Arsene Wenger has said that the manager of French team, Didier Deschamps should not pick Abou Diaby for the upcoming friendly match against Germany as the midfielder needs a bit more time to return to competitive football.
Wenger had given the same statement last year as well when the French team was to be picked for the World Cup qualifiers. But, against his wish, Deschamps had picked Diaby for the World Cup qualifying matches in September.
As a result of playing in those matches, Diaby’s fitness deteriorated again and he was ruled out for three months.
When asked if Diaby should be picked for the game against Germany, Wenger said, “No, I don’t think so. Yes, he has made good recovery recently, but, he is still not fit enough to play for full 90 minutes. He needs more time to get back to top fitness.”
“I had said the same thing last year as well, but, they picked him and as a result, his fitness got down again.”
“He is not too far away from regaining 100% fitness. He just needs a couple more weeks and he would be fine. But, he shouldn’t be playing in the match against Germany.”
“They made a mistake last year by picking him for the world cup qualifiers. I hope that they would have learnt from their mistake and would not pick him until he gets 100% fit.”
Diaby had played in Arsenal’s last match against Brighton & Hove Albion. When asked if he would be given another go in the upcoming match against Liverpool, Wenger said, “He might not be sent onto the field against Liverpool. I don’t think he is fit enough to make successive appearances. We don’t want to take any risk, so, you might not see him playing against Liverpool.”