“Guys, I’m thinking of traveling pretty soon to Europe and then head to Asia and I’m told that the easiest way out of Europe is through Manchester.. Is that true? – Chuck Bass
In recent times, clubs from England’s top flight have been very dominant in Europe with the likes of Liverpool and Manchester United winning the Champions League within the last seven years. This season, England’s top tier teams have put up a woeful showing in the world’s stage and for the first time since dinosaurs walked on the Earth, no English team might make it into the quarter finals of Europe’s elite competitions.
The capitulation started in grand style when the bullies from Manchester crashed out in the group stages of the Champions League. Arsenal waved its goodbyes to the competition after a pulsating performance against AC Milan while skeptics believe that Chelsea doesn’t have enough in the gas to oust SSC Napoli.
Tottenham also crashed out of the Europa League early on while Liverpool’s only away game “abroad” this season was in the Liberty Stadium against Swansea.
The title challengers from Manchester were offered a second chance via the Europa League but both teams were on the end of reverse results after 90 minutes. Manchester City lost away to Sporting CP by a lone goal while Manchester United were humbled at home by Athletic Bilbao in a game that will be fondly remembered by the heroics of David de Gea.
Tomas Rosicky joined Arsenal in the summer of the 2006 World Cup in Germany and he is renowned for his amazing ability to orchestrate the midfield with his passing, sleek movement and gifted technique that earned him the nickname “Little Mozart”. In five years at Arsenal, he has only managed 108 league games and he has spent a large chunk of his Arsenal career on the sidelines with niggling injuries ranging from his groin to his knees and ankles.
He scored his first goal since the Feudal Age last season when Arsenal played Leyton Orient in the FA Cup but he has been on the score sheet recently with well-taken goals against Tottenham and AC Milan. The rise to glory of promising youngsters like Aaron Ramsey and Jack Wilshere has limited the Czech’s chances of playing week in week out but their injuries have paved the way for Little Mozart to get a run-out and re-discover his form.
He’s approaching his twilight years so chances from clubs will be few and far between and at some point in January, VFL Wolfsburg was keen on signing him.
Rosicky’s performances of late have been nothing short of sensational and these views have also been shared by his team mate, Wojciech Szczesny:
“He has been fantastic for the last few weeks now, scored a great goal against Tottenham and was my Man of the Match in that game.”
Szczesny also talked about his technical prowess in the middle of the park as well as his dominance on the field of play. Rosicky contract expires at the end of the season and his agent, Pavel Paska has unveiled that contract talks are imminent.
Abou Diaby arrived from AJ Auxerre in the 2006 winter transfer window in 2006 and his lanky stature made the media vultures label him as the next Monsieur Vieira. He wore the number 2 jersey last worn by the great Lee Dixon and he made 12 league appearances before suffering a horrific ankle fracture following a horrendous challenge from Sunderland’s Dan Smith.
He missed Arsenal’s Champions League final to Barcelona as well as the 2006 European Under-21 Championships with France U-21s. Diaby went through a series of surgeries to fix up the ankle and he was sidelined for an entire pregnancy period.
Diaby made a comeback in the following season and managed a meager 18 appearances all season long. However, that campaign will be remembered for his Shaolin Knockout kick on Chelsea’s John Terry in the 2007 Carling Cup final.
Just like the way a van Persie can be described as a perpetual goal scoring machine of the first kind, a Diaby can be described as a player that’s synonymous with injuries of all sorts.
As expected, Diaby was out for all eternity this season and he made a comeback against Liverpool only to last for 26 minutes. This clearly shows that his globetrotting antics to the ends of the world to solve his injury problems have been a waste of time but Diaby insists that his career isn’t over:
“People say that I’m fragile and although I understand why, I am not fragile. I’ve had three operations on my ankle, all for different problems but the result of that was that my body is unbalanced, especially in my legs.
I have overused one over the other and to put everything back in place is not easy.
Diaby went on to say that his problem is “biomechanical” and blabbed about how good he is physically and mentally.
With all the talent available at his disposal, Diaby cannot be banked upon to give his services on the pitch, as he tends to spend an eternity off it. This tweet epitomized what Diaby stands for at the moment.
“@Arsenal_RTs: Good match for Diaby to make his annual appearance! See you in 2013”
I think it’s high time we cut our losses to add Diaby to the proposed mass exodus leaving this summer.
As always,
Arsene Knows Best.
Sayonara.
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