Christian Karembeu: Abou Diaby should start in first match against Uruguay
Arsenal midfielder Abou Diaby should start France’s first World Cup game against Uruguay according to former French International Christian Karembeu.
Speaking to L’Equipe, the 39-year old explained that the Arsenal man can be a very important piece of the French midfield as he not only is very good when pushing forward but can also help the defensive department when required as he is also very capable of winning important balls in midfield.
Karembeu, who is currently a scout for Arsenal, added how the 24-year old has been one of the top players for the Gunners last season and although he may not have enough experience on the International platform, he is a valid alternative to injured Lassana Diarra for a midfield role.
Compared to Patrick Vieira by many, Diaby already featured for France in pre-World Cup friendlies and was the one to beautifully set up Mathieu Valbuena for the winning goal against Costa Rica.
Together with Gael Clichy, William Gallas and Bacary Sagna, the midfielder was selected by Raymond Domenech to be part of the French team for the South African World Cup Finals and is one of the eleven Arsenal players to be involved in the competition.
On Diaby, Karembeu said:
Abou Diaby is a very interesting and versatile player as he possesses the characteristics to be able to help on the defensive side as well, meaning that he can recover important balls in midfield.
He has been one of the best for Arsenal last season. He may lack experience with the International team but I believe he is a strong candidate to replace Diarra in midfield for the match against Uruguay.
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France are spoiling for an own goal!!
Diaby the best player – is he on drugs
To be fair, there was a month or two where he was simply amazing yes.
he hit a good vein of form for a run of 3 games maybe. the most infuriatingly inconsistent player in the side by far. problem with diaby is when he is not playing well, he is more detrimental to the team than other players out of form due to his knack of holding onto the ball slowing build up
For two months or so , yes, he was amazing but that does not mean he had a good season for the gunners or that he was one of the best players. Besides a couple of games, IMO he was horribly average.
Good luck for a national team that has many arsenal players.
Amazing isn’t it how ignorant some people are. Evidently, they don’t even watch the games and come to a conclusion based on rumours or whatever drivel the manager comes out with to hoodwink the public. Anyone who actually watches Diaby knows he’s a lazy, disastrous coward – and he’s more likely to stick on in his own net or lose his marker completely at the world cup than provide anything positive.
You should have watched more Arsenal games this season before calling Arsenal supporters “ignorant”. With one own goal (against United this season) since he joined Arsenal, your characterization of Diaby is simply insulting. And ignorant.
look at his international form over the last 4 france games he has played, nuff said. i think he can be an integral part of france’s world cup campaign. plus the international experience will do him very good.
but i do agree that he wasnt one of the gunners most consistent players last season, contrary to what karembu thinks
Abou has a consistency problem but for the World Cup that’s not an issue – if he can step it up a gear and keep it going for a month, he can indeed be an amazing asset to have for France.
Diaby possess the physical strength that is matched by few players in the world. He can chip or head in a few odd goals too. He needs a better tactical / positional sense and better decision making (i.e. football brain), as well as to be more consistent, to become a very good player.
Karembeu is an Arsenal scout? Well obviously he’s incompetent… sack him.
Hi,
If you look at diabi, you will know that he has qualities that are not in all the midfielders we have at the moment. He is a kind of player that can cool tension, reduce the no of players on the pitch and has final passes at the appropriate time. He is capable of defending as well as attacking, so he will be a positive inclusion to the present french squad.
Heh he clearly can not be an Arsenal fan all arsenal fans knows that Diaby is shit right? or that is what most bloggs say anywya
True Diaby can play at a high level in some games. He can really be a handful for the defense. But he has never been consistent. One thing I find strange is when people talk about him being able to fill in for Song at the DM position. He looks like he should be able to play that position but he can’t. He has size but he is most comfortable going forward and thats it. He does not defend or tackle that well. Hope all the Gunner players do well at the World Cup and come back healthy. RVP is on fire! GO GUNNERS!!
Why does everyone hate on diaby? o yeh thats because every time we fail SOME ONE needs to be a scapegoat. Denilson, Diaby, Fab, Aluminium, Fabispank, etc.. The truth is that Diaby is a truly great addition to the squad….Y does everyone forget that he scored some amazing goals this seaosn (6 if im not mistaken), and has been good goin forward, and is the ONLY ARSENAL MID THAT IS TALL, AND STRONG! All of our midfielders are SMALL and technical, we need someone (and another in my opinion) like Diaby in the squad, one who can be a threat in the air as well as being a presence in our box during set pieces and corners. IF ANYTHING…..the WC will give diaby the experience and confidence to turn out more consistent performances in the red and white. YES he HAS dissappointed, but so did most of the gunners this season minus fab RVP song, The fact still remains that if Diaby left….we would be properly SCREWED! Who wants to bet that Diaby turns out to a solid and dynamic player for us this season? Remember all the flak song caught last year? and now everyone wants to buy a 17 song jersey and sing his praises like they WERENT hatin on him allllll last season….. True arsenal fans will follow wenger, we as fans tend to thing we have the best view on the issue at hand, but the coach knows best….. IN WENGER WE TRUST!!!
