Friday 11 July 2008

Could Gilberto's likely exit mean a make or break season for Diaby?

Its looking more and more likely that Gilberto will follow the Arsenal central midfield exodus by signing a deal with Greek side Panathinaikos.

If indeed he does leave then I wish him good luck. He has been a superb servant for Arsenal and an excellent professional throughout his time at the club.

I won't forget Gilberto and what he has done for Arsenal. An excellent player who did a great job for us. He has a brilliant attitude and even when he was over-looked as captain last season and barely featured, you hardly heard a grumble for him.

Young players could learn bundles from Gilberto just by the way he conducts himself on and off the pitch. And Arsenal will miss him, not just his experience but his role in the squad.

I would be more than happy for him to stay, but you can't argue that at his age he needs regular football and it's likely he won't get that at Arsenal.

This would mean yet another central midfield player leaving and you could say we need to strengthen this position for the new season. It's hard to believe the amount of players that play in such an important position have left.

We seemed top heavy with central midfielders last season and now its the complete opposite!

Many Gooners have an opinion on who play alongside Cesc next season. Mine is that I'd love Yaya Toure to sign but that seems very unlikely. My strong feelings is that Le Boss will promote from within.

Is Diaby the answer to our problems? With all the recent departures in his favourite position Diaby will not have a better opportunity to make the central midfield place his own. But can he do that and does Wenger have enough faith in him to do so?

More importantly do you, my fellow Gooners feel Diaby can take this chance and finally show us what he is made of alongside Cesc?

He has been, unfairly in my views, compared to Patrick Vieira. There is only one Patrick Vieira and Diaby is similar only in appearance. I've no doubt though that Diaby can play in this position but only when he learns to play the ball at the right time and becomes more aggressive.

He will only improve by playing there, and Le Boss has been smart by playing Diaby wide to allow him the chance to improve other aspects of his game, such as positional sense.

In many ways this is a make or break season for Diaby. He will never have a better chance to nail this position and make it his own. Lets hope he can!

Keep it Goonerish.......

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

hopefully he will, suits tht position visually like patty ;)

Anonymous said...

nice write up. Diaby can be a great player but only if he listens and learns from Wenger.

Remember, Wenger knows

Anonymous said...

In my opinion he's too similar to Cesc for it to work. Both are offensive players and look to get forward and score goals. He would need to change his game and look to sit more and get stuck in but he hasn't proved himself the best tackler in the squad. For me he's the Cesc replacement when he needs a break from the first team. Denilson is a more likely partner for Cesc but again I think he's too young and tbh too short. I'm sure Wenger will sign someone in this position (with some height please) and then use Denilson as his replacement.

Anonymous said...

I agree Mr last Anonymous,

Cesc and Diaby are attack minded players and it wouldn't work although they are the two most talented midfield players. It would be interesting to see how a 5 man midfield with a holding player in between them two.

Anonymous said...

He'll step up!

What Diaby likes to do, and what he will have to do are two separate things.

Flamini bombed forward as did Paddy. I think Arsene wants a defensive midfielder who can do both... Diaby has the height and power to dominate the middle... but does he have the concentration? Does he have the drive to play how Wenger wants him to?

It's all about discipline! Let's wait and see!

Anonymous said...

I actually think he's going to be perfect. It will just be like no one expected Flamini to do as well as he did last season. Actually saw him near my local Tesco in North London. Does seem like a shy guy. anyway GOONER 4 LIFE

Anonymous said...

great post wrigjty7

Anonymous said...

Wrighty, just wanted to ask you your opinion on what wenger said the other day...about us having to sell our top players for the next 17 years...I get the feeling that Arsene is trying to put pressure on the current board?...maybe he too feels we need the cash from Usmanov and Kroenke, especially considering that will mean he gets Dein back?...i dunno...if we had the finance we could keep the Hleb's and the Ade's...dunno just wondering what you think. Samir Nasri is a goon.

Anonymous said...

Diaby needs to be more healthy to play the position. Last season he suffered several small injuries and missed a fair bit of time. The man who plays this position tends to be near a little of physical play all of the time. Diaby also needs to be more subtle when he fouls. He tends to get carded fairly quickly and we all remember that reckless challenge against Bolton (I think?) that earned him a red card. Holding midfielders do a lot of fouling, but need to be subtle and not too brutal. Can he avoid yellow cards in the first half or throughout the game? I don't know.

Wrighty7 said...

Hi the Don,

I'm confused about it mate to be honest. We've been told that there is money available for Wenger and then we hear this!

By all accounts we are the RICHEST most stable club in England. Sure the debt needs to repaid, but I thought we earned more than enough through sponsers and matchday revenue to cover this.

It's wrong if we have to suffer on the playing side of things for the debt. The plan to move to the Emirates was to make us compete with the Uniteds and Milans are this world, not inhibit us.

leon said...

i am sorry but until this confirmed by wenger or the player this specualtion.

Yuri Kostun said...

Seems like Paddy had his share of cards, so I wouldn't worry about that. Would be nice to have someone who could put the boot on a big shot like Paddy did in the early days. I think Diaby is going to be great.

RVP Walcott
Vela Cesc Diaby Nasri
Clichy Gallas Toure Sagna
Almunia

Man, that's gonna be a crazy lineup. We are going to score some points next year!

Anonymous said...

good article as usual.

Why aint you on oli oli?

Anonymous said...

FORGET ALL THAT -
ARSENAL HAVE MADE A LAST MINUTE BID FOR GARETH BARRY WHICH IS BETTER THAN LIVERPOOL HAVE OFFERED AND HAS BEEN ACCEPTED BY VILLA!!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

Of Course Diaby and Cesc Together Would work and i think, that's what Arsene has been working towards eversince the arrival of them. By the Way Join up with the This Fantasy Premier League for 2008-2009.
http://fantasy.premierleague.com/

Join this League. 116231-29485

Anonymous said...

We need strength, experience, and quality for Cesc's partner next season.

I would love it if the rumours were true about us being in for Gareth Barry. In my opinion he perfectly fills the above criteria, as well as being English and Premier League experienced.

Alongside a defensive purchase for CM (we need two players here), i think Barry and Cesc would be great.