The Ballad of Abou Diaby

by imothyt

Football is funny. I know that a lot of people get upset at the matchgoing supporters who say that actually attending a match is different than watching it on TV. I understand why: going to an Arsenal game in London is a privilege. The vast majority of supporters will never be able to attend a single match, much less an entire season. So, it can grate on one set of fans when another set tells them that their experience isn’t real.

But I hate to break it to you, for me, it’s true. I remember moments from the last Sounders match I attended this summer more vividly than I remember moments from this weekend’s Arsenal match. And I remember being there in person to see Abou Diaby play twice for Arsenal as far back as 2010. And I can recall almost every moment of those games.

I suspect that this is because of the intensity of the emotions. The swell of the crowd in anticipation of the match. The absolute unbridled joy when your team scores – hugging strangers with terrible cigarette breath or doing the pogo for 20 minutes when you think your team might beat Bayern Munich in Munich and improbably advance to the next round.

Maybe you can remember all of these moments from watching TV, in which case I deeply envy you. I have found that the more TV games I watch, the more every match becomes something of a blur. Lost in a flurry of tweets, texts, blurps, and dings of my phone, my computer, my TV, the stats, the daughter, the dog, the cat, and me googling some fact.

I don’t remember everything. I went to a match in 2010. It was a Wednesday night or Monday night League game. It was cold. Senderos scored. I can’t remember who we played. I do remember the guy next to me complaining about Adebayor and how lazy he was.

(I googled it. The match was Monday, February 11th 2008. Arsenal played Blackburn. We won 2-0 thanks to a Senderos header in the 4th minute and an Adebayor goal in the 92nd minute.)

I don’t care for people complaining about other fans. It’s one of the most annoying aspects of sports, that there are fans who complain about their fellow fans. And Arsenal have a huge contingent of fans who love to lecture other fans on what proper supporters should do, how they should talk, how they should cheer, and how many years we need to give Unai Emery unless we want to be accused of harboring a hidden agenda against him because he doesn’t speak in metaphors.

But there have been a few times where I felt like some Arsenal supporters were out of line. Both of times were away matches and both times it was directed at Abou Diaby.

The first time was Anfield away. I’ll never forget Anfield. This was right after Luis Suarez committed a racism and Liverpool had signs all over the stadium imploring the supporters to grass on their fellow fans if they caught anyone hurling racist abuse.

I remember Luis Suarez diving to win a penalty. He pulled back his sock in a dramatic show to the world “look I was really fouled, there’s a mark here!” I remember Szczesny doing a double-save, right in front of me, off Dirk Kuyt’s penalty. I’ll never forget how Jordan Henderson looked like he intentionally elbowed Mikel Arteta in the head. Something I could only barely see from the other end of the pitch, but I swear I could feel the malice. I remember Robin van Persie striking an incredible volley right in front of me, scoring the winner. It felt like justice.

And I’ll never forget the man who stood next to me when Abou Diaby was subbed on who yelled “get the f*ck out of my club you useless black c*nt”. Maybe that’s not the exact words, but it’s what I remember. Diaby had been brought on because Arteta was concussed. He made it 32 minutes before he himself was subbed off. The man next to me grew wild-eyed with anger and frustration at Diaby. He screamed every curse word in the book at him. I’ll admit that I was afraid, a Yank at an away game, the guy who got me the ticket was coked up in a bar somewhere. I did nothing.

The next time I saw Diaby was the next year, this time away to Swansea. I love that stadium. Unlike Anfield, where old couples sit with blankets over their legs and politely clap, Swansea supporters made noise, they sang at us. It felt like a little taste of the old times maybe. Like we might all get into a fight! But it was polite in the end. They banged their drums. A Swansea supporter who was fat like Falstaff took off his shirt and we all sang “we’ve only come to see your belly!”

Nacho Monreal scored that day. His first Arsenal goal. I’ll never forget the roller coaster of emotions from that corner: anticipation, disappointment when it was cleared, and then surprise when Monreal dribbled in and smashed it past the keeper.

Diaby played that day as well. It was one of his only appearances that season for Arsenal. He was ok. Nothing spectacular, nothing horrific. I wrote about it for Arseblog, the article made it on to “Best of the Blogs” on Arsenal.com.

There was a moment when Diaby collected the ball and dribbled out of play. We were very close to him. Just a few yards away, maybe 20. The guy next to me yelled out “I wish you’d break your f*cking leg!”

