Andrei Arshavin Leaves Arsenal, I Leave OleOle
Saturday, 25 February 12, 02:21 AM · Comments (4)
Good morning and there's really only one place to start today, and that's with one of the most bizarre bits of transfer business I can remember taking place at Arsenal as Andrei Arshavin has
moved on loan to Zenit St Petersburg with a view to a permanent move.
Now, it's not bizarre in so much as the player has clearly been unhappy at the club for some time, his performances have been sub-par and well below what he's capable of, and the club he's moved to is a logical destination given that it's where he established himself in the first place. But what is very odd about this deal is the timing. The Russian transfer window as we know continued for a month after ours did, finally closing yesterday which is why Zenit are able to make the deal now. I can see why it benefits Zenit but I really don't see anything in this deal that works in Arsenal's favour.
I know there will be those who will say that simply the fact that Arshavin hasn't been up to scratch and his attitude has been poor make it a good thing that he's gone, and if this were the summer then I might agree. But as it is, its not like we can use the freed up space in the squad, its not like the money that was being spent on his wages can be reinvested in bringing someone else in, it simply takes a player out of our squad at a time when, as Arseblog put it, all it takes is for someone to look sternly at an Arsenal player for them to get injured.
It was only a couple of weeks ago that Arshavin produced a moment of real quality to get us three points at the Stadium of Light when he put in a sublime cross straight onto the boot of Thierry Henry. Those moments have been all too rare this season which means his being dropped to the bench behind the likes of Walcott and Oxlade-Chamberlain was the right thing to do on the part of the manager. But to get rid of him now, at this stage of the season just seems bizarre and how much criticism will be meted out from the same fans revelling in Arshavin's departure if a few weeks down the line we have forward players out injured and nobody to field in their place?
I'm inclined to think that this was not Arsene Wenger's decision because he spoke only recently about how this deal would not be going through with the situation that we currently have at the club. To me, this is the sort of thing that is making me look with increasing suspicion above the manager for the explanation of poor business being done by the club. Obviously we can't know for sure but I sense the hand of people other than the manager, not only in this but other transfer business we've done as well. The manager is the one who catches all the flack from the fans for it, but I'm not sure he's the one who deserves it.
Arsene Wenger is not a stupid man. If he made the decision to let Arshavin go then he'll have had his reasons - perhaps Arshavin's attitude was just that lousy that having him about the place was more trouble than it's worth. Maybe, given the money that Zenit have put on the table for what is initially at least, a short term loan, the boss is thinking about where he might get the money for an improved contract for Robin Van Persie. Maybe, as I speculated above, it wasn't his decision at all, we just don't know.
As for Arshavin, it's a shame how his Arsenal career turned out but I think he's got nowhere to look but himself. I think money was always a factor for him, the UK tax rate meant he was never making as much as he thought he was going to and that didn't impress him. When he arrived though, he was fantastic, at a time when fans were screaming for the manager to sign defenders he went out and bought a forward who had been the subject of attention from almost every major club in Europe the summer before the January we signed him. Arshavin turned out to be exactly what we needed, producing moments of great quality. There was a goal against Blackburn I think just after he joined that was one of the best finishes of the last few years at Arsenal.
He contributed so much in those first few months that its no exaggeration to say he kept us in Champions League football that year. His four goals at Anfield were incredible, and I recall when I went to Wembley that season for our ill-fated FA Cup semi-final against Chelsea, my exasperation when I found out Arshavin had been left on the bench. It wasn't only that season that he produced for us though, much as that's the way conventional wisdom chooses to see it now. I believe it was the following year when our striker situation got so ridiculous that Arshavin, all five feet of him, had to fill in as a lone striker and I always felt that he stuck to that task very creditably, even though it was hardly the easiest duty he's been asked to fulfill in his career. And of course, I'd be remiss not to mention the winner in that first leg against Barcelona last season. That was the sort of moment that in the end was all too few and far between from Arshavin.
So, farewell Andrei, good luck and all that. For our part we've got a huge game tomorrow and that's where the attention will shift very shortly.
For now though, that's all from me. Just a quick note to say that this will be the last time this blog appears on oleole.com due to various technical issues over the years. I will be looking at other potential locations, but in the meantime you can always catch the blog on Online Arsenal at www.onlinearsenal.com.
Have a good one.
