Arsene Wenger claims he will not add to his midfield if his current options remain fit in the build-up to the new season.
Rejecting suggestions that he is interested in signing Yann M’Vila, the boss spoke optimistically about Abou Diaby’s return insisting his compatriot can be a major force for the Gunners if he can stay fit.
Speaking from Malaysia after Arsenal touched down in the country on Saturday, Wenger stressed that the lanky box-to-box midfielder was looking in good condition.
“You can’t imagine how happy I am firstly to have him in the squad, because he is an exceptional player,” Wenger said. “I am cautious but confident because he had two hard weeks and came through it well.
“This tour is another decider for him. He will play on Tuesday night and now it is down to uncontrolled movement in games: how does your body react to that? I am confident with what I have seen in training that he will do it.
“He is the first player who would be on the France teamsheet in midfield when he is fit. Laurent Blanc said that before the European Championship and he waited a very long time to know if he could play or not. But he couldn’t.”
Dismissing suggestions that he is primed to sign Rennes enforcer Yann M’Vila, a deal which was thought to be 90 per cent done back in May, the boss continued:
“No [I am not interested]. We wait on Diaby and Wilshere. When you look we have Song, Ramsey, Coquelin, Wilshere, Arteta and Diaby.
“In defensive midfielders and box-to-box players we are not short if they are all coming back. If we have setbacks in pre-season it could be different.”
Arseblog News can’t recall a time when all Arsenal’s box-to-box players were actually available, so it’s fair to say that we can take some of Arsene’s posturing with a pinch of salt.
Diaby and Wilshere may well each be ‘LANS’, but with the former perpetually horizontal on the treatment table and the latter yet to be pencilled in for a return it would hardly come as a surprise were Arsene to pull a deal out of nowhere before the end of August.
“if Diaby stays fit”
Ha ha ha ha ha…
Haha, I know right.
It’s like saying “if terry doesn’t slip atleast once in this match,”………..trust me, he will slip, not once but twice!!!.
Typical Wenger! Great! Now we know! M’Vila in! 🙂
although I hope Diaby will be finally fit for the whole season.
Diaby is a Myth. 90 mins or he does not exist.
No M’Vila interest if Diaby stays fit = M’Vila interest
I’m expecting the deal for M’Vila will be done by lunchtime 😛
We’ll do better than survive if you buy Wenger!!
£9 Million for Cazorla and £6 Million for Afellay puts some teeth back in our attack! Then have a look at M’Vila or a cheaper option the unwanted Nigel de Jong to provide some strength in the middle….but no…..you’ll persist with Diaby and other crocks and that will be the undoing of you.
How can you bet your season on a man who’s played a handful of games int he last three-four years? Ridiculous!
Has he bet his season on 1 player or is he also relying on the other 6/7 midfielders that are in the squad to fill the 3 spaces in the middle? Did you think before you wrote that drivel or was it just like verbal diarrhea? Also, who are the other “crocks” exactly? Wilshere? One injury doesn’t make a crock. Rosicky? Fans were singing his praises last season when he got a run of games. Vermaelen? He’s had a big injury and a few niggles but seems fine. Mertesacker? He was injured but is back to training and pre-season match… Read more »
I guess everyone has forgotten the Foreign quota (maximum 17) and the 25 man squad rule, I counted 17 if you include Ryo Miyaichi (not classed as home grown yet).
So you resort to verbal jibes when i’m trying to make sense of the situation.
Just saying it’s prudent to have cover as we all can’t put our hopes on diaby getting fit!. Wilshere was the case last year but wenger promptly replaced him with arteta ( just think, what if he hadn’t?). Diaby will get better- yes!, we just don’t know when.
Solution?….refer to my post above.
Persisting with one of our crocks worked fine last year, or have you already forgotten RVPs contribution?
What Diaby has had this year that has differed to the previous ones is access to our wonderful new medical facilities. This could be his year. We may look back on this trophy-free period in a few years time and our first thoughts may be “What could have been if Diaby had been fit” rather than the current “If only Tom, Dick and Harry hadn’t left the club for “trophies””.
The issue is less Diaby than Wilshire. Events have all but written Diaby off, so little is expected. But Wilshire should not have been out for half as long as he has been, given the initial injury. The fact that we won’t see him at the start of this season, is doubly worrying. If we still haven’t seen him by Christmas – then we really are in trouble. And it will be too late, this side of next season to do anything about it. Still on the positive side at least Man City are unlikely to be bidding for either… Read more »
At least AFC have shown that players that have been deemed ‘chronic’ in the past have been brought ‘back to life’ with a vengeance. Rosicky and RVP last season are prime examples.
