Abou Diaby has spoken about his injury problems as he tries to come to terms with another spell on the sidelines as his recovery from ankle surgery continues to banjax every muscle in his body.
The French international has barely played any football in the last 18 months and has been regularly sidelined in the last six years since a call-centre worker from Sunderland snapped his leg in two just six months after he arrived in England.
Speaking about his desperate desire to prove wrong his doubters, the lanky midfielder explained that his latest setback is ‘nothing serious’ (he expects to be back inside 10 days) before putting the niggle in context with the rest of his problems.
“People stick this ‘fragile’ label on me,” he told L’Equipe. “I understand their point of view, but I’m not.”
“I’ve had three operations on the ankle during my career. After that, my body was totally unbalanced between my left and right leg. One leg compensated for the weakness of the other – and to put back in its place is not easy.
“My problem is biomechanical. It will take some time. When everything is back in order, I won’t have pain anymore.
“I have to return quickly and, above all, I must be good when I play again, otherwise the coach will not take me.
“Even if he trusts me, I must perform. And I want to repay his confidence.”
That confidence is obviously shared not just by Arsene Wenger, but also compatriot Bacary Sagna who insists that if it weren’t for the constant fitness battle Diaby would be a stalwart both on the domestic and international scene.
Speaking to French station Canal + after the Liverpool game, the right-back stated confidently: “Without injuries Diaby would surely be the best french footballer. I am devastated for him
Arseblog News can’t even begin to imagine how frustrating life must be for Diaby right now. The poor bloke is obviously talented (albeit quite fucking dopey sometimes), but to be injured for so long and to have comebacks repeatedly followed by further problems is enough to break the spirit of any man. Good luck to him again, let’s hope he gets some game time before the end of the season.
UPDATE
Diaby’s full interview with @LaurensJulien is now available on the Arsenal official website, here.
Good luck Diaby!
He showed great dynamism coming on against the scoucers. Probably too enthusiastic – like throwing a starved Na$ri in a vat of £50 notes.
My Favorite arsenal player,so sad that he just can seem to have a decent spell in the squad due to that bastard who broke his ankle…still praying he gets fit
I wish him all the best, but if he doesn’t get better soon the best thing for the club would be to let him go. We have been patient but time is running out …
So they said about RVP…
Diaby is not comparable to VP. He is a far, far worse case. Get rid.
Touché!
I wish we could see more of this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-JHHeKvyYsI&feature=related
RVP was out for 6 years was he? RVP was shit when we came on in between injuries? No and no, I’ll give him one more chance, then when he gfets injured again or scores own goals, he must go.
@goonerific
You’ll give him one more chance will you?
Ha, okay mate…
No, no, no. No more time for sentiment here. Very sad yes, he had talent but we are now wasting money and too much effort on this chap. Just because he is a “nice boy” as the manager puts it and he did well for all of 2 minutes up north, doesn’t mean we should be hemorrhaging money for a player who only runs on the pitch once every 6 months. Have to get rid and start putting in players that appear on the pitch for 2 games in a row now.
If you ever had an accident at work, how would you feel if your employers fired you for it?
Fuck FM and FIFA for taking the human element out of football. All everyone can think about since its inception is wages and five star performance.
It’s really the same way people call players everything under the sun for simply going to play for another team – as if if one day some guy called you and offered you double your current wages to do the job you’re doing now at a different company down the road, you wouldn’t be all like “LATER SUCKERS!” and out the door inside 10 minutes.
I said the same thing about Van Persie. Diaby is talented he really does have the potential to be Vieira. I d hate it if when there is 6 months or a year to go on his contract and he stars dominating games like how he was doing for France and like how Van Persie is doing.
a keeper for me.
Dave I understand where your coming from me and some people at work were talking about this day thats he’s payed something like 53 minutes of football for us this season which works out we’ve basically payed him £55grand for every minute he’s played. And Sami the reality is that if you have an accident at work and are then able to preform the job you are employed to do then they will let you go any company would do that. At the end of the day how can we keep filling up a squad space and paying someone 60… Read more »
Logic goes out the window with Diaby, he had his leg mashed when doing his service for us. He’ll be back.
Fine player. We saw glimpses of his obvious skills in the few minutes he lasted in that game. Shame that injuries have dugged him this long.
Great to see a positive and sympathetic story on Diaby. Too many haters out there for my liking. There is no doubt his best is more than good enough. He is worth being patient for…
stick with it Diaby… i predict he’ll return and show us all why we hung on to him…!
biomechanical! we are soon gunner have a Diaminator!
You read what he’s saying and you understand why he wanted to kill joey zaza that day he got sent off at newcastle.