Diaby turned, dropped his head, and jogged away. He heard that guy. You knew he heard that guy.

I don’t know much about being a good person. I admit that I’ve wished injury on players, Joey Barton for example. I often wanted him to break his own leg in one of those awful tackles he used to do every match. And now that he’s not playing I kind of hope that one day he gets drunk, picks on the wrong guy and gets his face smashed in.

I’ve even wanted players to leave the club. I have some players I would be happy to see sold right now! But I’ve never wished that an Arsenal player would break his own leg so that we could get rid of him. That just seems awful.

I know that these guys don’t represent all fans. They don’t even represent the majority or even a small minority. They were probably just two guys who had a lot of problems, spewing those problems out in the world. And the point of all this isn’t to tell you how to be a good fan.

The point is that I can’t remember a player that I felt sorrier for than Abou Diaby. Each time I saw him in person, I was one of the people in the stands, wishing he would do well, wishing that he would be the Diaby I remembered from 2010.

People remember the Dan Smith assault but they don’t seem to remember how Diaby battled back from that tackle, made 40 appearances for Arsenal, and turned himself into Arsenal’s (2nd) best midfielder. He tackled (2.7 per game), he intercepted (2.7 per game), he dribbled (2.7 per game – which I know probably feels like I just made it up, but I didn’t), he passed the ball (70% long pass completion rate at the age of 23), and he scored 6 goals and provided 3 assists. He was so good that year that Arsenal gave him a new deal. He was going to form a partnership with Song in the base of Arsenal’s midfield, freeing Fabregas up to be full time playmaker.

Diaby was the player who could carry the ball forward, breaking lines with a dribble or a slide-rule pass. He was the Cazorla before we knew we loved having a Cazorla in the team. He was also the Ramsey before we knew we loved having a Ramsey. He could motor forward, power through the opposition midfields, and get into the box for a goal or two. He even scored a long-range goal that season.

It wasn’t Dan Smith that ended Abou Diaby’s career. It was Michael Essien. In October of 2010, just a few weeks into the season, with Diaby playing the absolute best football of his life, Arsenal played Chelsea, Mike Dean was the ref. Diaby and Essien went for the same ball. Essien lashed out and crushed Diaby’s ankle.

Diaby was able to continue on in that game. But he had to sit out of a France game the next week, giving an interview where he blames Essien for his injury. For the rest of the season, he just wasn’t right. And that summer, he had to have surgery. For the next six years of his career, he played a total of 34 games.

Yesterday, he retired from football and in an interview with Wenger, the former Arsenal manager reminded everyone of the courage it took for Diaby to battle back from the Dan Smith tackle, “I am sad that you are finishing your career. It is strange because last night I was asked about you and this tackle from Sunderland that hurt you so badly and I spoke about your courage and strength that you showed to come back.”

But despite all that work to recover, Diaby was eventually kicked out of the game by Michael Essien while Mike Dean watched on, swaggering over to Diaby as if nothing had happened.*

As for Diaby, Wenger sums up my feelings perfectly, “unfortunately, you were not able to express all the talent that you have. But I am sure that you will have success in whatever comes next. I hope it for you, thank you and I wish you all the best for the future.”

Qq

*Mike Dean was also the referee in charge of the games where McNair broke Wilshere’s ankle, Taylor broke Eduardo’s leg, and Essien broke Diaby’s ankle. Mike Dean isn’t a lovable chappy who makes the games all about himself, he’s at best an incompetent referee who allows obscene challenges go unpunished and at worst, for years he was intentionally letting Arsenal get kicked.

30 comments

  1. Arsenal fans disagree on a lot of things..hey pretty much everything but we all agree on what a fantastic writer you are…Excellent tribute mate to a fantastic player..I want to be really effusive about what you wrote and how it made be feel but let’s not take today from Diaby…hey your post was vintage Tim like Diaby is/was vintage Arsensal

  2. I don’t know how good Diaby would have become had he not been injured so often, but Pogba recently referenced him as the player he most admired and was influenced by.
    TBH I can’t even remember if I ever saw him live, but certainly saw almost all of his Arsenal games on TV, and thought his control of midfield was only bettered by Vieira.
    Were those Smith & Essien injuries on the opposite legs? If so it would explain much of the consequential damage to his body.
    Could’ve, would’ve, should’ve? I like to think yes, but we’ll never know for sure.

