I think with Maiga it is a case of the PL being too much too soon and not having time to bed himself in, even Thierry Henry did not set Arsenal alight in his early days, the circumstances for his inclusion into the team were not ideal, I suspect Sam would have prefereed to have given him minutes here and there but AC's (and more importantly) Vaz Te's injury meant Maiga and the ex Fulham player (Petric?) were the only recognised strikers we had and in they were put straight in at the deep end, when needs must.

I would disagree that he is lazy, disinterested and all round poor.

I suspect he would have been a perfect foil for AC (but now we have Zarate) so we may never see him given the chance, yes he is a good forward in the right team, if played in hs strongest position and in a league where a more European type of football is played, but I think simply put he has not adjusted to the type of football played in England, where space is denied and it is played at breakneck speed. The Championship is not that better in the type of football played so him playing fort QPR did him no favours.


Now we have Valencia and Zarate, I can't see where he will get a chance so, he is better off back in France, Belgium of Holland playing for a team that willl help him recereate his Sochaux performances.