Diaby is more similar to Hleb than Vieira
76 comments October 22nd, 2008
ARGH. OH MY GOD. OH MY GOD OH MY GOD. I JUST WROTE A COUPLE OF THOUSAND WORDS ON THE GAME AND MANAGED TO SOMEHOW DELETE IT. ARRRRRGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.
Fenerbahce 2 – 5 Arsenal (Adebayor 10, Walcott 11, Silvestre (og) 19, Diaby 22, Song 49, Guiza 78, Ramsey 90) Highlights courtesy of 101greatgoals to follow
Before, I wrote a long description of the game and some lovely wordy prose amounting to an analysis. I have to say, I was quite pleased with it. I am extremely angry that my computer, seemingly of its own will, decided it would be a good idea to delete it all.
Forgive me, but I’m going to try and summarise it in bullet point form:
Abou Diaby is more like Aleksandr Hleb than Patrick Vieira. Diaby’s whole Arsenal career has been dogged by comparisons with the more illustrious Frenchman, when in fact they don’t share much other than being tall, black, and French. Vieira was a defensive collosus – Arsene used to say he could see him playing at centre-half in the future. Diaby last night played almost as a second striker, and here Arsene makes the point that he can play anywhere from the midfield forwards – not backwards, forwards. If Arsene thought Diaby had a defensive game of any note, he would trust him sufficiently to play him in the middle of a 4-4-2. As Diaby’s many shifts on the left indicate, he doesnt. Diaby and Hleb share immaculate close control, similar movement patterns, positional play, dribbling ability, and the capacity to be both remarkably frustrating and occasionally brilliant. (ps. It is quite possible that after reading this version of the article, you will think comparing Hleb and Diaby makes me a mentaloid. Believe me, in the full version, it made a whole lotta sense.)
4-5-1 makes sense. I think Arsene got the selection spot on last night (apart from perhaps at centre-half, where I would always pick Djourou over Song). Let’s not forget this is the system that brought us most of our success last season. Diaby’s return gives us someone to play in the Hleb role, allowing Cesc Fabregas to dicate proceedings from deeper, and pick the kind of passes that gifted Adebayor and Walcott goals last night. There are still flaws in the system, such as the fact that Denilson’s defensive game is not nearly as good as Flamini’s, but it liberates Walcott and Nasri aswell as allowing us to retain the ball better in the centre of the field. I would be tempted to perserve with the front six from yesterday in our forthcoming games.
Alex Song is not a centre-back. ‘Nuff said. Great goal, and I suspect he’ll become a decent midfielder, but he at the back he looks what he is: a makeshift player filling in.
Emmanuel Eboue was… brave? No, I can’t believe it either, but a couple of blocks last night showed real guts from the Ivorian. He didn’t even pretend to be injured either. I wonder if maybe his state of mind adapts according to his position: when he’s a defender, he acts all tough, and when he’s a winger, he becomes a diving show-pony. Mind you, Eboue was good going forward too, setting up a goal for…
Aaron Ramsey, who showed real promise when he came on. His confidence is obviously high after his excellent displays for the Welsh U21s, and it was fantastic to see a 17 year old score with such composure on such a daunting stage.
Finally, Manuel Almunia, who wore the armband, was outstanding. He made several critical saves and kept an occasionally shambolic backline just about secure enough for us to comfortably outscore our rivals.
What a game. What a night. The Champions League went crazy, with goals everywhere – and we were one of the main beneficiaries. I’m exhausted now, but I’ll enjoy the morning papers. I had a feeling we would pull a big performance out of the bag, and it’s raised my optimism about this season significantly. With two London derbies in the next seven days, it could be an important week.
