Papa Bouba Diop

[Robno.7]

haha fulham are jokers

 

[brianfrance]

15M£ The guy isn't even worth half that figure
Wenger knows every single player of the french league, we'd have signed him from lens if wenger was really interested, and for peanuts.

 

[marhes26]

Does Coleman think we are Chelsea or what! :x

 

[GoonerGurjit]

http://home.skysports.com/list.asp?hlid ... remiership

 

[nidza7]

Coleman,you old joke!

 

[Wenger14]

Jenas was said to be 20 million wasn't he? He went for 7.

If Wenger wants him he will get him at the price he wants, otherwise he won't get him at all.

I think he will bid for him in January though, we need the depth in CM.

 

[EJub]

Nothing against Bouba Diop - but I hope this is a decoy story.

I'd like to think Wenger knows that if he says he wants a player in September
that 5 other clubs will want him and the price will triple.

I hope Wenger has all of us looking the wrong way on this one.

 

[Army of Me]

based on his performance tonight i don't want him anywhere near arsenal. he doesn't help out in attack, he doesn't help out defence, he doesn't make himself available to his teammates, he doesn't make any use of the space around him, he doesn't close down and he doesn't get above a canter - i obviously haven't seen him play many games, but even if he's only playing at half his ability tonight, he can stay right where he is. i see nothing that suggests he's worth anywhere near 7mil. 15mil is a ****ing joke.

 

[Ziontrain]

based on his performance tonight i don't want him anywhere near arsenal. he doesn't help out in attack, he doesn't help out defence, he doesn't make himself available to his teammates, he doesn't make any use of the space around him, he doesn't close down and he doesn't get above a canter - i obviously haven't seen him play many games, but even if he's only playing at half his ability tonight, he can stay right where he is. i see nothing that suggests he's worth anywhere near 7mil. 15mil is a f****g joke.

1) He's been at the world cup and played far better and he's been around at Lens for ages giving dynamic performances before going to Fulham. So if you're seeing him for the first time tonight you have not followed him

2) Its a know fact that Chris Coleman has instrcuted him to pretty much stay at home excpet for set plays, becuase Fulham is weak defensively and has a lot of young players at the back. That said, he could have run a bit more - but actually I was more concerend that he wasn't making enough agrressive forward passes. I did think he made himslf available for passes, dont get where you saw that.

 

[Ziontrain]

15M£ The guy isn't even worth half that figure
Wenger knows every single player of the french league, we'd have signed him from lens if wenger was really interested, and for peanuts.

Not really. I believe he broke a leg or got injured at a crucial point in the transfer process and thus had to stay in France when he would have made a big transfer. After that, people had moved on. Its all about timing.

 

[Army of Me]

based on his performance tonight i don't want him anywhere near arsenal. he doesn't help out in attack, he doesn't help out defence, he doesn't make himself available to his teammates, he doesn't make any use of the space around him, he doesn't close down and he doesn't get above a canter - i obviously haven't seen him play many games, but even if he's only playing at half his ability tonight, he can stay right where he is. i see nothing that suggests he's worth anywhere near 7mil. 15mil is a f****g joke.

1) He's been at the world cup and played far better and he's been around at Lens for ages giving dynamic performances before going to Fulham. So if you're seeing him for the first time tonight you have not followed him

2) Its a know fact that Chris Coleman has instrcuted him to pretty much stay at home excpet for set plays, becuase Fulham is weak defensively and has a lot of young players at the back. That said, he could have run a bit more - but actually I was more concerend that he wasn't making enough agrressive forward passes. I did think he made himslf available for passes, dont get where you saw that.

you're right I haven't followed him, and like I said I was purely basing that post on his performance against Sp**s.

With regards to making himself available, the only times I saw him make himself available throughout the whole match was when fulham were looking to pass the ball back into the middle of the park where there were no Sp**s players around. I saw many occasions where I would expect him to get forward into the space and make himself available for an attacking pass, which is what I would expect of him if he was playing for arsenal, and I really doubt that coleman told him to walk about the middle of the park (which is what he was doing) considering they were a goal down and in dire need of some form of decent attacking play.

