Arsenal midfielder targets revenge

Abou Diaby aims for continued improvement

By Zain Alvi | 8th September 2012

Injuries form a brutal reality of football that every player hopes to avoid as much as possible but for Arsenal’s Abou Diaby, a background plagued by injuries is now only powering a redemption mission.

The 26-year old Diaby has featured minimally for the Gunners over the last two seasons and recently admitted that an extended period on the sidelines sometimes led him to the shocking lows of depression.

While Diaby has bounced back impressively this season for both club and country, he is determined to keep improving in a bid to contribute more than ever before to the cause of the Gunners and France.

“I have revenge to take over the time I lost but I want to prove to myself that I can go higher. I am getting to an age and to a time in my career where I need to show what I can do on the pitch in the long term,” Diaby was quoted on Arsenal.com.

The midfielder added: “I don’t want to miss out on anything. I know what my qualities are and I want to use them to go higher. I have played three games this season, I getting better but I can do more. Physically, I am only 70 percent.

“[When you have] a season without playing you’re never sure of anything. I am usually calm but last season it started to play on my mind.”

Mind games

Describing himself as an emotional person with a strong temperament, Diaby explains that some of his saddest moments were attributable to an apprehensive state of mind in which he continuously worried about a recurrence of his injury problems.

“Before, I was never apprehensive before a game after an injury. It was almost like I had never been injured. But last season, before the Fulham game, I was shaking on the bench because I was scared of getting injured again. It was incredible,” the Frenchman elaborated, before asserting that getting rid of such feelings was the only option for him.

“All I wanted was to play again. I am born with a strong temper. I never give up. Maybe some people would have given up in my position but it was out of the question for me.

“It was my destiny, it was written [to come back]. I had to fight to put an end to all those injuries and to be able to express myself on a pitch again,” he concluded.