Now, it's not bizarre in so much as the player has clearly been unhappy at the club for some time, his performances have been sub-par and well below what he's capable of, and the club he's moved to is a logical destination given that it's where he established himself in the first place. But what is very odd about this deal is the timing. The Russian transfer window as we know continued for a month after ours did, finally closing yesterday which is why Zenit are able to make the deal now. I can see why it benefits Zenit but I really don't see anything in this deal that works in Arsenal's favour.
I know there will be those who will say that simply the fact that Arshavin hasn't been up to scratch and his attitude has been poor make it a good thing that he's gone, and if this were the summer then I might agree. But as it is, its not like we can use the freed up space in the squad, its not like the money that was being spent on his wages can be reinvested in bringing someone else in, it simply takes a player out of our squad at a time when, as Arseblog put it, all it takes is for someone to look sternly at an Arsenal player for them to get injured.
It was only a couple of weeks ago that Arshavin produced a moment of real quality to get us three points at the Stadium of Light when he put in a sublime cross straight onto the boot of Thierry Henry. Those moments have been all too rare this season which means his being dropped to the bench behind the likes of Walcott and Oxlade-Chamberlain was the right thing to do on the part of the manager. But to get rid of him now, at this stage of the season just seems bizarre and how much criticism will be meted out from the same fans revelling in Arshavin's departure if a few weeks down the line we have forward players out injured and nobody to field in their place?
I'm inclined to think that this was not Arsene Wenger's decision because he spoke only recently about how this deal would not be going through with the situation that we currently have at the club. To me, this is the sort of thing that is making me look with increasing suspicion above the manager for the explanation of poor business being done by the club. Obviously we can't know for sure but I sense the hand of people other than the manager, not only in this but other transfer business we've done as well. The manager is the one who catches all the flack from the fans for it, but I'm not sure he's the one who deserves it.
Arsene Wenger is not a stupid man. If he made the decision to let Arshavin go then he'll have had his reasons - perhaps Arshavin's attitude was just that lousy that having him about the place was more trouble than it's worth. Maybe, given the money that Zenit have put on the table for what is initially at least, a short term loan, the boss is thinking about where he might get the money for an improved contract for Robin Van Persie. Maybe, as I speculated above, it wasn't his decision at all, we just don't know.
As for Arshavin, it's a shame how his Arsenal career turned out but I think he's got nowhere to look but himself. I think money was always a factor for him, the UK tax rate meant he was never making as much as he thought he was going to and that didn't impress him. When he arrived though, he was fantastic, at a time when fans were screaming for the manager to sign defenders he went out and bought a forward who had been the subject of attention from almost every major club in Europe the summer before the January we signed him. Arshavin turned out to be exactly what we needed, producing moments of great quality. There was a goal against Blackburn I think just after he joined that was one of the best finishes of the last few years at Arsenal.
He contributed so much in those first few months that its no exaggeration to say he kept us in Champions League football that year. His four goals at Anfield were incredible, and I recall when I went to Wembley that season for our ill-fated FA Cup semi-final against Chelsea, my exasperation when I found out Arshavin had been left on the bench. It wasn't only that season that he produced for us though, much as that's the way conventional wisdom chooses to see it now. I believe it was the following year when our striker situation got so ridiculous that Arshavin, all five feet of him, had to fill in as a lone striker and I always felt that he stuck to that task very creditably, even though it was hardly the easiest duty he's been asked to fulfill in his career. And of course, I'd be remiss not to mention the winner in that first leg against Barcelona last season. That was the sort of moment that in the end was all too few and far between from Arshavin.
So, farewell Andrei, good luck and all that. For our part we've got a huge game tomorrow and that's where the attention will shift very shortly.
For now though, that's all from me. Just a quick note to say that this will be the last time this blog appears on oleole.com due to various technical issues over the years. I will be looking at other potential locations, but in the meantime you can always catch the blog on Online Arsenal at www.onlinearsenal.com.
Have a good one.
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Posted by lepermessiah998
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lepermessiah998
Birmingham, GB
An Arsenal blog by some bloke calling himself Leper Messiah
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Sorry you're leaving this site - I'll try and remember to follow your blog elsewhere. I know what you mean about the technical hitches. A lot of my posts rely on embedding videos, and that hasn't worked for about a year.
It's a pity to see you go but I don't blame you for. I'll be following soon and I'm only still here because I find it the easiest place to write my blog before copying it elsewhere.
It is an easy site to use, which makes it a shame to leave in some ways but it just can't be relied on. The other day I couldn't post because I couldn't even log in. Not the first time thats happened either. I will be up and running elsewhere as soon as I can spare a few hours to sort it out