Like I said, based on that performance he'd be as much use to us as putting bob wilson up front to partner reyes tonight.

 

[Zico]

Wow. All this Papa Baba talk is making me mad. 7 million pounds on him is 7 million not well spent. I'd rather put that on top of whatever our upper limit is on a player and bring in a star like Riquelme. In any case, we have too many young and/or average players at the moment. Wenger would do well to save all his money for the summer and nail 3 major players, one in each of defense, midfield and attack. We cannot continue to fill our team with average players. Good players make each other better and the team benefits vastly from clusters of virtuosity. Just ask Barca, Juve, Chelsea and Milan. Hell, even Lyon will tell you about it - that's why Diarra shunned Arsenal.

 

[Smartly Dressed Morris]

Colemans price for Dop is quite frankly hilarious. And thank fk we didnt get Jermaine Jenas - my god that guy is crap.

 

[Ziontrain]

saw many occasions where I would expect him to get forward into the space and make himself available for an attacking pass, which is what I would expect of him if he was playing for arsenal, and I really doubt that coleman told him to walk about the middle of the park (which is what he was doing) considering they were a goal down and in dire need of some form of decent attacking play.

Coleman and Diop have both in the past been on record about this last season. Coleman has essentially told him to stay home and leave the attacking to the rest - becuase they need him to provide defensive balance.

Its not a question of can he do it - its a question of what is his role. You need players who are willing to execute their given assignment correctly adn without ego.

In this case that's what it is, becuase IMO Diop is actually better in a more offensive role - that is his true talent and that is how he played in france : truly box-to-box. Its wrong to think that defense is his only capability - or even his best capability - simply becuase he is 6'5" and built like a brick wall. He's simply doing what the coach has told him, in order to provide balance for a team that is defensively weak.

Especially so against a team like Arsenal, which will punish you if you let them counter in open space. Football at this level is highly tactical and positioning matters, even if its not spectacular or obvious. Diop was clearly conscious of this. I could see that he made a point of not advancing in front of where the ball was - and that is what Coleman has had him doing for a reason.

 

[kamikaze80]

quincy42 is right, id rather we focus our spending on a great player rather than someone of dubious quality.

and i actually agree with SDM for once - jenas is crap, some ppl here think just because youve heard of a player, it means he must be decent.

 

[hollow]

Wow. All this Papa Baba talk is making me mad. 7 million pounds on him is 7 million not well spent. I'd rather put that on top of whatever our upper limit is on a player and bring in a star like Riquelme. In any case, we have too many young and/or average players at the moment. Wenger would do well to save all his money for the summer and nail 3 major players, one in each of defense, midfield and attack. We cannot continue to fill our team with average players. Good players make each other better and the team benefits vastly from clusters of virtuosity. Just ask Barca, Juve, Chelsea and Milan. Hell, even Lyon will tell you about it - that's why Diarra shunned Arsenal.

Disagree with this. I think average squad players are the one thing that's missing from our side. We seem to be pack with geniuses and prospects.

 

[Buhry]

Coleman wants 15£ for him. Give it a break boys.
He is mediocre trough and trough, let us spend our hard earned money on some real quality instead. (I'd love torres by the way )
For midfield, we really should try and sign Diarra. I have never said so before, but i watched h im play last night, and he really was pure class.

 

[lee1001]

Im watching vs United and he gives the ball awya everytime he gets it, he would be lost in the one touch football we play. He has a poor first touch too.

No way is he Arsenal material.

 

[GoonerGurjit]

This link seems to get stronger each week.

Arsenal are set to beat Fiorentina in the race for Fulham's Senegalese star Papa Bouba Diop. (News of the World)

 

[dino_henry]

i really don't mind he comes to us, depending how much we pay for him, i think he's quality and good cover for our inexperience midfield. the guy was one of the star of the last world cup.