Tuesday, December 3, 2024

Arshavin says Wilshere is the best player at Arsenal …

…, that Cesc is the best player he’s ever played with, and that it’s frustrating not being in the team.

More on that, and other questions besides, as he talks to RWD Mag.

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goonero

Talent was never his problem. If this guy had been a bit more willing to work on his fitness, improve his stamina and show the will to fight all over the pitch, back to front, he could have been a club great. That said, you can’t not have a soft spot for the guy.

Abc

Maybe fitness etc. was an issue but I also remember him criticising Arsene that he always makes the same subs and at the same time that it’s irrelevant to him whats going on on the pitch maybe this is a factor too. He lost his confidence because he sees no point in giving 100% in training when he’s not going to play anyway. He said many times that he would like to play in the hole rather on the wing and I guess he played there v reading in the cup? I think he played very well. It’s not his… Read more »

davi

“He lost his confidence because he sees no point in giving 100% in training when he’s not going to play anyway.”
Wenger has praised his professionalism and performance in training, but he seemed to lose his confidence/motivation a long time before he lost his first team place.

Mega

Even outside of pitch I like jack. He is very straight.

Brilliant from the arsh as usual. Such a shame he couldn’t just eat a few less mars bars… I still love the guy.

big dawg

Coquelin said on ‘a day in the life of Coquelin’ on Arsenal.com that the person who works hardest in training is Arshavin. i’m sure he was telling the truth.
Let’s hope he plays a big part in the rest of the season, in us finishing ahead of Tottenham.
Maybe he’s come across a new leaf and decided to work hard…

Coquelin

Coquelin telling the truth? As opposed to taking the piss? You know which makes more sense! 😉

Asmodeus

Coq’s Q&A:
Do you read the newspaper?
Yes – generally whatever’s lying around at the training ground.

Wasn’t this on the fine list? Time for the BFG to collect.

TeeCee

Yes but the bloke who’s bright red in the face, sweating like a pig and breathing hard isn’t necessarily working hard.
He may just be fat and unfit.

Unyoke The Ox

Weirdly read yesterday that Coquelin said Arshavin is the hardest worker in training.

Norwad

Andrei McDonald. Now his form all makes sense!

Dial Sq Charity XI

I feel sorry for the little guy, whatever the reason for his downfall. His proudest moment was so long ago, so early in his Arsenal career.

RomfordPele

Me too. Also, he must have felt pretty sick to see us sign Cazorla and instantly give him a position in the hole behind – exactly where he has always wanted to play.

davi

Cazorla has played as a midfielder, though. He keeps possession better. He drops deeper when we’re under pressure and knows how to defend reasonably well – we can’t afford to have an Aimar-type player in our current system because we play with 2 wingers/forwards.
And besides, I haven’t heard him talk about wanting to play in that position anyway. I’ve seen him play wide on the left to good effect for Russia, and even for Arsenal in the early days.

deano

Yeah i was buzzing when he signed for us. After watching him destroy the Dutch in the Euro’s i thought wow this guy is going to be awesome. Although he never really got the oppertunity to play in his favoured position he certainly had the talent and abilty to play well where ever required. Sad cos he really could have a been great.

RomfordPele

I hope he’s not looking for Wilshere to reciprocate….

Jim Jimminy

He still looks 14. Is that something to do withthe Rosicky Coefficient?

Lapidarij

Ha ha ha, sadly he is not showing that on the pitch, yet… maybe when he reach Ox age he will be great prospect, again 🙂

TeeCee

He may look 14, but he’s 45 in footballing years.
NB: This assumes that most 45 year old footballers are watching the game on telly with a takeaway burger (extra cheese and bacon), a bag of nachos and a sixpack of beer for company.

Noeladishi

lol hes goofier than I thought

Merlin's Panini

If it’s so frustrating for him not to be playing why doesn’t he work on his fitness and try a bit harder in games?
He’s a great footballer but really seems to be his own worst enemy.

In shitty neighbour news, I’ve just seen Sp*rs have brought forward the Holtby deal. What a fucking mug that kid is! Why leave when you’re still in the Champions League to a pile of 80s white dog shit like Sp*rs?

