Andrey already an Arsenal Giant
Forget what did or didn't happen between Cesc Fabregas and the Hull bckroom staff on Tuesday - what should really be remembered is how well our new Number 23 played.
It’s always hard to know how well a foreign player will adapt to a new country.
Will they cope with the weather, the pace or brutality of the Premier League, the English way of life or just the style and personality of his team-mates.
Arsenal has lost a lot of its fantasy players over recent years – Dennis Bergkamp, Bobby Pires, Thierry Henry and even Alex Hleb to name just a few – and the sexy football the Gunners are renowned for has been harder to create.
We’ve got some decent players now, although most of the creators have been injured of late, but when Cesc Fabregas, Theo Walcott, Tomas Rosicky and Samir Nasri start next season, all fit and firing, we could have some team on our hands.
It’s fair to say that although he has bulked up, Theo still needs some polishing which will come with games, and I doubt we’ll see enough of Rosicky to make a difference this year.
Nasri is getting better and growing as he becomes more accustomed to the English game and so will the likes of Carlos Vela and Aaron Ramsey – a midfielder with no lack of flair in my opinion.
But that brings us to the latest addition to the squad – Andrey Arshavin.
Arsène Wenger is not keen on buying players in January, so he says, despite Abou Diaby, Theo and Manu Adebayor all arriving in mid season.
But with dreams of the title gone a long time ago, January is actually the best time to buy a player, to allow them to provide some mid-season impetus to a flagging side and acclimatise in time for the new season.
And that is what we have seen in no short measure from Andrey Arshavin.
Although he has his quiet spells, his willingness to battle, his two-footed ability and his awareness of what is going on put him a class above most of his team-mates.
What I don’t understand is why so many players pick up the ball and have not anticipated what they are going to do once they receive it.
In Arshavin, we have a player who almost always knows exactly where he wants to run with the ball or who he wants to pass it to ten seconds before he even gets the ball.
It's almost a shame that he is isolated on the wing, where he is sometimes not utilised as much as he could be. But his ability to cut in, win headers, draw people to him before making simple and yet perfecty executed passes (not to mention the super-accurate long passes as well) is worth the ticket price alone.
You have to wonder why more players don’t have the same speed of thought or execution as Arshavin, who does the simple things well, let alone the mercurial talent that allows him to score goals such as our second against Blackburn Rovers.
Not since Bergkamp have we had a player with such vision and, given his previous indiscretions including that which led him to miss the first two games of Euro2008, a player with an edge who won’t be intimidated by thuggish cloggers.
Wenger and experience will no doubt ensure some of our young talent continues to grow and develop.
But I have a feeling that training with a player of the quality of Arshavin, who has much to prove himself, will have a significant impact on the improvement not only of the team but of some of our young Guns and create a legacy for the next exciting chapter in Arsenal’s future.
DA
Reader Comments (8)
The answer is play him as the deep striker.i know fans love rvp but he does not form partnerships,i dont always agree with myles palmer but his correct sell rvp and ade buy world class to play with AA
Sell RVP?!!! Are you mad or has Phil Brown got to you now?
Very good article.
Thank you!
Read ANR coolio and study rvp in action he will never form a lethal partnership he is a one man band,AA MUST PLAY CENRAL you know it makes sense but your love for rvp is clouding your judgement.
Arsh is quality - him and Fabregas should always be the first 2 names on the team sheets assuming they are fit. The problem is that Wenger has a tough decision to make over the summer as RVP and Ade don't really fit into our game now. It is clear that Wenger builds the team around fab and he will do so around arsh too. I say we sell RVP and Ade and get 2 proper strikers who are more 2 footed. Maybe we shoud see how Ade is when he comes back but my thoughts are Bendtner is a better option at the moment as he is much more direct and a proper front man. He has been improving with every game too. All we need to do is buy another quality CB and a hard as nails DM (although Song/Denilson could do) and we will be rocking again. All our problems have been down to injuries and very little else.
the answer is quite simple. He is Arshavin and he is different from any other just as you are different in the way you put ur opinion across to us. i believe other players have something he doesnt have and we can start with height.
I agree to an extent: Eduardo with Ade/Bendtner would make more sense now; Eduardo's lethal finishing coupled with the work rate and traditonal target man abilities of Ade/Bendtner would create much more variation upfront. In my opinion Bendtner's all-round abilites far outweigh Ade's, his touch and playmaking skills are siply better, but he just needs to hone his finishing. RVP really could find himself surplus to requirements if does not find the balance between creativity and ruthless finishing that he seemed to be getting at the begining of last season. I think if Eduardo is fit, then he has to start, Arshavin/Nasri/Rosicky/Fabregas/Walcott will feed him all day long from midfield, with Ade/Bendtner creating the space.
In my humble opinion the most natureally gifted footballer to come to these shores from abroad has got to be Bergkamp but now if all goes well we could have another Bergkamp in our midst. When Bergkamp first came here his class was evident and just like Arseshavin things didn't always seem to work out for him, be patient and next year Dennis will have returned.