    1. I think I heard something some time ago about how the constant mending had left him with one leg shorter than the other. I wonder if adjusting to essentially a new body structure in a high-physicality profession (allied with the weakening from the injuries themselves) is part of what locked him in that cycle of injuries.

  3. *alone plus diaby incident are enough to file a case against Mike Dean not to officiate any arsenal game again

    I wish diaby success in what come next too

  4. Man, I get all emotional reading that. And it was beautifully written.

    Superb, silky player. People wanted another Vieira, because he was tall, black and French. But he wasn’t Vieira. He was not as defensively tough or defensively minded, and Patrick did not have his ball playing skills. He was an attacking midfielder who could play some defence, but he was forward-play minded. Ramsey holds the record for Arsenal goalscoring midfielders, but, with better luck, it could have been Abou Diaby, who was a more complete and better player than Aaron. And speaking of Aaron — who was also brutalised into serious injury — I think the work put into battling back and recovering from serious, bone-breaking injury is under-appreciated, and that’s why some of the post-op abuse of Ramey by impatient Arsenal fans was so disgusting. Diaby was never the same (although unlike Ramsey, he got other nasty tackles, particularly from Essien). Eduardo was never the same.

    Remember that 4 – 4 Newcastle where Diaby was sent off, Tim? It was out of frustration at not being protected by referees. The provocateur? Joey Barton, also Gervinho’s, with a similar result in a different game.

    Best of luck, Vassiriki.

      1. I remember a similar incident with Bolton enforcer Paul Robinson planting one on his shin and Abu having to be held back by team mates.

  5. “The Ballad of Abou Diaby” does proper justice to a man who despite the reality of being a marginal Arsenal player for all the wrong reasons, looms large in the imagination of many Gooners for all the right ones.

    Wenger and the club gave him chance after chance for a proper career because it was the right thing to do. And this was a righteous post. Many thanks.

    But how do you really feel about Mike Dean? 😉

  6. Mike Dean is a garbage human being. I don’t know him, but feel strongly that that is a 100% accurate statement.

    1. If I was called to testify under oath I would say the same. Maybe even more. I honestly feel like he intentionally called games rough against Arsenal because he hated Arsene Wenger.

  7. Ozil starts. Come on Unai… you can’t have the guy playing himself back into form. How’ll we ever flog him? 😉

    Welcome back, Jenko. He’s been ok when he’s played, and is a bit more eager on the overlap than Licht.

    Complete formation change, no Xhaka anywhere. Laca out, Auba in. Rotation, rotation, rotation.

  8. Thank you for writing this, Tim. Over the last couple of days Diaby’s been in the news because he announced his retirement and I’ve wanted to say something. But it’s just too sad and I get too angry about it. All I end up doing is spluttering some swear words and some words of sympathy. This was beautifully written and expressed everything I wanted to.

    I will contribute a story though, only slightly connected to Diaby. I too have suffered from some injuries. After one of these I was at a London clinic for my physiotherapy, where I happened to meet Armand Traore (no longer an Arsenal player). I mentioned I was an Arsenal fan and we started talking. We talked about our injuries and he thanked God that his wasn’t that bad, which led me to ask him if he was still in touch with Diaby and how he was doing.

    Traore got a little defensive and sad and he said Diaby is a great player. Like he was expecting me to mock him for his injuries. That made me really sad. I told him I completely agreed with him and that I wished both Diaby and him well. It’s not much, but it showed the extent of the impact that it can have, even indirectly, on these young athletes.

    PS. Essien is garbage btw. That period in PL history is one of straight up corruption and legalised brutality when it came to stopping Arsenal. I have no doubt Mike Dean as one of the long standing ‘elite’ refs was in charge of promoting this culture of kicking Arsenal off the park. Riley and Ferguson made it acceptable. The rest of the league followed.

  9. Halftime… and Guendouzi getting a lot of criticism on twitter. Am I the only person who thinks that that was a bad place to get the ball from Leno? Guen did not have a clear, open option when pressed.

    Two nice goals from Arsenal, Mesut sharp on both. Great pick from Mhki on the loose pass and finish from the Ozil assist (anyone doubt that the players are happy to have him back?)

    But one small quibble… we do over-elaborate our passing. Some of the times we’ve gone backwards to re-circulate though Leno we’ve had forward options. The Bournemouth goal was one of this times.

    Overall, solid performance.