Lily

He’s joining them in the summer. He’ll still be at Schalke for the rest of this season.

Merlin's Panini

erm. no, he’s just signed for them for £1.25 million today. They brought it forward. That’s why I posted what I did. Check your facts before you speak:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/21235461

Merlin's Panini

sorry, £1.5 million.

deano

Nah he’s joining before the end of the window. They are beginning to crack down shite hart lane.

Harish

The deal got accepted at this point rather than at the end of the year because Schalke would get money, rather than have Holtby leave on a free with a Bosman etc.

At least that’s what I presumed was the case.

subeyr

Arshavin played cam for zenit before he cam to arsenal ,played cam in both euros(2008 and 2012) and came to arsenal and got deployed to the wing. This season in the carling cup , forgive me but I forgot the team we played against , that team where oliver scored his first and ox scored that wonderful shot at goal , Arshavin played behind the striker and had a wonderful peformance , scored 1 and assisted . After that game in the post match interview wenger says that he found his new postion as behind the striker . Only took… Read more »

Arseshavin

No he definately played on the left in euro 2012 for Russia.
But the thing is, he had such a free role there that he was in the center for half the match usually.
he was a playmaker starting on the left side. he even made some assists from like the left side of the halfway line, superb stuff.

GusCeaser

A free role…out on the left…brilliant

davi

Yes, that’s my recollection as well. One of the things that stood out to me was that he was very good at getting to the byline and setting up chances from that wider position; not like a true winger, slinging crosses in, but finding a way to get behind the defence and close to the goal line. BTW don’t know what GusCaeser is talking about – why can’t a player have a free role from a left wing starting position? See how Zidane often used to play for Real Madrid, or Raul for that matter. It means you line up… Read more »

Brendan Rogers talks like Doctor Evil in Austin Powers

That was vs. Coventry at the Emirates where we thrashed them 6-1 with Arshavin in the ‘Cazorla role’. This little Russian put in a thrilling performance – just as good as Cazorla at his best. Don’t see why AW didn’t ROTATE his players (e.g. Cazorla/Arshavin) more earlier in the season – think we would have dropped less points had he done so. AW is (belatedly) starting to rotate the squad properly – witness at Brighton on Saturday when Jenks/Rosicky/Diaby/Santos started in order to give some others a breather. Hope AW continues to do that remainder of the season. As for… Read more »

Javis

To have Andrei playing like he did for the first 12 months would be great. He, before Cazorla has been the last signing I got really excited about. I think him been constantly played out wide was partly to blame and it led to him becoming unmotivated, however that is his problem also, he is a professional and should have dug deeper. A real shame for both the player and club, they both should have got much more from that transfer…

Optimus

So much’s been said about his seeming lackadaisical attitude towards the team’s cause, his uncanny unwillingness to track back to help the full back behind him, and his endless glut of misplaced passes and crosses @ the other end…etc. His critics have valid points for sure, but as for me i strongly believe that all he really needed was a bit more faith, in his badly awful moments

Merlin's Panini

I would like to agree but I just think there were perhaps too many of the awful moments. It’s hard to keep faith with someone when they’re losing you points. He is one of those who, when he feels like it, can completely tear the opposition apart so it’s all just a massive shame really.
He’s certainly a player that won’t ever be forgotten but he should have been a real legend

davi

Eboue is someone who *perhaps* needed more faith being shown, having been named the best fullback in the CL and immediately losing his place to a new signing. Sagna’s been great really, but who’s to say Eboue couldn’t have developed to be as good or better had he had the match time? I’m not saying that assertion is correct but it’s at least defendable.
Arshavin HAD the match time. He played regularly for at least 2 years before Wenger started to get fed up.

TeeCee

“….his uncanny unwillingness to track back to help the full back behind him…”

That’s the problem. Everyone else rumbled this and the message went out; “Attack ’em down their left, it’s like a fucking revolving door.”.

giles

he’s not the kind of player to get motivated by being ignored-he just thinks “the boss doesn’t like me” so whats the point?how we think we can let that talent rot considering the precarious position of the team,the fact that no one is gonna match his wages and that when creativity has been needed of the bench it has been embarrassing to watch who is brought on.Wish he could be used/relied on more-at least throw him on for 30mins at least in some games to liven things up a bit or for him to feel involved again,or the fans wrath/love-anything… Read more »

Pride of London

Mertesacker is the boss.

