The Guardian have done a really good interview with Habib Diarra, the former, Strasbourg captain now impressing with Sunderland after a £30m move in the summer.
How Rosenior improved £30m midfielder
Liam Rosenior managing Strasbourg.
Liam Rosenior managing Strasbourg. (Photo by George Wood/Getty Images)
He only had one season together with Liam Rosenior in Ligue 1, but raves about him as a coach.
“[Rosenior] was really important [to my development],” Diarra said.
“Being from Alsace, becoming captain was an honour for me. Tactically Liam was very, very good. I learned a lot from him technically, about game intelligence and as a person. Seeing him at Chelsea now is just confirmation of how good he is.”
Diarra was one of the most interesting players from the team that Rosenior almost took to the Champions League, and one we really thought Chelsea would be after. In hindsight, he would have offered a lot more than Dario Essugo this season, even taking into account his trip to Morocco to win the AFCON last month.
It also shows what a tough job Rosenior and now Gary O’Neil have had on their plate this season at the Alsatian club. After losing Diarra, Santos, Djordje Petrovic, now Mamadou Sarr and other key members of last season’s successful side.
Just to stabilise this season will be considered a job well done from the new man in charge.
In other news…
Chelsea let two points slip last night with some really sloppy play, but Simon Johnson is saying that it should be blamed on bad defending rather than inexperience, which would be a bit of a cop out.
Speaking after the game, Joao Pedro was really frustrated by the dropped points. He did his part, scoring a goal and assisting another, but in the end the team couldn’t hold on to that two goal lead.
More Stories about Habib Diarra
Sunderland warming up.
Habib Diarra with a Chelsea logo.