It’s a week since Arsene Wenger sanctioned Andrey Arshavin’s loan return to Zenit St Petersburg and he’s still having to justify the decision after the raising of collective eyebrows across the red half of North London.
Speaking to the press ahead of tomorrow’s tough trip to Liverpool, a fixture in which the Russian scored five goals with six attempts in his first two games at Anfield, the boss added further weight to the theory he let the little winger leave the Emirates in order to get playing time ahead of Euro 2012.
“I just felt he needed to play. When you are 30 and you do not play regularly, you drop your form and when you come on every time you have to produce something special.
“At that age it is very difficult. I felt he just needed a bit of confidence to play again.”
A staunch defender of Arshavin, despite the player being roundly criticised as both lazy and ineffectual by media and fans alike, you can’t help but think that Wenger’s loyalty to Andrey has played a major factor in this decision. Indeed it strikes Arseblog News as the same kind of personal affection which saw Wenger allow Sol Campbell to leave the club on a free once the former centre-back declared his desire to play abroad (something he then didn’t do…)
While few would be surprised if Arshavin were to ever wear the Arsenal shirt again in anger, Wenger did stress that the return to Russia is only on a temporary basis at the moment.
“Things have not ended because he is still our player, he is only out on loan,” suggested Arsene.
With only a year left on Arshavin’s contract, Ivan Gazidis could still attempt to muster a half-decent transfer fee this summer for a player who is thought to have cost in the region of £15 million three years ago.
That being said, unless he wins Zenit the title and Russia become champions of Europe in Ukraine and Poland, it seems unlikely the 30-year-old will move for much more than couple of crates of homemade moonshine.
I always thought this was the case, no bad blood, just a chance for him to get some game time. With the ox coming through I don’t think it’s a huge loss, and with Ryos form for Bolton I don’t think we’ll see arshavin playing for us again next season. Shame, I fucking love that little russian
So you telling me he didn’t know Arsha wanting more games in the 1st of Jan, and he only realised that on the day of the Russian closing their transfer window??? why let Ryo go then if you are “wanting Arsha to have more games at 30”, you mean you didn’t notice in training Ryo was better than theo, Benny and Gerv (after ANC syndrome, remember Kolo)????? Bolton did notice and their manager was raving about him from day one in training, before he even play. So is Owen Coyle better at spotting talent than our manager???? Didn’t he promise… Read more »
Someone sounds a bit bitter.
Maybe I’m wrong.
He didn’t know the Ox would be ready for 1st team in January, and Gervinho was still a the Africa Cup of Nations, so we could use the cover.
Ryo still isn’t quite good enough to play for us, it’s why he’s at Bolton. (Like a certain midfielder a couple of years ago). But I think that if we bought a 17-year old schoolboy then Arsene MIGHT have seen some talent.
Yeah agree with the above, he probably didn’t know the ox was going to be as explosive, and gervs was away on international duty. Maybe he thought he would be staying, and changed his mind. But don’t let that get in the way of a good whine though mate….
or a good wine. I’m off down the pub.
Camilla,
I know you on of you Arsene’s blind sheeps will open his/her mouth with that Gerv excuse, but wasn’t Henry his replacement while he was away?????? Didn’t we need four wide players???
and you seem not to answer why let Ryo go???? At the moment I will put Ryo just like the Ox ahead of Theo and Gerv. watch Bolton against Chelsea and you will see.
Five question marks, a sure sign of a diseased mind.
Was Henry Gervs replacement? Or was that just assumed? Maybe ryo went on loan to get a good run of games, or would you rather Arsene played 11 kids do you could moan about it at the end of the season? I’m not one of “Arsenes blind sheep”, I’m not entirely happy with the way things are going but Jesus, take a step back. Everyone bangs on about selling the deadwood, and always mentions Arshavin and then as soon as he leaves everyone berates the club for letting him go! Funny how some people on here never seem to comment… Read more »
Was Henry Gervs replacement? Or was that just assumed? Maybe ryo went on loan to get a good run of games, or would you rather Arsene played 11 kids do you could moan about it at the end of the season? I’m not one of “Arsenes blind sheep”, I’m not entirely happy with the way things are going but Jesus, take a step back. Everyone bangs on about selling the deadwood, and always mentions Arshavin and then as soon as he leaves everyone berates the club for letting him go! Funny how some people on here never seem to comment… Read more »
Sorry, meant to say people have a go at fatgooner and frog but they always give credit where it’s due!