There’s no reason to think that eventually (maybe already) this can’t be the case with Diaby. He is a world class player.
One good thing about Arsenal is that we don’t give up on players when it comes to health and fitness.
(Whispers. One not so good thing about Arsenal is that we seem equally reluctant to give up on players when it comes to them being crap.)
Diaby world class player, ahahahah ahahahah, you guys kill me.
Just in case you forget, Diaby is a world-class player. He’s an absolute beast, and our only wish is that his fitness allows him to show that again.
No mention pf frimpong or the defensive midfielders on tour like eastmond and yennaris. interestingly he places ramsey who used last year as the attacking midfielder in that group. he must also see lansbury as an attacking midfielder like rosicky as they werent mentioned in his comment either.
He often denies interest in players anyway, although hoping Diaby gets a run in the team this season he brings something different to our midfield.
I’m sorry, but the only genuine defensive midfielders we have are Coquelin and Frimpong and they’re too young to take a firm spot in the first 11. If Song is our first choice DM, we’re not going to challenge for a trophy unfortunately because we’ll have the same vulnerabilities we had last year, as well as a glaring lack of cover come the ACN. Very disappointing because honestly I thought that M’Vila or a similar player was all we desperately needed. I get that we have a lot of central midfielders, but what we need is someone who can lock… Read more »
Spot on Alex!
Why the thumbs down people?
Song lacks the disipline to be a true DM and JW will be our Cesc clone when he gets fit. Reliance on Diaby being able to produce and stay fit on a regular basis is bordering on negligence by Arsene. I don’t know if M’Vila is the answer but a proper DM of quality, ready to go and straight out of the box is a cert’ in my opinion.
I agree here but think everyone misses the fact we have the perfect person for this role. Arteta can be our Parker/Barry etc but with a lot more to his game. When he didnt play last season we lacked so much order and discipline. Him sitting deeper with a Wilshire/Diaby/Rosicky/Ox etc making up the other 2 would be great. And when we need a little more stability bring in Song next to him and just one luxury player. In his later years Arteta was never going to replace Fabregas’ role, but this job is perfect for him and us. Arteta… Read more »
Jack……let’s face it he’s not back till Xmas I think. And as good as Diaby is on his day we are leaving ourselves wide open to the same mistakes as last year.
We really need someone to put the willies up em in that part of the pitch!
So let me see if I’ve go this right – Coq and Frimps are too young but M’Villa is okay? Why is it that we think so little of Arsenal players but we are all willing to YouTube Ivabigun and profess him to be Arsenals saviour? YouTube Coq or Frimps to see how good they are. No, they are not the finished article but neither was RVP until he was 28 years old. RVP will be purchased by someone that for £20m but will be sold for £5m in 3 years time. No many clubs can afford to loss away… Read more »
M’Villa is an international.
Frimpong and Coquelin are not.
@TGSTEL’s First Touch, Henderson is an international. Arteta is not.
Nice logic there.
Uh, Park is an International.
Not saying we should get M’Vila but TGSTEL’s First Touch does have a bit of a point as Coquelin and M’Vila are compatriots.
M’Vila was probably the best defensive mid in Ligue 1 last year. Do not try to tell me that he does not have more experience than Coquelin, who has barely played in the first team.
we all know what diaby is capable of when he is not injured or out of shape. If we can get him to a steady level. Then Man city will try and buy him in two years.
Scoring own goals, dribbling into dead ends, thats what hes capable of? Yes we need pay millions to get him back to fitness only for him to do that again.
does this mean Arsenal will sign M’Vila?
Definately,thats the “arsene way”he also said He doesnt know Santi Cazorla that is something i can stop laughing at and i was thinking we almost signed him last summer
Arsene and his antics,he would never change
This is going to Coquelin’s year!
Personally I think that’s ridiculous logic. Lets say they are both fit on August 31st and we don’t buy anyone but they suddenly both get injured on September 2nd? Then what?
The reason we are falling short is because we’re just one or two players light and the weaknesses in our squad show when we pick up a few injuries. Given our recent injury record, Wenger would have to be mad to expect anyone to stay fit all season.
“When you look we have Song, Ramsey, Coquelin, Wilshere, Arteta and Diaby.” When you look we have 6 midfielder for 2 positions. Included in that 6 are 2 that missed practically all of last season. So 4 midfielders , 1 of which misses preseason to be at the Olympics, Another missed the tail end of the season injured and another is an unproven (yet talented) kid who was also injured for a large chunk of the season That leaves Song again with another season of guaranteed first team football, with no pressure on his place and no adequate backup. At… Read more »
The reason Song didn’t get a rest last season is because his logical replacement, Coquelin, was either injured or playing fullback to cover for other injured players.
