Alou Diarra 
PROFILE Name: Alou Diarra
Nation: France
Other nationalities: Malian
DOB: 15/7/1981
Age: 25
Height: 6ft 3"
Weight: 79KG
Preferred Foot: Right only
PERSONNEL Place of Birth: Villepinte, France
Languages: English, French, German
Favoured clubs: RC Lens
Favoured personnel: Owen Hargreaves, Djibril Cisse, Raymond Domenech, Seydou Kieta, Adama Coulibaly, Charles Itandje
Description: Tenacious midfielder
Personality:Ambitious
Rep: National
CONTRACT Type: Full time contract
Value: £5.25mil
Asking Price: Unknown
Wages: £16,500 per week
Started: 1/7/2007
Expires: 30/6/2011
Bonuses: £1,600 per appearence, £400 per goal
HISTORY In 1999, Alou was picked up by french side CS Louhans. He was there for a year before moving to Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich. However he failed to make a first team appearence and was then loaned out to german side SC Freiburg. Alou moved again but this time it was to Liverpool. Even here he could'nt force his way into Liverpool's starting eleven and was loaned out twice to Le Harve and Bastia respectively. For the 2004/05 season Alou was loaned to french side RC Lens. The move was then made permanant after a succesful loan spell. In the summer of 2006 Alou signed for french champions Lyon. Alou made 14 appearences during his stay with Lyon before moving to rivals Bordeaux. His debut came against former club Rc Lens were he received a yellow card in the process.
He made his debut for France on the 18 June 2006 and even featured in the 2006 World cup final against winners Italy.
FORMER CLUBS 1999 - 2000 - Cs Louhans - apps 3 goals 0
2000 - 2002 - Bayern Munich - apps 0 goals 0
2002 - 2005 - Liverpool - apps 0 goals 0
2002 - 2003 - Le Harve (loan) - apps 25 goals 0
2003 - 2004 - SC Bastia (loan) - apps 35 goals 4
2004 - 2005 - Lens - apps 66 goals 4
2006 - 2007 - Lyon - apps 14 goals 1
2007 - present - Bordeaux - apps 34 goals 4
ON FM08 Alou is your though no nonsense DMC. He has the stamina and the work rate to hold his own in this position. Alou is a great tackler of the ball and should be able to break up play's with minimum fuss. Another thing to note is his excellent passing ability which will cut through defences when he gets them right. Alou will also be a real threat from corners as well if used right.
BEST POSITION 
Alou is great dmc to have in your side. This is were he really excels and you will get the best out of him here. I would set him to closing down in his area and possibly look at setting his tackling to hard. He has the determination and concentration to succeed in this position.
STRENGHTS Heading - 17
long shots - 16
Passing - 16
Tackling - 18
Aggression - 18
Anticipation - 18
Composure - 16
Concentration - 16
Determination - 17
Teamwork - 16
Work rate - 16
Acceleration - 16
Balance - 18
Stamina - 17
Strength - 19
WEAKNESSES Marking - 14
Creativity - 14
Decisions - 14
Off the ball - 10
Agility - 11
Pace - 13
VERDICT An excellent buy if you can get him. I would highly recommend Diarra to anyone managing in the top flight of any major European leagues. Prepare to payout big for this guy as Bordeaux wont let him go on the cheap.