Highbury, It is fine to let Arsha go, what is our problem with this, is the timing of the transfer, after the window closes and Ryo went out on loan. Arsene is a LIAR no other way about it, he said Arsha was moving nowhere until end of the season at the end of Jan, didn’t he??? As he said about Fab and Le Cunt to buy time not to sign anyone during the summer. Don’t tell me those 5 signing were planned as I will just throw Park on your face, Benny and Arteta with no medical. Per after… Read more »
CLF, we do have four wide players, theo, gerv, ox and benayoun, rosicky can play there as well. My point is yeah he said he wasn’t going anywhere, but for all we know he could have said he’d stay and then last week begged for a move. I’m not going to go into the summer spending, I think everything that could be said about that has been again and again and it’s off topic, but my point is none of us know why Arshavin left, maybe Wenger did lie, maybe Arshavin changed his mind, maybe he’s secretly been called up… Read more »
there is no harm in keeping arshavin.infact the holy ox could also play in midfield.perhaps wenger can develop his alround play next season.since the signing of ox i have always believed that we should never rely on ox for a performance.at his age that would be unfair.i think the best thing to do would be to let arshavin have a little run now and then play him in the euros and to let him come back to us fresh and happy next season and finish his contract off and it would be great if arshavin co-operates and we all know… Read more »
I always liked AA. I felt really sorry for the guy the way he was treated by sections of our home crowd. Abuse and booing from the stands has never instilled confidence in any player yet, and the reaction to the substitution of AOC against Jamchester United (I accept it was a reaction to the subbing rather than to AA) I found particularly difficult to watch. His shoulders slumped, and he was bereft of confidence before he even crossed the white line. It is no way to treat our own players. It is not the Arsenal way. Or at least… Read more »
Agree with every word of this. A lot of people really don’t understand the meaning of the word “support”.
Works two ways though. Give 100% in every match, you get the crowd’s support.
yea give 100% like ramsey every match and get support …..ho wait thats bollocks,he get trash evrytime he get on the pitch,give 100% but has a poor match by our amazing so call supporter
I thought AA has had only an occasional spark of his old form and think it is far better for him to head home than become so hit and miss with our present squad. It REALLY IS time to move on. For him AND us.
I am sure he will be far happier at Zenit than with The Arse and I REALLY wish him well. One chapter has closed and a new one just begining.
Good little player, scored some sensational (and crucial) goals for us.. didn’t seem to be able to get into the top gear he was in before he joined us…or maybe he set the bar too high for himself at Euro 2008 and at Zenit and just couldn’t match it with us?
Who knows.
Good Luck Andrey.
Shame that arshavin never repaid arsene with a lot more effort at times then. What other manager would let a player go just so he could regain form for his country.
Hopefully the little Russian my be a bit ashamed when he looks back at some of the games he decided that he just didn’t fancy tracking back or putting his foot in that tackle.
we’ve got liverpool tomorrow at anfield. no problem cos we’ll unleash arshavin on them again!
…oh wait!
please keep the thumbs up/down on this comment at 4-4 for old times sake.
boo.
I’m looking at this comment and it’s 4-4.
Will it always be player 1st, arsenal 2nd, and who cares about genuine arsenal fans?(excluding ppl who booed arshavin)
Well i like him a lot and i would like to see him back with us next season. Never seen a more honest player than him.I just wonder what a young Arshavin could have provided in an Arsenal shirt.
True, can’t remember for the life of me who it was against but remember his first season when the ref gave him a penalty and he tried to convince the ref he’d just fallen over? Top professional, very rare sight
that was awesome
portsmouth i believe
Totally agree with the top two comments.
