Wenger should learn how to use Abou Diaby. When fully fit, Abou Diaby possesses qualities that no other player in Arsenal can claim to have. He is a formidable team mate to have on your side, combining power and aggression, which it must be said Coquelin has managed to bring in to the side; with silky skills and attacking prowess.
Abou Diaby is a strong midfielder made in the ilk of Patrick Vieira. He has the same powerful frame that allows him to power past even the strongest defenders swatting them aside like flies. He is the closest anyone has ever come to measuring up to Vieira. Paul Pogba is more like Yaya Toure than Vieira in my opinion.
Obviously we all know the toll that injuries have had on Diaby…every comeback brings with it false hope that he can live up to his hype. Diaby only needs to look at Rosicky to know that he can overcome his injuries and begin to repay back the faith that the manager has shown in him.
In order to do that, he needs to modify his game and become like Patrick Vieira more than ever. How? As similar as Diaby is to Vieira in terms of build and the way he runs, they are quite different. Vieira was more of an enforcer and passer of the ball, only making his lung busting runs when the need arose. Diaby, on the other hand, lives for those types of runs. He thrives on them and boy is he good at them but due to the knocks that he inadvertently attracts from overzealous defenders, he needs to learn how to pass and let other midfielders like Ramsey make the runs for him.
For Wenger to get the best out of Abou Diaby, he needs to use Diaby against the big four! Why? Because, that is more a game of skill and free flowing football than an all out brawl like Stoke City. Diaby came out of the game against Brentford because it was less physical. Wenger needs to use Diaby in games where teams actually come out to play and I am sure we will start to see an injury free Diaby…unless he slips and falls while taking a shower. With his rotten luck, I wouldn’t bet against it!
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