    1. Noted.
      Not 2 minutes later same pair connected on an almost identical pass.
      Same touch by Guendouzi too. Facing play? That’s on Leno– that first one.

      jw1

    2. Rotating Ozil in against lesser teams makes so much sense- too bad Emery and he couldn’t have worked that out earlier in the season.

      One of those great moments that only football could create: Ozil assists Mkhi and they shout with joy, and hug each other, raising opposite arms, in unison. Turk and Armenian, like brothers.

  10. As someone who’s punched Mhki consistently, have to say he was outstanding today. We were terrific 2nd half, and I liked the Auba goal best.

    Take a bow, Mesut, for getting the ball rolling. Nuff said.

    1. The players are going out of their way to give Mesut credit too. Kola and Miki are two whose social media posts are focused on how great Ozil was.

      Oh, and thanks for asking about the injury. Means a lot. It’s much better but it’s something I need to constantly work on and exercise. I can just about run these days, but no sports.

  11. Also a shout out to Jenkinson. Must not be easy coming in from the cold to play now and again, but he was good tonight.

  12. Clinging to 4th as other results on a busy day didn’t do us favors but – and I bet no one has heard these before – we can only play what’s in front of us and here’s another new one: we can’t control what happens anywhere else.

    What a match, though! Who doesn’t love it when we play like this? Saturday and the NLD will come soon enough but I am going to thoroughly enjoy the next couple of days being a Gooner.

  13. Afternoon from London chaps. Great tribute to Diaby Tim. I was actually at the Sunderland match where Smith practically ended his career. 2 things i remember vividly. 1) you could actually hear the crack of Diaby’s leg as the challenge came in (absolutely horrible and the ground was in shock for a few seconds) and 2 it was the 1st time i saw home fans stand and applaud an away player off when he (T H) was subbed. Finally if you want to see Diarby at his very best youtube his performance v Liverpool, Emirates league cup match i believe. Keep up the great work Tim and a great day to you all.

  14. great write-up, tim. i absolutely loved diaby and remember every moment you mentioned. i recall the great season he had right before the 2010 world cup, where he was one of france’s best player. unfortunately, they had internal issues spearheaded by their captain, evra. the kick by essien was devastating but, i believe, accidental. it amazed me he was able to keep playing in that game but was done for the season. one moment most gooners will remember is the league cup final when he kicked john terry in the face. some will remember theo scoring his first goal for the club while others will remember the red cards by adebayor and toure. what i remember is young diaby featuring against essien, ballack, and lampard and being absolutely unplayable. such a shame…

  15. oh, the game yesterday. what a dynamite performance by the boys. we got to see the difference mesut makes to this arsenal team. emery must have really been feeling the heat. he’s super-celebrating every goal over the past few games. i’m just glad that he’s decided to let the team do what they’re good at. everyone seemed to be playing with a high level of confidence just knowing mesut was on their team.

    the error by guendouzi was on leno. it was a bad tactical pass, meaning a poor decision to make that pass under that circumstance. it’s why, as a coach, i make my keepers play in the field during training so that they can know what it’s like to be a field player. also, i do a turn exercise where i require players to announce “man-on” or “turn” when they pass the ball to the player doing the turn. the intent there is to develop a habit transfer of announcing the situation to a team mate before passing the ball. i need that to be intuitive to all of the players. in fact, i often fuss more about failing to announce a turn than i do about the quality of a turn. with that, i also preach that the announcement of a turn is a supplement to a player’s vision, not a substitute for their lack of vision; they’re still responsible for knowing the situation on the field.

    removing my coach hat and back to being a gooner, i thought guendouzi was fantastic other than the error.

  16. The Ballad of Abou Diaby (to the tune of “American Pie”)

    Not all that long ago
    We can still remember how your moves would make us smile
    And we knew that when you had a real chance
    you could make all the supporters dance
    If only you’re career had lasted a while…

    So bye, bye to you Abou
    Got off at Arsenal Station just to see to you
    But the papers said you were already through
    So I had drink with my at Tolly for you
    SIngin, this one’s for good old Abou…

    Now let’s turn over them S$&rs!!!!

  17. My favorite Diaby memory was recently, perhaps his last season (or last season he played anyway) for us. He was subbed on – I think? – and the crowd chanted his name for what felt like 10 minutes. DIABY DIABY DIABY. In unision. It felt like the entire stadium was chanting his name, and it kept going and going. It gave me chills. It was lovely.

Comments are closed.

Related articles

Read more stories on our homepage