Injuries, Injuries and More Injuries - Abou Diaby's Struggle For Fitness

   

Abou Diaby

   Everyone who plays sport knows that injuries are something that can happen at any moment. Whether it be whilst you're competing, training for your next event or simply going about your day minding your own business. Bayern Munich defender, Jerome Boateng, fell victim to a rather unlucky injury during an aeroplane flight, when a drinks trolley aggravated a knee injury that he had recently picked up. Some would say this is a terribly unlucky injury, but I would say he shouldn't have had his knee in the aisle. However, for current Arsenal midfielder Abou Diaby, injuries have plagued his professional career thus far,  and have ultimately prevented him from fulfilling his footballing talent. 

    Abou Diaby is a player that has been compared on numerous occasions to the legendary ex-Gunner and fellow Frenchman, Patrick Vieira. Many have pointed out that Diaby has the potential to be the strong, dominant box-to-box midfielder that Vieira was during his time at Arsenal. 

   Abou Diaby joined Arsenal in 2006 and has made 178 appearances scoring 19 goals. He started his senior playing career at Auxerre, a club that has nurtured talented individuals such as Eric Cantona and Laurent Blanc to name just a few. Since transferring to Arsenal, Diaby has constantly been on and off the injury table. The Paris-born Frenchman managed 40 appearances in the 2010-11 season. However, ankle and calf problems have prevented Diaby from having any other injury-free campaigns. 

   In the last couple of weeks, Arsenal have confirmed that Abou Diaby will be out of action for a further eight or nine months, after rupturing his anterior cruciate ligament in his knee. According to The Sun it will be his 36th injury in just seven years (The Sun Online). With absolutely no chance of playing again this season, Diaby is unlikely to play again until 2014. For any footballer this time away from the game is a hard pill to swallow, especially a player of Diaby's calibre, who has been lauded time and again by the Gunners manager, Arsene Wenger. Such praise and belief from 'the boss' must surely provide a huge amount of motivation for Abou Diaby to bounce back and repay the faith that Mr. Wenger has shown in him. 

   The fact of the matter is, that some players will go through their whole professional careers without picking up one serious injury. However, at the opposite end of the spectrum there are players, like Abou Diaby, who are labelled as 'injury prone.' The reason for this is difficult to pinpoint. It could be down to the competence of a club's medical team, the injury-risk of the position they play in or just simply pot-luck. Nevertheless, for the sake of Diaby's future at Arsenal, it is of paramount importance that he is able to stay fit for two or three successive seasons. Otherwise, he might find himself plying his trade somewhere other than the Emirates Stadium. 

Odemwingie's Affair With Twitter

Now, we all know it's no secret that West Bromwich Albion's Peter Odemwingie has not had the best of starts to 2013. After unexpectedly turning up to QPR HQ on transfer deadline day and literally being refused entry into the building, he wasn't exactly the most popular striker amongst Albion staff and fans. 

This furor all began when WBA rejected a £2m bid from QPR. This prompted Odemwingie to take to the social networking site, Twitter, and publically criticise West Brom's actions. He tweeted: 

"I can understand the reaction of few Albion fans on my desire to leave the club. Real reason? Cos they once doubted my commitment."

Understandably, the club were extremely unhappy with Odemwingie's comments and rejected an improved transfer offer from QPR. Following on from the Nigerian striker's deadline day embarrassment, he apologised to the staff and supporters of West Brom, explaining the situation as a genuine mix-up. 

However, over 2 months on from Odemwingie's Twitter outburst, he has once again taken to the social media site and further criticised the club that pay his wages. This time he is unhappy with the club's unwillingness to give him any playing time. He tweeted: 

"Keeping me on the bench now is worst than what they did on the 31st. New advisers told me to take say its all my fault cos its better or me."

I think what Mr. Odemwingie is trying to say here, ignoring his hideous attempt at writing in the Queen's English, is that he is still unhappy with the way in which the club is treating him. West Brom have since told the media that they will deal with Odemwingie's actions internally. Whether this be by fining the player a few weeks wages or continuing to grant him any first-team playing time, it is clear that Premiership clubs are struggling to control the social networking discipline of some of their players. 

In my opinion, players need to understand that whatever they write on social networking sites can be hugely damaging to their own careers and the representations of the clubs they play for. Not to mention, letting the fans down that pay outrageous ticket prices to come and see them play week in week out. A player may want to push through a transfer or improve their contract situation, but what they forget is that Twitter outbursts are not forgotten by potential clubs that may be in the market for a new player. 

Overall, I feel for the clubs that have to deal with disrespectful players and their social media antics. I think that the players owe them a lot more than a cheap dig sent in the form of a tweet.