Mavuba in for Diaby – Is an Arsene Wenger rant on the cards?

I’d love to see Nasri in for Toulalan. Wasn’t I just reading an interview where he said he loves playing DM at Arsenal? And yet his attacking past would make him more than just a steal-and-distribute kind of DM. This could be fun.

And yes to what you said about Diarra and Mavuba, although I haven’t seen Mavuba play for awhile.

I’m sorry about Diaby — I was hoping to get to see what he has to offer for France. I remember his style in the game or two he played reminded me of Vieira, but I’m not sure if that was just due to the physical similarities or due to a genuine similar style.

why is toulalan unavailable? he is undamagable. And who is ‘Met’ ????
anyways I agree Nasri in for Toulalan but im sure domenech doesnt

o that dork got too many cards

of course of course

Toulalan is suspended for the next match. Too many cards.

Having Toulalan unavailable MIGHT be a good thing if it forces Domenech to switch to a more offensive midfield. The obvious substitution would be a straight swap with Nasri who has some experience in the DM role at Arsenal. Nasri paired with L. Diarra would be the perfect balance of creativity and defense since technically both will be expected to defend but will also have the ability to push up and create when the situation calls for it.

That said, Domenech will instead probably be overly defensive as usual and opt to use a less talented but inherently more defensive player by the name of Rio Mavuba or Alou Diarra, which would be a total mistake since, given France are playing at home, and given the lack of offense Lithuania showed in the away leg, France should be looking to making scoring goals a priority.

Nasri a “DM” for Arsenal??? That’s news to me. Certainly Nasri’s added some good defensive work to his attacking role at Arsenal but he’s certainly not a DM at Arsenal. He’s never used that way by Wenger, nor do gooners think of him that way. Diaby’s been more of a DM at Arsenal in comparison to Nasri, tho he’s more of an offensive player as well. It’s Denilson and Song who’ve been our DMs all season long. Some of you are too eager to see Nasri as a DM, I think. Yes, he’s improved his defensive awareness and skills recently but it’s very doubtful that he’s improved to the level that he can be relied upon as a DM in a game as important as a world cup qualifier.

It’s Flamini who should be called up by Domenech for the DM role if Toulie and Diaby are out.

And OF COURSE Diaby’s injured! That’s his normal state. I expect him to be injured every two or three games. Only this time it happened in training, right? The day that we see Diaby get a consistent run of games (say, more than 5) will be the day that Arsene Wenger becomes a good loser.

We may well get another rant from Wenger, rightly — and not just because of Diaby, he’s got two more important injuries due to this international break: RVP and Bendtner. Both are regular starters, whereas Diaby is not.

It boggles the mind why Domenech insists on using 2 DMs against a team like Lithuania. Against the likes of Spain or Russia, ok, but park-the-bus Lithuania??? Until he changes that mindset France will continue to struggle.

“It boggles the mind why Domenech insists on using 2 DMs against a team like Lithuania. Against the likes of Spain or Russia, ok, but park-the-bus Lithuania??? Until he changes that mindset France will continue to struggle.”

Which is exactly why he should be using Nasri to take up one of those 2 midfield spots and not use 2 purely defensive players like he usually does. nasri actually talked to the french press about how he would feel comfortable in that role based on his playing time at Arsenal, and said he likes picking up the ball deep and having the players in front of him.

I was almmost sure it was Nasri who said that about being a DM. I know it was a French player I normally think of as “attacking,” because I thought, “I should write that up for the France page.” But of course I now can’t find the article!

Will research this and get back.

It’s crazy the amount of players that get injured while out on international duty, I’ve got no idea why – but injuries seem to be far more frequent when players are with their countries rather than clubs

nasri’s exact words:

“Il est arrivé qu’on me repositionne comme ça en cours de match quand il fallait décanter un 0-0. Je ne rechigne pas à faire l’effort défensif. C’est un poste où on part de plus loin, on a le jeu face à soi, ça me plaît. Est-ce que c’est épuisant de travailler dans les deux sens ? Ça dépend d’avec qui on est associé. Flamini – Fabregas, l’an passé à Arsenal, c’état très complémentaire, il faut que le deuxième ne monte pas souvent ”

*****

“Sometimes I get repositioned into that spot during the course of the game when we needed to unlock a 0-0. I don’t mind doing defensive duties. Its a position when you start from farther back and have the game in front of you…I like it. Is it tiring to have to work in both directions? It depends who you are teamed up with. Flamini – Fabregas, last year with Arsenal it worked really well, one of the two can’t move up as often.”

Hmmm. Nasri in Pirlo, Xavi role?? He sure has technical and tactical skills to succeed but he needs to develop his physical game to be in that position. I would laud Domenech if he does end up playing Nasri tomorrow instead of 2 regular DM’s.

lefutur, thanks for citing that quotation from Nasri. I was reacting to what I interpreted here as the notion that Nasri has been used by Wenger as a DM — meaning, in a decided, definite DM role and not in the more fluid, attacking-defending way he describes it in his comment.

As I said, Nasri has definitely improved his defensive awareness and skills lately (mostly in the 2009 half of the season). In fact, he’s become far better at it than some of our other attacking players (like RVP) have ever been. It’s great to see. My point was that Nasri, however, can’t be relied upon yet to act principally as a DM–that’s how I was reading some of the comments here. He’s never done that in any game. As he said, he’s done it in spurts in the course of very difficult games. Now if he feels comfortable in trying out as France’s principal holding player based on those minutes he’s played that way at Arsenal, than maybe I’m wrong and he might be able to do it. I just feel nervous about giving him the job at such a high int’l level after such limited experience in the role.

“Which is exactly why he should be using Nasri to take up one of those 2 midfield spots and not use 2 purely defensive players like he usually does” — agreed, of course! If you’re saying that Nasri should be put in CM as the creative player who can also perform defensive duties when needed, then I’d agree completely.

Nasri has been at his most effective at Arsenal as the player in the hole. When he’s put out wide he has less influence in the game, tho he can still be dangerous. It’s extraordinary to watch what happens to our game the moment Wenger moves him in the hole. We change from a hapless, ponderous, easily controlled team to one that is suddenly transformed into a dangerous, unpredictable threat.

That’s high praise for Nasri, but it’s all true. He’s been good for Arsenal in the hole.

I doubt Doms would replace Toulalan with Nasri.

It’s going to be the two Diarras.