Andrey Arshavin: Can Shava rekindle his best years at his boyhood club?

Andrey Arshavin (C) of FC Zenit St. Petersburg vies for the ball with Gheorghe Bucur (L) and Aleksei Kozlov of FC Kuban Krasnodar at the Petrovsky stadium on July 26, 2013 in St. Petersburg, Russia. (Getty Images)

Fabio Capello has frozen him out of the national team fold for just about the whole of his reign as national team manager so far, and it doesn’t seem any time soon before Arshavin emerges into his plans.

Arsenal also lost faith in him and finally decided to release him, and still for British fans, Arshavin remains a bit of a mystery. His start with the Gunners was spectacular, his stunning four-goal performance against Liverpool at Anfield really announced him onto the English scene, but since then things have got progressively worse and worse.

At one point he even found himself in Arsenal’s reserve team, and just why Arshavin tried to flog a dead horse in his Arsenal career for so long, may be one of his biggest mistakes.

But at 32, he at least has two more years ahead of him of being able to play at the top level. And with Zenit fans, he has at least gained some respect – just for the fact he decided to return to his home town club, rather than jetting off to the UAE for example, where there are some real bucks to be made.

Just what he can give Zenit now though, is under some doubt. His best years are surely past him, and Zenit are a club which should be really looking to invest into the future rather than dipping back into the past. But what Arshavin can give Zenit doesn’t depend on his age, but just solely on his desire to play and work hard for the team.

While Arshavin perfectly known himself just what talent he has at his disposal, his reluctance to track back and help out the defence and his overall lazy playing style, makes him a very frustrating player to watch from the sidelines.

But if he can get his head in gear, he can start to rekindle his very best days. He possesses the ability to beat his man with such ease, an ability that very few players in the world – let alone Russia hold – and if he really wants to show just what he can do all over again, he’s got the raw ability to do so.

Just the fact that he rejoined Zenit instead of going for a better wage packet shows you he still has the desire to compete at the highest level – and with Zenit competing in the Champions League for yet another season, he’s got a perfect opportunity on which to show that you shouldn’t write him off quite yet.

He’s already managed to get on the scoresheet, in a recent 1-1 draw against Kuban Krasnodar at the Petrovsky stadium, and he seems to be developing a decent relationship with Hulk in Zenit’s free-flowing attack.

While he will have to get used to the fact that he isn’t the centre of attention any more like he was not so long ago, he still possess the ability to have a real influence over any game – but that all depends on just one thing: just how much he actually wants to prove to all his many doubters, that they have written him off just slightly too early.