Arsenal boss Wenger hits out at France over Diaby injury
Wednesday 03 October 2012
Arsene Wenger has criticised the France national team for playing Abou Diaby against his advice in recent internationals, the Daily Mail has reported. Wenger was unhappy that France picked Diaby rather than allow him to recover after playing a series of games for Arsenal at the start of the season, with Diaby suffering an injury in the Gunners’ last Premier League outing.
Diaby had to be withdrawn after only 17 minutes of Arsenal’s defeat to Chelsea and has since be ruled out for up to three weeks with a hamstring injury. The 26-year-old was on his most consistent run of games in some time, having endured an injury nightmare that led to only five appearances last season and that the Mail suggests can be traced back to a broken ankle suffered against Sunderland in 2006.
Wenger revealed he advised the France national team hierarchy to rest Diaby for the recent international fixtures, particularly if they wanted to include the midfielder in games later in the season. But Diaby played against Finland and will now miss France’s World Cup qualification match against Spain - in Spain - on October 16.
The manager said: “They could have taken him but not played him because the guy has been out for a year, played four or five games. You have a breather, give him two weeks to recover completely. I think it was a mistake to play him with the French national team.”
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