Andrey has arrived. Landed. Signed. Sealed. And given his first interview in broken English. “I like some of your players”. Good one! Not Eboue then. Russian diplomacy at its best.
The historical parallel to be drawn is obvious: Robert Pires. The man we’ve missed so much. A dashing, goalscoring attacking midfielder brought in aged 27 as his career was clearly in the ascendancy. We got 6 great years and 2 Premierships out of Pires. Big shoes for Andrey to fill then, but he has the style and pedigree to do it.
From watching him last season when our interest was first mooted, the comparison does not seem outlandish, and if Arshavin can establish himself as Pires did (who, let’s not forget, had something of an uneasy beginning at the club) then we will soon have one of the finest wingers in the world. He’s fiendishly quick, has a good eye for the through ball and, most importantly, a knack of following up on loose balls, making defence-splitting runs and generally banging the ball into the net with the minimum of fuss.
That’s the history, though. In the short term, he’ll be filling Eboue’s boots on the right wing. Make of that whatever footwear metaphor you will, but please keep it clean.
A word of warning. I can’t help thinking that calling Arshavin “The Messiah” before he’s kicked a ball, saying he’s going to put the “S” in “Silverware” (which rather alarmingly suggests that before his arrival we were bound for something called “Ilverware”) and that he’s effectively going to allow Arsenal fans to time travel to circa May 2004 smacks of Geordie-ism (that most undignified fanatic affliction) and can do no good. Incidentally, yes, I’m talking about Le Grumble, which is today full of the joys of the world. Much happier, I notice, than when we beat Man Utd for example. It seems they really do just mindlessly regurgitate tabloid hype, positive or negative and you’ve got to wonder whether they wouldn’t all be happier supporting a team which is much more active in the transfer market, say Tottenham?
Hopefully most fans have enough between their ears to keep expectations at a realistic level to avoid crippling disappointment.
I’ve also read quite a few Gooners fretting about what’s going to happen when we get Theo, Cesc and Rosicky back? Answer: we’re going to have a really good midfield again, at long last. The competition for places isn’t a worry at the moment, especially as Rosicky is still miles away, and in any case the lack of competition and thinness of the squad is a problem which Arshavin’s arrival goes some way to addressing, at least in the creative department.
Much will depend on how soon Arshavin is struck down with Arsenalitis, and forsakes the speeding-arrow-through-the-beating-defensive-heart-of-the-opposition philosophy which has led him this far in favour of our beloved Islington Shuffle. Looking at this compilation , (with thanks to Skatman for the link) our new boy really doesn’t look like a natural-born shuffler in the mould of a Hleb or a Diaby. Doubtless his first few days in training will be spent blunting his razor keen attacking instincts, practising misplaced square balls with the goal at his mercy and learning the rare beauty which comes from the concession of a goal-kick after 24 one-twos with Sagna.
Nah, I reckon Arsene will pretty much just unleash him when he’s fit and tell him to do what he does best. Don’t think we’ll see him against Tiny Totts though (and their new captain Robbie “Loyalty Bonus” Keane!) as he hasn’t played since November and sulking for months on end must have taken its toll.
The other half of this blog, a shifty character known to his friends as “Grabber”, has made a few enemies in recent weeks by repeatedly protesting that he did not want us to sign Andrey Arshavin. He had his reasons, and he stood by them.
I have shamelessly exploited this position at every opportunity to try and curry favour with the readership by backing our pursuit of him all the way and taking snide pot-shots at our Number 27 along the way. I now feel like I’ve curried enough favour to open my own tandoori on the Holloway Road and call it “The Arse Haven“, the idea being that the restaurant would offer clients both an innovative gastronomic pun and a soothing period of relaxation and cathartic release for the lower intestine some few hours after customers have enjoyed the favourable cuisine.
Don’t forget our fantastic Philosophy Football giveaway: you can win a fantastic and strictly unofficial Arsénal t-shirt. Grabs and I both have them and they’re brill – to enter simply answer the question:
Who was Arsene Wenger managing when he joined Arsenal?
Email your answer to admin@philosophyfootball.com with the heading Up For Grabs Now Competition – deadline for entries is 28 February. In the meantime feel free to visit their website: lots of good stuff on it… http://www.philosophyfootball.com/new_win.html
Tags: Andrei Arshavin, Arsene Wenger, Emmanuel Eboue, Robert Pires
February 4th, 2009 at 10:40 am
do you think the rosicky will play CDM when he comes back?
February 4th, 2009 at 12:24 pm
i don’t think Tomas will play defensive midfield as he can’t tackle and isn’t exactly the most combative player.
people are predicting a fully fit midfield of rosicky-nasri-cesc-arshavin. I can’t see it myself. others are putting arshavin in the middle of midfield with cesc. again, not for me.
i still think arsene sees our central midfield as cesc and denilson and i think denilson has won that right. Walcott and (especially) Rosicky are still some way away from returning, but even when (and in rosicky’s case i think we have to say “if”) they get back, i can’t see too many selection problems. a squad will always suffer injuries, and we seem to suffer those more than most so 4 good wingers is really what you need to sustain any sort of season.
in a sort of ideal, injury free scenario, with nasri, rosicky, arsh and theo all fit i guess you’d simply be picking on form and arsh and theo could also fight for a spot up front.
one of the worst things in recent years has beent the way that arsenal has become this team where decent players feel like they have a right to a place in the team (see diarra, arguably flamini) whereas a club like united can sustain a bench full of top players every week and nobody seems to grumble toomuch
February 4th, 2009 at 2:37 pm
eduardo,
rvp,
rosicky, nasri,
cesc
song
clichy, sagna
djourou, gallas
almunia
subs: walcott,adebayor,bendtner,arshavin,eboue,denilson,diaby,toure,silvestre
wilshere,ramsey,
February 4th, 2009 at 5:05 pm
ROSICKY CAN’T TACKLE!? ARE YOU CRAZY go watch some youtube foo!!!! lol J/P but out of everyone in our midfield Rosicky is by FAR the best tackler remember before his injury he was the captain of the Czech nat team and played the CM for them.
February 4th, 2009 at 5:14 pm
alright simms21, you stick him at defensive midfield if you like, that’s fine.
being captain of the czech national team doesn’t mean you are a defensive player. yes he plays cm for the czechs (as he did for much of his time at borussia dortmund) but that’s very much in the fabregas role.
you could play them both centrally, but you’d probs need to sacrifice a striker for a sitting midfielder – unless you wanted to get over-run.
February 5th, 2009 at 10:40 am
I agree that a 4-5-1 would be necessary with Rosicky and Fabregas both in the midfield with the Dm being Denilson.
However it is also true that Arshavin has been playing as a 2nd striker quite often and that could mean that nasri, rosicky and walcott would rotate for the wing role (although its unlikely they would all be fit at the same time) and Rvp, Ade and Bendtner, Eduardo and Arshavin and Vela would all rotate for the 2 striking positions.
I’ll be honest. With Arshavin, we effectively have 6 strikers. If Ade were to have a good rest of the season, then we potentially could sell him for 20 to 30 mill and still have 5 strikers. I think Bendtner could step up, although it would be a risk (maybe not, considering how Ade has been playing lately). This however only applies if Arshavin would be deployed in a 2nd striking role.
It will be interesting to see how Wenger views Arshavin’s role and how he manages the large array of attacking prowess we have in our team as well as continuing to blood the youth. Most likely, Wenger will not have the headache with a couple of these players injured at a time throughout each season.