Hope he does make it back. Rosicky did and wow take a look at him now
Good to see his determination and i hope it works out for him. The transformation to Rosicky’s game will give him that extra bit of hope that he can still do it. The same comments made to Diaby were made to Rosicky (Injury-prone, waste of money, dead-weight etc) Now look at Rosicky now, a completely different player.
Fingers crossed lightning can strike twice in this case.
He is a very intelligent and determined guy.Hope it works out for him at Arsenal.
We used to have similar problems with Rosicky and RVP.
the new vieira
Sucks for Diaby, but he’ll make it back. I feel his pain, have had hip surgery and 2 foot surgeries all on the same leg. It has been almost 2 years since I’ve played soccer and i’m only 23 (not even close to a professional footballer though haha). Maybe i’m looking for some sympathy haha, but i love diaby because I can relate to him. Good luck Diaby, hope you make it back, prove all your doubters wrong, and live up to your potential. I’m rooting for ya!!
He say his injuries will go away permanently , when they do .He’ll give his all for the Arse….like RvP .he is a talented guy ,we currently need squad players and as Sagna said he’ll make a top player when fit , maybe he’ll be a top player then .He is still young
Let’s be patient
WE CAN REBUILD HIM,.. We have the technology!!
ABOU DIABY,. Is,.. THE SIX MILLION POUND MAN!!
Yeah 6 million invested zero return.
I don’t get those Gooners who are saying sell him! They are the same Arsenal fans who just a couple of seasons ago were saying lets get rid of RVP… And where the hell would we be now if anyone had listened!!! In Arsene we Trust!
What do you people not understand!!!!
RVP is world class but if we got rid of him and bought a striker that can actually stay fit we would have won a few titles over the last 7 years!!!!
Its the same with Diaby, yes his a great player but we are losing titles becoz of him the same can be said with Rosicky…
Do you want trophies or not?
What don’t YOU understand. There are no guarantees in life. There’s just as much chance that any other players we brought in could’ve been injured.
Sure we want trophies, but we also want to continue to be a great club with heart and soul.
It’s a balancing act with players but you’ve got to remember that these are guys with rare footballing gifts. Leave it to the people who work with them day-in and day-out to make the big calls.
And I think you should change your username.
He could be a great player…i really hope he gets over this becuase he’d be a great asset to the club and hes still young….he has shown glimpses of what he could be….just these injures have prevented him developing.
fingers crossed this current setback is just that.
When/if he comes back it looks like he’s going to have some healthy competition to get into the team anyway, Wenger likes to put him in there as a Song replacement, i.e. the big fucker who can actually use some strength, although for the other spots there’s Wilshere/Arteta/Coq/Rambo/Rosicky as first choice then consider that the Ox can play in there ( bit of an understatement after his performance against Milan perhaps) and next season Frimpong maybe plus anyone who takes the few chances available in pre-season. If Diaby gets back to his best, he’ll beat out most of those but… Read more »
Remembering games he’s done well in, it looks like he’s a Rosicky type: Get the ball deep, ghost past the midfield with some clever footwork and distribute.
It’s actually really frustrating watching Youtubes of the guy – if he hadn’t been injured so much, for sure he’d be immense now, like Bac said.
If Bacary says he is fucking awesome, then he’s is worth keeping. That’s pretty much where the arguement ends for me.
How long ago were detractors saying that we should get rid of RVP because he was never healthy? How long ago were detractors saying that we should get rid of Tomas because he was never healthy? For twenty-six minutes against Liverpool he was one of our best players … a joy to watch. Other clubs would have given up on RVP, Rosicky, and Diaby … not Arsenal. He’s 25 years-old and we obviously haven’t seen the best of him yet, but after what he’s been through that’s unsurprising. AFC has stuck with him for a reason, and one day everyone… Read more »
I’ve said before that he is just like Harry Kewell. Great player but never played often enough for Liverpool and they had to let him go. I feel let him recover and see if he can get a run going when he’s back, if it continues then we should look to offload him or a pay as you play contract.
Stick with him. His few mins on against Liverpool were better than Chamack and Park have been all season, put together!
be hopeful that Diaby will come good as Rosicky! Many of us had written off Rosicky …who almost helped us make the Impossible possible against meeellaan…not only one match…he has been immense lately
Pathetic story! I’m rooting 4 u Abou cos i know you’ll come good. If RVP & Rosicky can,then Diaby can.
It is sad to see a player of ours going through a tough time like this, but on the flipside he is taking up a place in the squad that could be filled by a player that can play week in week out. If he can get himself fully fit then maybe we should think about a loan deal so he can get up too speed with fitness and get games. But after nearly 2 years out through injuries, how much longer can we wait for him before we think about letting him go?
