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On a day when Alexis Sanchez scored a sublime side flick goal against Manchester United, plaudits from all around came gushing his way. It was a well-improvised finish but it also brought back memories of a similar goal by an Arsenal player, perhaps with a similar technically ability but inarguably lesser dedication- Andrey Arshavin against Olympiacos.
When he joined from Zenit on the deadline day for £15 million, a then club record transfer, few could have predicted what was to follow. What started with a bang ended in a rather anonymous manner. Where exactly did it go wrong for Andrey Arshavin?
The question has been churned to its limits by Arsenal as well as football fans around. Often cited reasons are, but not limited to- he never tracked back, he was extremely lazy, Arsene Wenger failed to utilize him properly, so on and so forth. But none of these ironically, contributed to Arshavin’s failure in the Premier League.
Impact after arrival at the Emirates
The dream move to Arsenal started on an optimistic note with an immensely positive debut against Liverpool and some neat performances later that season.
2009-10 was a season of high expectations and while he started on the front-foot with crucial goals in big games against Manchester United and Liverpool, he was often forced to play as a striker, despite his small frame.
Played out of position and faced with the rigors of a first full season in a physically demanding league, he still carried the team through as Arsenal came close to winning the Premier League, only to falter in the last stages of the season.
Then came the season that was incontestably the best of his Arsenal career.
Arsenal’s 4-2 win over Aston Villa at Villa Park in 2010-11 may be remembered by some Arsenal fans as the game when Jack Wilshere scored his first premier league goal. Well, the game also carried the stamp of a player in terrific form that season.
Andrey Arshavin stole the limelight with a magnificent goal by attacking directly from the left wing after picking the ball just ahead of half-way line, an assist similar to the one given by Ribery to Robben against Manchester United in the Champions League that season and supplying the pre-assist for the third goal. He constantly ran at the Aston Villa defense, attacking and threading passes all the time, a performance culminating in a man of the match award.
In another game against Leyton Orient, when Arsenal were lumbering on, he picked the ball up on the halfway line, ran past two defenders and unleashed a shot from the edge of the area, only to hit the post. It was a typical Andrey Arshavin performance, full of spark and direct attacks.
He bagged 17 assists and 10 goals in that season, one of them being the all-important winner against Barcelona in a 2-1 win for the Gunners at the Emirates Stadium.
Unquestionable defensive contribution
While the likes of Samir Nasri and Cesc Fabregas bagged the headlines, Arshavin was actually Arsenal’s best performer that season but didn’t quite manage to garner the same attention as the former two. Criticism was made of his supposed lethargic style and inability to track back.
After a flat game against Ipswich Town in the Carling Cup, questions were raised about his contribution and Arsene Wenger, the Arsenal manager, was forced to intervene citing how every player went through a rough phase.
The truth was Andrey’s rough patch was highlighted much more than others’. When Samir Nasri went on a goal drought, for example, the press never picked it up. Arshavin himself admitted later that the criticism affected his confidence.
While his lack of defensive contribution was often cited as a possible reason for fans’ frustration with him, the table below shows how the Russian actually had an excellent campaign defensively.
| Player | Tackles/game | Interceptions/game |
| Andrey Arshavin | 1.5 | 0.9 |
| Cesc Fabregas | 1.6 | 1 |
| Tomas Rosicky | 0.8 | 0.9 |
| Samir Nasri | 1 | 0.9 |
| Theo Walcott | 0.3 | 0.6 |
Data courtesy whoscored.com
Amongst the attacking players who played behind the striker in Arsenal’s 4-2-3-1 formation that season, Arshavin had better tackles/game and interceptions/game stats than everyone else bar Cesc Fabregas. This was epitomized in an FA cup tie Arsenal played against Huddersfield Town at home.
With the score 1-0, Arsenal had Sebastien Squillaci sent-off and the away team were beginning to carve out a number of chances.
Kieran Gibbs miscued his attempted clearance in the 55th minute and the ball fell to Joey Gudjonsson, who was clean through on goal until Andrey Arshavin put in a last-ditch sliding tackle to poke the ball away for a corner. It looked a certain goal till Arshavin’s intervention and although Huddersfield did score one eventually, Arsenal won courtesy a Cesc Fabregas penalty later.
Arshavin had missed multiple chances in the game and media was quick to highlight this fact. While completely ignoring his match-saving tackle, Fabregas’ leadership qualities and Arshavin’s frustrating misses were widely discussed.
