Abou Diaby watch?

[Xhaka Can’t]

Actually i have to disagree, i don't think Dan Smith says anything here that's unreasonable....if he says he didn't go out to hurt Diaby i don't see any reason why not to take him at his word. Also i think it is patently ridiculous to suggest this tackle has been responsible for Diaby's injury record, instead we have a manager not taking his own responsibility....i wouldn't mind but Diaby is hardly the only player we have at the club plagued by injuries....now either Wenger has a talent for buying physically frail players or there is a culture of poor training methods/incompetent Medical staff at London Colney....I personally think it's a bit of both.

I don't know if you saw the tackle or not. It was intentional, it was pointless and his whole statement is that of a cunt. The only saving grace in that article is that it illustrates he has been a total failure in football.

[Mr. Lahey]

[Power n Glory]

I don't know if you saw the tackle or not. It was intentional, it was pointless and his whole statement is that of a cunt. The only saving grace in that article is that it illustrates he has been a total failure in football.

Yep. He's a piece of shit and more so after that statement.

[GP]

I don't know if you saw the tackle or not. It was intentional, it was pointless and his whole statement is that of a cunt. The only saving grace in that article is that it illustrates he has been a total failure in football.

[Niall_Quinn]

Who was Smith's manager back then? He's the one who hired the "assassin" (as Wenger puts it, and Wenger has probably chosen the word carefully). Obviously the tackle (assault) is deliberate and designed to cause maximum damage. Flying in, full weight, studs up? Certain red card but of course this is England and Arsenal don't like it up 'em on a cold, rainy night in Stoke. Can you comprehend a professional sporting league where one of the acid tests is the willingness to have a punch up in bad weather with a bunch of thugs? Anyway, the manager who sent his player out to cause harm has walked through the raindrops for sure.

[The Emirates Gallactico]

Actually i have to disagree, i don't think Dan Smith says anything here that's unreasonable....if he says he didn't go out to hurt Diaby i don't see any reason why not to take him at his word. Also i think it is patently ridiculous to suggest this tackle has been responsible for Diaby's injury record, instead we have a manager not taking his own responsibility....i wouldn't mind but Diaby is hardly the only player we have at the club plagued by injuries....now either Wenger has a talent for buying physically frail players or there is a culture of poor training methods/incompetent Medical staff at London Colney....I personally think it's a bit of both.

It was a Shawcross situation. Sure he didn't anticipate the full extent of the damage he was going to do but he certainly went in to "rough" Diaby up and leave a mark. He was a young player then, barely featuring for even the Sunderland team then and wanted to impress his manager.

And no it's not ridicolous at all. I was listening to a medical/physio expert on an Arsenal podcast a while back (does some work for some Australian rugby league team or something) and he was explaining how damaging the ankle is the worst part to break at that age. The bones and muscles surrounding it weren't able to develop properly because of the break and they ended up being more susceptible to injury once the initial ankle break had healed.

It's not really a coincidence that Diaby wasn't really injury plagued prior to that incident and it's also kind of the reason why Jack keeps breaking down recently after his early ankle problems (which weren't as bad as Diaby's thankfully).

We're a big club with fans around the world and he's probably received a lot of grief from them whenever he's met one which is explains the pathetic attempts to apologise now.

This is him on twitter btw.

https://twitter.com/smudgerhung

Notice he's made his tweets private, probably as a result of abuse he got.


Mind you, I do also remember Diaby suffering some further horror challenges from the likes of Karl Robinson (WBA player) and Essien after that which probably were the final nails in his coffin in terms of him having any sort of impactful career.

Diaby ........ Just horribly unlucky.

Who was Smith's manager back then? He's the one who hired the "assassin" (as Wenger puts it, and Wenger has probably chosen the word carefully). Obviously the tackle (assault) is deliberate and designed to cause maximum damage. Flying in, full weight, studs up? Certain red card but of course this is England and Arsenal don't like it up 'em on a cold, rainy night in Stoke. Can you comprehend a professional sporting league where one of the acid tests is the willingness to have a punch up in bad weather with a bunch of thugs? Anyway, the manager who sent his player out to cause harm has walked through the raindrops for sure.

Think it was either your namesake or Keano.

Probably came up with the standard bollocks of, "He's not that type of player" afterwards as well.

[Niall_Quinn]

Poor old Dan Smith, the unsung victim in this saga.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/foo...not-fault.html

[Grebbo]

I think the Sunderland manager at the time was Mick McCarthy.

That DM article is a joke, no remorse whatsoever. It was a cowards tackle and was in stoppage time with us winning comfortably IIRC.

Diaby could have been some player.

[Marc Overmars]

Diaby released. It's official.

http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-arc...eaving-arsenal

Some of the goals he scored in that little video montage are very Yaya Toure like. What could have been.

[GP]

He really was a special talent. Must be one of Wenger's biggest regrets.