Knowing Wenger, I think the development of Coquelin and Frimpong is the other main factor in why he probably won’t buy M’Vila.
Boy! I’m gunna have a laugh when he reminds you that he he is a TOP mid-fielder. When you try and close him down, he’ll turn round you and leave you fer dead. It is a much needed ability in the premiership especially, that you cannot teach. This makes you have to stand off him, and this gives us time to do damage in the mid-field. He always does it. These sheeple band wagon peeps that think he ain’t worth it, don’t bother to actually watch him play. Go watch his performances for France on you tube with your own… Read more »
Regardless of Diaby being a top player – i agree – we need one more body in midfield, one with a bit of experience and nous, someone with a bit of bite. If we could get a 30+ experienced pro to guide the kids along while Coq and Frimpong learn some discipline
I was gonna make a wise crack but it appears everyone else already has. As you were.
That was the funniest yet. You always come through mate.
Physcofancy!.
Diaby has never been defensive or fit. Our defence needs 2 strong holding experienced midfielders to break play when we loose possession. We are busy addressing the attacking options when its never been the problem with Arsenal. Sagna broke his leg twice and theres no trusted right back to cover fo him. Priority should now be given to the defensive options. No experiments there please.
Coquelin is fine at right back, more reliable than Jenkinson, I think. Just have to hope we don’t need him in central midfield.
Cant start the season by playing people outta position. It should be for emergencies only.
Diaby will play two games back to back and get a injury. He can never play himself into form as soon as he looks half good he has a break down. Wenger talks him up cos heis trying to save himself 15m but he is not reliable when u go for titles you need to have a big fit squad. Van p is injury prone regardless of last year and so is Diaby also rosicky we have had to many of these over the past five years. Look to the teams doing well yes they get injuries but do they… Read more »
Cue joke about Spuds and Ledley King.
Every year every single signing you make is a gamble. They aren’t all going to work out. Keeping Diaby is a similar gamble. Class player, we keep him because if he can get fit he will be awesome. It’s not a crime and it isn’t stupid. It’s a calculated gamble on a player with known class and ability. It’s exactly why we kept RVP, and it paid off for a year, and what a year it was from him. More than anybody else Wenger has shown faith in Diaby. I’m prepared to show the same faith if Wenger thinks he’s… Read more »
Id love to see diaby get a good run in the side. The guy is class on the ball. We”ll soon see eh.
Or DENCH for that matter, he could of been a real difference in wolves relegation last season had he not been injured.
I’d say this isn’t about Diaby but M’Vila. Wenger’s far too polite to say he’s a brilliant player but, given his character, more trouble than he’s worth. Philippe Auclair said recently that there had been no bids for him at all, which is remarkable given he’s France’s big toddler star. Rennes now say there have been some bids, but they would say that and I’m not sure I believe them. For all his brilliance a disruptive nutcase is the last thing we want, and we will – hopefully, if we buy Cazorla and possibly Holtby – have as much as… Read more »
Even if all or most are fit….are they good enough to win the title or Champs league? No….so buy.
Consider the Arsene Wenger Factor. He often gets the best out of players, but injuries are the real problem (and City). So if they’d all be fit, we could totally challenge
Arseblood. If you think that the Arsenal stars are not good enough to win the champions league even if they’re fit, then it clearly shows lack of knowledge of your club. Arsenal FC was one of the worst three injury records, while Man City had very few disturbances. I doubt Man city will be able to finish among the top 5 should they suffer the same injury spell that Arsenal endured. If anyone thinks that the signing of M’Villa can win us trophies, what more of the availability of the said midfielders and as lucky an injury free season as… Read more »
I don’t know, the midfield strikes me as pretty good. We have Arteta and Song who can do the defensive midfield and playmaking from deep jobs, especially when they’re in the same lineup. Also, if Diaby can stay fit, he could offer something entirely different and could really have a positive impact. Of course, having M’Vila would be great, and I don’t buy any “killing off so and so” reason for NOT buying. RVP will be off, so why not take the cash and get M’Vila? In any case, I’d keep my eyes on Coquelin. I’d tip him to become… Read more »
And that’s one of the reasons rvp is leaving.
Last season the midfield was the problem for many games
Now we have to rely on the fitness of diaby and hope that jack comes back well and ready after over a year out.
He may have gone about it wrong but if rvp wants to win trophies before he retires then he had to leave arsenal.
Most gooners know we need probably two midfield players to add to an already depleted squad. And wenger comes out with this.