Took it from my mouth…. I am a big Diaby Enthusias.. in fact the only Arsenal Jersey I own is a 2 Diaby. Song sold… now it’s Bendtner’s turn coming soon…. well said mate.
The hell with Mourinho… Wenger produces your Henrys and Anelkas, your Ashley Coles and Adebayors. Other teams have reaped the benefits of players wearing the Arsenal shirt under Wenger. All the former Arsenal players our fans boo (which is lame) are not booed simply because they left Arsenal…. it’s mostly because they’re GREAT PLAYERS that NO LONGER play for Arsenal. We give them more attention when they’re gone than when they’re here ??!!!!!!!!!!! @#$*$&)%(
Some fans… I swear.
The guy is one lazy basket.Without doubt he has amazing skill and is extremely talented,however there are times when he just could’nt be arsed to put in his full shift.
I am sure we will see lots from Diaby this coming season. Let the kid grow for God’s sake.
Didn’t rate Karembeu as a player really and surely don’t rate him as a talent evaluator/scout….
Out of all places scouting is an Arsenal strength…. they wouldn’t hire Kanebeau if he was no good. And he was not a bad player at all.
The comment that really cracked me up was that Diaby is lazy!!
Diaby can do EVERYTHING. Play him from CB to STRIKER. I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s a good goalie too. He is coming of age… he’s not there yet but you will see his shirt selling one day.
I agree with Karenbeau…. Diaby is ready for WC experience. As an Arsenal and France supporter I really hope this knuckle head of a coach plays Diaby.
Ps. Go to the Manchester game and watch the own goal…. wait and watch how diaby almost redeemed it instantly… Cut through Manchester’s defense like butter. He’s going to be terrific one day when he’s got more experience.
All this reminds me of all the hating on Bendtner the previous season….
CB ? He can’t defend in the midfield. How could he defend in the back. He is good in the attack. He fades when played out wide, backs off when playing in a more defensive role. I wish he could defend. Then he would be able to give Song a rest once in a while. He is a good midfielder. But versatile? I don’t think so. I do think he could help France in the World Cup but he’s not playing ahead of Gourcuff.
Diaby’s problem is that he is inconsistent and he’s not really a great defensive midfielder and can be a slouch at times. France are going to rely on Gourcuff to pull the strings and he’s not exactly a player who likes to hustle too much unless is reaps an assist or a goal. Gourcuff’s brilliant but can be lazy so they’re going to put Toulalan behind him because he;s a work horse. As incompetent as Domenech is, he’s not going to put two players in the center of midfield who don’t like to run very much or drop deep and defend. Diaby will come on for Gourcuff in games where they are protecting a lead. Diaby can push forward and make strong tackles but he doesn’t have the intelligence of Gourcuff and he loses the ball at the wrong times.
Additionally Domenech has gone with this ridiculous 4-3-3 so he can accommodate all of his attacking options and I can guarantee you that Toulalan, Gourcuff and Ribery are the first names on the midfield list. Diaby doesn’t bring anything special to the team that those 3 individuals don’t already possess and more. I can see Abou starting games that don’t matter or as a sub but not as part of the strongest first XI that France can offer.
Agree with that WC
Diaby would replace Malouda… Thats pretty obvious isn’t it? Malouda should not be playing in the centre of midfield. Diaby is the obvious option to partner Toulalan and Gourcuff. Malouda should play out wide with Ribery switching flanks… Diaby would be a beast for France at the world cup. Hes played in the exact position for Arsenal that he is trying to get into with France. Toulalan is very similar to Song and Gourcuff is very similar to Fabregas. So you can either put a left winger into the central midfield who for some weird reason keeps pushing out to the left side (which means that Evra Ribery and Malouda get in each others way) or you could play a player with HUGE ability who plays in that exact position with similar midfield players every week not to mention its the biggest tournament in the world so he is going to play out of his skin. He gives height, strength and defensive ability to the midfield as well as an advantage in set pieces. He’ll know that if he doesn’t play well he will be dropped. Playing Diaby is THE ONLY OPTION unless Domenech is as thick and short sighted as half of the people posting here.
yes phillip, on the money. and even so what HARM could WORLD CUP PLAYING TIME BE FOR A PLAYER!?!?!? LITTLE TO NONE (ok minus injuries) the experience is massive
The match is over and it was quite a boring one…. but Abou Diaby had a SOLID performance… to hell with anyone who thinks he’s lazy…. he out-played ALL his team mates against Uruguay..
Well done Diaby…. this is good experience – exactly what he needs. Very promising player.