Contrary to the last one, Arsenal go into this new International break with plenty to smile about. Back-to-back wins, six goals, players clicking together, Cesc Fabregas back to his best and we’re also closer to the top of the table.

Writing about such an incredible win comes easy, reason why I prefer – amongst other things of course – to expand a little on Abou Diaby. Remember how last season many were divided on whether Denilson deserves to start? Well it seems this year it’s Diaby’s turn to be in the middle of this debate and below I’m presenting my point of view for the last time as I’ve been discussing Diaby way too long now and don’t want to people to think it’s something personal.

But first, some words on yesterday’s man of the match and one of the best midfielders of the game.

No Cesc? No Party.

Watching Cesc kissing the badge and showing it with pride after the goal made me wonder why did he do that. I mean, why on earth he’s always put in a position to show his loyalty to the club? Seriously, there’s no need to produce a 10/10 game, score and kiss the badge to show us he loves the club and he’s not leaving in January as many cheap websites want us to believe.

He’s our captain, he’s with us, and here to stay. I understand people asking what’s wrong with him when he doesn’t perform but questioning his loyalty? Come on, give me a break.

Abou Diaby

I know I’m sounding more and more like a broken record in my day after thoughts with Abou but he’s an Arsenal player, many are divided on his performances so an interesting discussion could arise out of this.

First of all, I’m surprised how on his yesterday performance some say he wasn’t THAT good but a rating of “6″ in unfair and he deserves at least a 6.5 or 7. I mean seriously, a “7″ should be given when a player had an excellent game with very few mistakes and not when he was pretty much anonymous and cheaply gave away a lot of balls in midfield.

Having said that, I don’t agree when some say they can’t wait for Nasri to come back to replace him. Now you may wonder why I want Diaby to be relegated on the bench but then think Samir is not the one to replace him. Well as much as you may hate reading it, we lack height. Fabregas, Nasri and Denilson are no skyscrapers and they are not the strongest either, reason why Diaby brings something to the squad which many others don’t: strength and height. In addition to that, he’s also lethal in front of goal. Forget yesterday’s miss, in the past he showed that when he’s given a chance, he can bury it with his finishing being the only area where he really looks like Patrick Vieira.

The problem, however, is that when you examine the above-mentioned qualities, he’s disappointing in all of them. In terms of strength and height, Alex Song is the one who is making his physical presence felt in midfield and scoring-wise, Abou is rarely putting himself into a shooting position and when he does, he passes it.

Now I know many believe that by criticising players you’re not supporting them, but that’s not true, it’s ridiculous to think that just because they are Arsenal players they should be immune to criticism. And ironically, I’m not really criticising Diaby here, I’m just saying that he has qualities he’s not taking advantage of. Many of you have an opinion on Diaby and it’s that he will soon be the player we need in midfield, but “soon” is a problem as by saying so, you’re automatically admitting that he’s not there just yet and that we’re going out there playing important games with a player who still needs a season or maybe two to be where we want him to be.

Looking Forward

Not much to look forward to with the International break coming up. As always, we cross our fingers and hope all players come back intact. After that, we’ll be back for the home again against Birmingham and that’s on October 17th, weekend during which Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester City will all have tricky away games to deal with.

Until then, as always, take care.