He only wants to win trophies so that he has somewhere new to stuff his money after he filled his mattress already. We should buy him a bucket and make him stay. Then all he needs to do is play as well as last season, and with a better start and a fit Diaby we will win him a trophy or two.
Why do people read so much into Wenger’s press conference? 90% of the time he has never speak the truth about transfers. The other 10% he will give a smile or give some indication whether player A will leave or sign for the club.
Recent examples –
Arteta – No we are not interested. Signs him a day later.
Podolski – No we are not interested. Signs him.
Modric – No we are not interested. Signs him not. (same home town as Eduardo)
Christian Eriksen – No we are not interested. Signs him not.
Mario Goetze – No we are not interested. Signs him not.
Hazard – No we are not interested. Signs him not. (ok, he was too expensive)
Juan Mata – No we are not interested. Signs him not.
p.s. not all of thise players are my first choice to buy
I hope M’Vila is in your category (Arteta, Podli case) –
M’Vila – No we are not interested. Signs him I hope
🙂
Is this a hint that he’s interested in a CAM? I would be happy with Wilshere, Song and Arteta for the 2 deeper midfield slots with Diaby and Coquelin as backup.
Each season AW keeps making the same mistake. He assumes that players are going to stay healthy. Yes, we have a strong midfield in Wilshere, Song, and Arteta. But we have a considerably less-strong midfield in Ramsey, Diaby, and Coquelin. Every season we’re dependent on the health of our players. And come the last few months … for all our crucial matches we’re waiting on someone to return. Last season we were significantly a less effective side once Arteta was out. Before that it was Cesc. We know, as he should, that Wilshere is not going to have a 100%… Read more »
It was the Arteta, Song and Ramsey midfield that got us 3rd place last year after the awful start. With a little help from Benayoun and Rosicky.
Those three can get us a reasonable start this season, with a little help from Diaby, and then Rosicky, and then we will hopefully get Wisldhire back to shake things up and a a bit of extra oomph.
Then we have Coquelin to add in some rotation, and Frimpong back too. I’m not too worried.
Wisldhire ? God, my eyes are going or I have digital dyslexia.
Hey Gutbukkit! How many games you watched last season? Real games I mean, but not Madrid’s club.
What FIFA manager are you playing?
Since he spoke so highly of Diaby he must have seen something that we don’t so in Arsene i trust
We lack competition is the defensive midfield area. Only song is the true DM. We need another DM. We alsoneed to stop using Song in all sorts of positions when there are 4 or 5 guys paid to do the job.
De ja vu!!!!!!, diaby gets injured and wonders
“have I already been through this?”. Same shit, same guy, every damn time….lol
Yep, just like “Gary” posts. Difference is, Diaby can improve 🙂
Hhhmmm
Horrible feeling Diaby will stay fit untill about a week after the transfer window closes. he’ll be out a week, then two, then…
I can’t see the harm in having a straight up DM who actually relish doin the dirty workin the squad
It’s interesting that Arsene chooses to say we have numbers specifically “in defensive midfielders and box-to-box players”. To me that hints at the prospect of adding an attacking mid.
Or maybe I’m just clutching at straws!
He has had an biomechanical imbalance he’s been trying to fix since his last operation in January.
Only time will tell whether he can cope with the everyday rigours of training/playing etc.
I hope he can come through, no doubt he will pick up little niggles along the way, but if he stays humble and works hard, here’s hoping he can become a real force this season.
Lets give him a bit of respect, the club have stuck by him, and we should do the same. I’m confident he will repay us this season.
Does biomechanical imbalance mean that one leg is now three inches shorter than the other? We must watch him closely in pre-season. Look for a massive limp. If he doesn’t have one all is well.
So overrated, it’s unblievable. He cannot even pick a pass, FFS! He either under/overweights it, or doesn’t even pass, slowing the game down.
Who? Diaby? Wait til he gets a run in the team before judging him.
Yeah wait till he gets a run in the team before creaming over how good a player he is.
I think Wenger made it quite clear about Diaby….
There is a month and a half till the transfer window closes and he will play Diaby as much as he can. If he makes it to the window then all well and good but if he picks up a niggle or doesn’t look like he can cope then M’Vila’s agent is on fast-dial on his mobile!
Loved you in your TV show.
Same bollox regarding transfers as last season. When will this club and arsene learn. Telling us players are not leaving only to Leave the week after. Saying we are waiting on players to be fit only to find out they won’t be and it’s too late to buy. The first 11 have no real competition for thier places. We need strengh in depth and until we get that along with proper competition for places, we will win fuck all and continue to go backwards. We don’t need to spend city type money, but we have the money to buy quality… Read more »
Who’s this Diaby bloke I keep hearing about?