Just remember him for this though…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PFVXJPx2O8
Ya that will always be my favorite arshavin moment. Man we did those cunts proper that night. Oooo to be…
Best celebration ever as well!
my eyes rolled back into my skull after reliving that clip. Under pressure from the Catalan juggernaut then BOOM! Arshavin bags the winner.
best part of that clip was Szcz celebrating at the end
i must’ve watched that clip hundreds of times and not *once* have i failed to get goosebumps when he puts it in the back of the net. astonishing.
best of luck to him. real shame he couldn’t produce on a consistent basis for us, he showed real promise. but there’s always more to the story than we get to hear and you just never know what was going on.
(in Arseblog Arshavin voice)
Real reason I leave, errr, Arzenal… I sit with Mr. Wenger – I say Mr Wenger, I, errr, wish to, return, to Russia. Mr Wenger say, Andrei, I cannot let you go, very important you errrr, stay in squad, as backup? I say (chuckle), Mr Wenger (chuckle), you let me go… or I kill your family.
Massive fan of Arshavin. Hope he does well at Zenit and hopefully IF he returns, can find the form he had when he first arrived.
He’s 5ft 4, He’s 5ft 4, we got Arshavin, FUCK ADEBAYOR
And if he goes away… Well, fuck Adebayor as well.
Whilst I like Arshavin and wish we had had the opportunity to see him play his natural position, I tend to agree with Critic. It seems Arsene puts more importance on the players welfare over Arsenals. It’s the same with the Cesc situation, he should have just said yes you can go if Barca pay 50m by July 1st. Instead we end up ruining our season and getting below Market value. Despise the Spuds(5-2) as I do, the stood firm over Modric. And what does being understanding of the players wishes get you anyway? Adebayor, nasri ,Cesc, shafted that’s what.
While I generally agree on the issue of Wenger being too soft with players, I’m not convinced that it was the case here. A player without confidence is a useless player, and for all of Arshavin’s laziness when he was on the pitch he could produce moments of brilliance – when he was on his game. This season on the rare occasions he was on the pitch, he looked anything but. If Arshavin could get a run of 10 games he just might get that confidence back, but Arsenal don’t have that kind of luxury. With the left wing position… Read more »
“While few would be surprised if Arshavin were to ever wear the Arsenal shirt again in anger, ”
Is it just me? I cannot decipher the meaning of this sentance. If it is just me; maybe it could be explained in terms that someone with the reading skills of Harry Rednapp could understand.
It’s unlikely he’ll play for us again.
Andrey’s a trifick lad, absolutely trifick. But ah think we may not see ‘im in Arsenal again.
I was thinking similar.
Perhaps “While few wouldn’t be surprised if Arshavin were to ever wear the Arsenal shirt again in anger,” might make more sense?
Thank god Spooner for reassuring me I am not as illiterate as twitchy. I can get the first clause ““While few wouldn’t be surprised if Arshavin were to ever wear the Arsenal shirt ” by reversing it to be “most would be surprised” to see him in our jersey (as Midfield Corporal and Camilla) indicate. It is the “in anger” bit that confuses me. Whose anger? The fans that he is back? AA because he is at the Emirates again? This is such a small argument by me. Good thing at this point I doubt many are reading this thread.… Read more »
Corp I think Cygans left foot may be right, why not have done it in January? Maybe because fans would have been screaming for a replacement in a already depleted squad.
More I think about the more it smells of the typical way arsenal do things. Dress it up as something nice but in real terms it’s probably due to money and partly due to him being lazy and orchestrating a move. Either way the timing don’t make sense.
Still a another million in the trophy cabinet.
Apparently, zenith and that other rich Russian club made offers in the transfer window but our valuation were miles apart, zenith then went straight to the player who really pushed for the move. I agree though, if you’re prepared to let him go do it in Jan. Seems we’ve got al these supposedly great football administrators and Marketing men at the club but they ccan’t wipe their own backsides properly.
A million trophies? Fuck. Good work Wenger.
I really hope this isn’t the same reason for his departure as he’s telling the lads.. That should be more like- he’s a lazy bastard & we have no space for passengers. Wish him well in the press, but let that be a lesson to all of you.
[…] starting anywhere it may as well be with Arsene’s comments regarding the departure of Andrei Arshavin’s move to Zenit St Petersburg on loan. A week or so on from the strangest piece of transfer […]
I would prefer if the editor would insist on contributors writing “collective raising of eye brows across North London…” Can’t remember there being any other teams in that particular region.