of Barca on the bench at PSG.
well Hazard is not worth 21M. We got plenty of good playes in those posistions anyway. Besides chavs got money, you cannot compete with them cos they will always overbid you. They have proven they are not afraind of spending silly money to get what they want. its a doomed battle wheter your name is SAF or AW. They just cannot compete when it comes to money.
I don’t think many Arsenal fans would miss him. He’s been there a long time and he never been able to grab a game by the scruff of the neck unlike Cesc or Samir. Too injury prone as well. Having said that, how many players wouldn’t like to play for Barcelona or Real?
Sorry to see that the Orient game is on ESPN and we’ll probably have to have that master of the English language Chris Waddle thrust on us plus that biased anti-Arsenal commentator they employ. They’ll no doubt tell us how great Orient are and how Arsenal are whingers and just plain lucky.
you are right blon but next year the UEFA rule will be used. Means a club in debt cant buy what he wants so I dont get why the chavs paid 50 mill for Torres.
Abou has forgotten that he caused us a crucial point last season when he headed the ball into our own net at Old Trafford. This season again he caused us again when he could not control his anger against Newcastle. Now he said he want to play for Barca. I am sure he was the one who told Messi that he was honoured to play against him during the 2nd leg of Champions League at Nou Camp. I am fed up with his attitude and the way he keeps casting us crucial points.
Anyone wonder why Diaby has not come out publicly to apologize for his sending off? He may not be responsible for the total capitulation, but he was the turning point no doubt.
If I were him, a low profile and a public apology would do much more for his image and popularity than linking oneself to the hated Barca.
Sheesh, does this guy want to stay at Arsenal at all? I use to be a fan of his, but note after that stupid Red card.