I think it only goes to show what a great football club Arsenal FC is sticking by players like Diaby… The lad is obviously putting the work in behind the scenes & Wenger must see that else he would have been shipped out a long time ago… I think there is great Spirit at the club and giving up on players like Diaby would only go to harm it… Up the Gooners!
i think we forget sometimes that Diaby is still only 25. So he’s maybe got 10 years left at the top level if he can get over this horrible period for him.
He has basically had 5 years of his body trying to compensate for a weak ankle, it looks as though the cause of the issues has been addressed so here’s hoping for some good service from Diaby for the next 10 years!
Sami Rockfeller above touches on an important benefit of the loyalty Arsene shows our long term injured. Quite apart from the fact that the players may come back brilliant, motivated and loyal, it also fosters a sense of security, support and team spirit in uninjured rest of team.
Say as a player you’re being offered more money to play elsewhere (eg RVP?) and your current team has a track record of dropping injured players like shit on an ice cream, why shouldn’t you leave? Loyalty rewards loyalty.
He has shown great technical ability in the past, and a bit of a tough guy attitude on the pitch. If he can get and stay fit again, he would be a great squad player at the least.
Diaby is capable of sublime football in a way very very few other footballers are – his ability to beat players is breathtaking when he’s on song given it’s entirely possible that within a few weeks he could be match fit i don’t understand why anyone would want him playing for any club other than ours. once he’s fit and once he learns the art of concentration for the full time he’s on the pitch he’ll be one of our best assets and he’d certainly keep the rest of the midfield on their mettle – if not out the side… Read more »
I think that Wenger know the best for his players , he knew it about RVP that he has a world class talent and waited 5 years to get trough the injuries and show his class on the pitch also for rosicky he didn’t get rid of him because he knew when he get through his injuries nightmare would become the same player when he sign for Arsenal and he know also for Diaby and his big talent and that he can get trough his injuries like RVP and TR7 because he is a fighter still young and could be… Read more »
He gets injured when he wants!!!
—
Jokes aside,
Poor Vassiriki, I hope he comes back to his full strength,
if he does, he WILL be a beast in the role just behind the captain.
My user name will make sense in next couple of years!
Up the Arse!
I’d forgotten how good he used to be:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVOlyGvZVC8&feature=related
Hopefully we can see more of the same soon
I’m telling you we bought Eisfield for parts. Don’t be surprised if the next time you see diaby he’s got a white German ankle.
Hahahaha, love it
Holy crap! I totally forgot about Eisfeld.
As always, I’d love him to prove me wrong, but in the age of 25 man squads a player who struggles to manage 10 games a season is a luxury we can’t afford. He does have talent, but his positional discipline is poor and he is too indecisive in the final third, same blueprint when he has the ball, skip past one man, then another…errr…do I pass? shoot?…shit here he comes…errr…and ends with Diaby running into a defender and losing possession. Reminds me of Hleb in that respect
Sagna is a nice guy… but without injuries, he would be the best French player? Hum, injured or not, Benzema has no challenger…
Ribery… ever heard of him? Without injury he’s by far the best French player.
Diaby can do one as far as I’m concerned. Poster boy for the Wenger failure years: – dopey as hell (Newcastle away last season) – lazy (many examples but the 2-0 up 3-2 loss to Wigan couple of seasons ago was a case in point – mental strength of a pubescent Californian air-head female – lazy – Has absolutely no connection or empathy with the fans – wearing a Scum shirt – overpaid on a stupidly long contract, £50k per week ffs – always injured – did I mention he’s lazy? Sod-off Abou, Sooner you make way for a proper… Read more »
Dopey as hell? Some twat had just dived in on his only just fixed ankle. I reckon I’d have leathered the cunt if it had been me. Up the arse!
I don’t care how hard Barton dived in on him, YOU DO NOT RETALIATE! That little action started off the slide in which we gave up what, a 4 goal lead? I’m not saying it was the sole reason, but putting your squad down a man that early in the game can cause problems. FFS wait till the 85th minute and then stick a late one in, Scholes-style. If he wants to play at this level he’s going to have to expect that he’ll be tackled hard and he’ll have to make sure he avoids it. Sorry, not a Diaby… Read more »
@Sddutchgooner lmao!!
[…] speaking of injured players, Abou Diaby has gone some way to try and explain his problems, dismissing suggestions that he is ‘fragile’. People stick this ‘fragile’ label on […]
[…] speaking of injured players, Abou Diaby has gone some way to try and explain his problems, dismissing suggestions that he is ‘fragile’. People stick this ‘fragile’ label on […]