I’d still like to see a decent DM signing as cover/competition for Song. It would just give us depth for any (quite) possible injuries/setbacks to the current crop. Then we can concentrate on seriously challenging for that silver stuff again.
Two hard weeks on the training ground, and then some exhibition pre-season friendlies. If Diaby can just scrape through this, then he will definitely be available for the entire Premier League season. Of course.
Actually that’s exactly how pre-season is used to judge the fitness of a team.
I would love to see Diaby have a 1st team run however having watched M’villa a few time I think he would be awesome for us.
I know Diaby needs a chance as we gave RVP but I feel now its just a feeling here that MV would be a better option as a backup/rotation to the mighty Song !!!!
Either way lets sell some of the hangers on and bring in some fresh players who want to win for Arsenal.
Diaby, please report a sore thigh so that we can get M’Vila in. Then you can “discover” it was just your underpants were too tight, and we can have both of you fighting a spot in the team. I’m sure you’d like competition to keep you on your toes wouldn’t you? Pretty Please?
This doesn’t mean anything. Imagine Wenger saying he’s really interested in M’Vila and Carzorla… Shitty and Chelski would be all over them inflating the transfer fees.
If that were completely true surely both teams would have made a bid for Diaby by now?
Also Diaby is pure class and I hope to see a lot of him next season.
As much of him as we’ve seen of Giroud?
I’ve always thought buying m’vila, in the long run will signify the end of coquelin’s arsenal career..I know we all want a quality cover for song..and personally I think with what I saw of le coq last season I think he’s good enough to be a back up this season, considering he’l only get better (hopefully no long term injuries)..further more I don’t think m’vila will be comfortable being a back up for a long time considering song is 25…I know some will say song should be moved to arteta’s position..then what happens to wilshere and arteta. Its all good… Read more »
Not being sure if Alex Song will be remaining with you for long if he continues to playing well and showboat at inappropriate moments. We like to continue tradition of bringing players through our feeder club in North London into the first team at MiddleEastlands.
You keep sheiking it down mate. You don’t want that last drop to stain your nice white jellaba.
Take him to the placenta lady, and keep him away from the placenta lady boy, van pussy.
Play TV5 as the CDM and let Song free for more of his magic chips. Buy another defender
Well, it is an idea. Sort of thing Wenger likes to do occasionally.
Wow Arsene, now that’s what i call Faith. Although i have a sneaky feeling you’re throwing people off the Mvila scent. Cheeky Mr Wenger.
If Diaby and Wilshere remain fit and healthy and have a fantastic season I will be very pleased to congratulate you, our feeder club, and reward you with moneys as we take them into our warm bosom of trophies which we have bought.
Didn’t you do that joke already, cock? Couldn’t you come here with two original ideas? I don’t think you’re trying hard enough.
What is cock? Is it for sale? I may buy this.
Don’t you people realize that when Wenger says he’s not interested in someone, THAT’S THE ONE HE’S INTERESTED IN!
all this disruptive influence M’Villa is criticised for… really, i’d love to see some nuthead in this Arsenal team. i don’t believe he’d do much damage to our dressing room, while i certainly believe he would flourish in the league such as PL. missing Vieira days, with incidents like Keown’s reaction to a certain penalty. bad boys can be good if they are dealt with properly. and here’s where Arsene kicks in.
Your not fooling anyone arsene
M’Villa in
I know this means sweet fuck all but i signed m’vila in FIFA 12 for my arsenal team and him and song in midfield with jack in front creating is a joy to play with.
Funnily enough I also bought pod and giroud (and vertonghen) and the board sold rvp to real Madrid because he was unsettled haha besides the vertonghen thing it’s eerily coming together slowly but surely haha
SO there isn’t competition for new signings in FIFA 12 then.
If diaby prove his fitness in preseason he will be a starter alongside song and arteta and he will be playing CAM position arteta and song will operate the midfield behind him ,diaby has exceptional dribbling ability to round players and make free space an that will be vital to do out of the box because the wingers w’ll have much more free space to target giroud. Diaby could be awesome not to mention he has great shot so fingers crossed for him to stay fit and prove his fitness as he could be vital for us this season.
@big black clock
Both Coquelin and M’villa are French, M’villa is an established French internaitonal, Coquelin isn’t.
I wonder how many thumbs down I will get for stating this fact.
Hey thanks bro! I didn’t know that 🙁
So…your point?
Mc Allen
“So let me see if I’ve go this right – Coq and Frimps are too young but M’Villa is okay?
Why is it that we think so little of Arsenal players “