The ex-Mali star won multiple league titles in France and Spain, but doesn’t get the praise his success deserves
The Olympique Lyonnais side at the start of the last decade will live long in the memory, having won the club’s first ever Ligue 1 title in 2002/03.
What made their success extra special was their subsequent unrelenting form in claiming six more French top flight titles to win seven on the spin, a record that still stands.
Mahamadou Diarra was signed from Vitesse Arnhem after the side’s first of seven titles and he worked his way from a rotational midfield option to constant pick in the middle of the park to help Les Gones win four titles in his time at the club.
He formed a formidable partnership with Michael Essien, who departed for Chelsea at the end of 2004/05 after two successful seasons with the team, and set-piece specialist Juninho Pernambucano as Lyon tightened their grip on the title.
The Mali international got a dream move to Real Madrid after Fabio Capello earmarked him as a potential key player in the Whites’ attempt to wrest the title from a Barcelona side that had won two La Liga crowns on the spin.
Valencia had dethroned Los Blancos in 2003, so it was great to see Capello deliver on his promise when he pushed for Diarra to join the side. That was the Malian’s fifth title on the spin, and he made it six on the bounce after Los Merengues retained the crown the following season.
Still, there was a sense that a player who’d won six titles on the spin in France and Spain wasn’t valued enough.
While the lack of appreciation in Ligue 1 was probably a consequence of that Lyon side having more eye-catching, technical players like Juninho and Sidney Govou, who took a bit of Diarra’s shine away, the lack of esteem in La Liga was, in part, how players of his skillset were perceived.
Admittedly, the Bamako-born midfielder’s physicality, tough tackling nature and aggression made sure his teams weren’t starved of the ball for an extended period. However these aren’t traits viewed in a particularly positive light by fans at the Santiago Bernabeu, unlike the flashy big-money Galactico signing acquired to play in a free-flowing attacking system.
Except Capello’s Madrid side were far from entertaining. They received criticism for their tendency to grind out results and not play easy-on-the-eye football, with Diarra somewhat held liable for the side’s poor performances.
He was an easy target owing to how the Italian manager pushed for the West African’s transfer, and his partnership with Emerson in midfield in that title-winning campaign was more functional than technical.
On paper, it may have looked like the African was playing as the deepest midfielder flanked by David Beckham and the Brazilian, but it played out differently in reality as the English star was more advanced than the pair who seldom left their defensive midfield positions.
It wasn’t entertaining to watch, and Real pulled the plug on the Italian’s second spell in charge of the club owing to his pragmatic philosophy, whereas they wanted a style akin to the Galacticos era of previous years.
Despite making five fewer starts under Bernd Schuster the following season, Diarra was part of an attacking side that scored 84 times and conceded 36, 18 higher and four lower than the previous campaign.
The ex-Lyon man had shown his adeptness in playing in two different tactical schemes, which underlined his underrated football intelligence given critics stereotyped him as a midfield destroyer.
Injuries slowed him down in subsequent seasons and he was never to hit the heights of his six-year prime at both Lyon and Real.
Therefore, it is strange that the midfield man is seldom spoken about by observers on the continent and abroad, with stars like Yaya Toure, Essien and even Mikel John Obi praised effusively.
This is emphasised by the ex-Mali captain’s lack of individual recognition throughout his career and especially in his prime. While the Ivorian and Ghanaian claimed several awards for their showings in Europe and for their respective national teams, Diarra was never bestowed with the same individual accolades.
Perhaps it’s not so surprising given the thankless role he often took up for his sides, unlike Toure and Essien who were box-to-box midfielders.
Be that as it may, it takes nothing away from the former Vitesse man, who won more league titles than the Ivorian (five), Ghanaian (four) and Nigerian (two) over the course of their careers.
Diarra was once the answer to Real Madrid’s search for the new Claude Makelele, and he won the trophies to prove his quality, in France and Spain, before injury struck.
His influence for Lyon and Los Blancos over that six-year period should place him among the top midfielders of his generation.
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