It seemed like whatever the Russian did, he would not be able to elude the ‘lazy’ tag attached to him by an unforgiving English media.
Loss of form followed by exit to Zenit
After a statistically brilliant 2010/11 campaign when Arsenal came close to winning trophies yet again, expectations were high, especially as Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri had left the club and onus was on Arshavin to lift the team with his performances.
And it was here that the first signs appeared of tailing off.
Arsene Wenger started Arshavin against Manchester United in that fateful 8-2 defeat at Old Trafford and his performance was so woeful that Sir Alex Ferguson would particularly single him out later in his book as a ‘player who contributed nothing’.
Andrey was 30 already and quite possibly, 2010/11 was ability-wise his peak season. For a player who relied on his pace and trickery, it was a signal that things wouldn’t be the same as before.
Arsenal needed results and while he scored a winning goal subsequently against Swansea City, the performance levels had visibly dropped. New signing Gervinho and Walcott were preferred and it indicated that he would possibly have to contend with a role he had never played before- that of a substitute.
While Arsene Wenger admitted that Arshavin had been extremely professional and dedicated in training, fact was he wasn’t up to the required level. There were magical moments strewn in-between, like a brilliant assist for Theirry Henry against Sunderland after coming on as a substitute, but they seemed few and far between.
Now that he hadn’t got the usual dazzle on the pitch to make up for his struggle to adapt to life in London, things seemed to really flare up.
Personal life problems owing to a split with wife took further toll. Video footage surfaced of how a drunken Arshavin was attempting to enter a nightclub and broke into a scuffle with the bouncers.
Here was a man who had changed. That swagger and confidence which marked Arshavin throughout his earlier spell at Arsenal was missing. He had lost focus, fighting a battle where he knew the outcome beforehand.
It all ended when Zenit St. Petersburg came calling, for a loan spell in the second-half of the season that was subsequently converted to a full transfer in 2013-2014.
Reasons behind his decline
When Arsene Wenger signed Arshavin in January 2008, he knew what he was getting into.
Here was a player, who was 27 already (would have been 28 soon) and by Wenger’s own admission, attackers at top-level are finished after 30. It was fully understood by fans and manager alike that he had no resale value for the price at which he was bought.
Arshavin was supposed to create an immediate impact when signed (something he did quite splendidly with the four goals against Liverpool) and getting two and a half good seasons out of him from a possible four and half seemed a good return in today’s Premier League environment dominated by player flux, considering the value he added when he was at the peak of his powers.
Could Arshavin have done more? Possibly.
Three players over 30 have had revivals at Arsenal recently- Tomas Rosicky, Santi Cazorla, and Mikel Arteta. All three have had fewer issues off the pitch than Arshavin and most importantly, have tried to fit into the new roles designed for them by Arsene Wenger.
This is where it got tough for Arshavin. He wasn’t up to the same level anymore and found it difficult to adapt.
Tomas Rosicky’s and Arshavin’s case ran parallel. When calls were being made for Rosicky to be sold after a not so sparkling 2010-11, Arshavin was a potent force for the team. With perhaps more application and hard work, Rosicky earned himself a starting place and went on to have a brilliant 2011-12, while Arshavin just withered away.
Arshavin wasn’t like them. He wasn’t a horse made for the long race like the other Arsenal players over 30; Arshavin delivered maximum impact in a short spell and this is where the problem laid.
Fans are used to seeing longevity as a mark of success or failure, criteria in which Arshavin sadly didn’t fit in. Perhaps, his contribution was never fully recognized by the media and fans alike.
It was a typical case of stereotyping, wherein an image that had once been formed, remained throughout though the actual picture was quite different.
From flair players like him, to get as much as Arsenal got at that age, would have to be considered quite a good return. Every player has a peak period and Arshavin had already peaked when he had signed for Arsenal. It was just a case of how long the peak period would remain. It lasted for two and a half years and was full of magical moments.
Conclusion
To label Arshavin as a flop thus, that too for erroneous reasons, would be blatantly unfair on a player who promised so much and delivered quite a lot, if not fully. It’s a tale of a player misjudged rather than failure.
Andrey Arshavin's legacy will unfortunately go down as a tale of what could have been for most Arsenal fans, but it’s actually more down to them not grasping the overall picture.
