Wenger - Diarra lacked patience

Midfielder too hasty in leaving Emirates Stadium

By Chris Burton   Last updated: 23rd May 2008

Wenger - Diarra lacked patience

Diarra: Short stay with Gunners

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Arsene Wenger believes Lassana Diarra would have been given a chance at Arsenal had he bided his time.

The French midfielder joined the Gunners last summer, but after only 13 appearances decided the time was right to move on once more.

Worried that his place at Euro 2008 was under threat by a lack of first-team opportunities at Emirates Stadium, Diarra decided to join Portsmouth in January, a move which would ultimately see him lift the FA Cup.

Wenger, though, is adamant that the 23-year-old was wrong to jump ship so soon, especially as Mathieu Flamini has since departed for Milan.

"I came to the conclusion that Diarra could not cope with the fact that he was behind the other players here in midfield," the Gunners boss told the June edition of the official Arsenal magazine.

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"I thought the best option was to let him go because I already had Denilson, (Abou) Diaby and Gilberto all trying to get into the team as well. It was a congestion.

Panicked

Wenger added: "I bought Diarra in the summer because I thought Flamini might leave at the end of the season and if he was able to be patient, he would get his chance.

"It turned out he wasn't capable of that. With Euro 2008 in mind, he panicked.

"I did explain when he joined that he might have to be patient, and he acknowledged it, but he couldn't cope with the situation, and also did not want to go on loan anywhere either."

Wenger has also defended his decision not to strengthen during the mid-season transfer window.

At the time the Gunners sat top of the Premier League, were still in the UEFA Champions League and had a number of players hitting top form.

Balance

Their subsequent slump was due to a combination of injuries and bad luck, and Wenger insists that no manager could have predicted the situation would deteriorate so quickly.

"The transfer window was open, but at the time I didn't feel we were in need of any more players," reflected Wenger.

"We had (Theo) Walcott and (Nicklas) Bendtner making big strides forward, and Eduardo was on form then and (Emmanuel) Adebayor on top form too. Overall when he is on fire, he scores in every game.

"I thought (Robin) van Persie would be back shortly, and also did not expect to lose (Tomas) Rosicky for so long either."

Wenger maintained: "You have to keep the balance right between having competition in the squad, and having too many players. The squad did not look light at any time."