Avalanche

I like your character too
very straight and doesn’t hide.

wiltooooooord

At least every interview he gives makes me crack up at some point haha, We’ve missed that since Eboue

His top level career has probs been over since 1-2 seasons ago, and its quite hard to deny he’s been overweight and getting lazier (not that he had a great workrate to begin with). Having said that, he definitely has/had incredible talent but now its just a bad loss. Is it down to lack of effort, personal problems, homesickness, mismanagement or not being played centrally? No clue.

Harish

I know he’s not overly homesick for sure, he loves the London lifestyle and would only move to a club in the area, but from what I read no London team will take him due to his wage demands.

Sad truth is, he’s become a wasted talent, the blame can be stretched everywhere, I’m sure.

Merlin's Panini

Totally unrelated to this post, but reading the blog this morning reminded me of Chris Kiwomya (and what an unfortunate signing he was) and having Googled him to see what he’s up to now, saw a piece regarding the death of his seven year old son in September last year. This is tragic news and, although a few months ago, thoughts go out to him and his family. There’s no worse feeling than losing a loved one.

Dai Gooner

Nobody else would play Ramsey on the wing, Gervinho as central striker and Arshavin on the left

davi

Ramsey played on the wing for Cardiff (the first time I saw him was playing on the wing in the FA Cup final) and Arshavin played on the wing for Russia even before he joined. Not sure about Gerv to be honest, I think he has played up front before, but he didn’t look too bad for us at times at the start of the season.

FlotDillah

Breaks my heart a little bit. Why can’t he great again? Just for the memories.

Dai Gooner

But we don’t have the proper players to do the business in these positions half of the time in my opinion

A N Other

I jut hope for his sake that he could join another club and start playing regularly again.

Ally

He also says Wilshere has the largest cock in the squad: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6krffvQ4gbU (see 2:33)

Note the word ‘has’ there, rather than ‘is’.

Piers Morgan's punchable face

Blogs, you’re impression of the guy is actually surprisingly accurate 0_o

Lobster

I think Cazorlas our best player.. But Wilshere is more adapted and more suitable to the English game. I’m sure Wilshere will end up being just as technically sound() or even better) as Cazorla, but at the moment, he has some way to go.. But then again, who am I to disagree with a guy who has lifes puzzles figured out as well as Arshavin, if I could ask this guy the meaning of life is, I am quite sure his answer would make politically incorrect sense.

Frog

Sagna is our best player.

Reece

Arshavin should of been played in the middle more. Many people seem to forget he was played as the lone striker for most games during his first FULL season with us. He was injured through this too but had to play since we had no one to play that position.

Dick Swiveller

Well, he was there for 3 or 4 games anyway, rest of the time he actually did quite well out on the left until the pies caught up with him.

I think it was the final nail in Bendtners career those games though, a midget being trusted ahead of you at CF has got to hurt.

davi

Yes, I thought Vela should have been given a chance at that time, but Arshavin did a very respectable job under difficult circumstances that season. I gave him a lot of respect for that because that role certainly isn’t suited to him but he did a job for the team. Since then, however, he’s just not regained anything like his best form.

Penfield

Don’t give a toss. The man is a legend to me.

More character than around 95% of footballers.

Carlos

He still scored the winner against Barcelona, one of my fondest arsenal memories

Gunsen Gunner

AAARRRRSSSSSSSHHHHHAAAAAAAVVVVVVVVVVVVIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNN!!!!!!!!!

My favourite moment as an Arsenal fan 🙂

Mate Kiddleton

Wilshere to Fabregas, long pass to pick out Nasri who cuts inside and tees up Arshavin, who sweeps the ball in the net first time.

What a moment.

[…] Read More Here: Arshavin says Wilshere is the best player at Arsenal … […]

K. Soze

His best position in the middle.. he never played there. We missed a trick there.

Dial Square

Off topic, unconfirmed reports Arsenal have opened formal talks with David Villa £13.5 million and £110,000 a week – wishful thinking?????

Dick Swiveller

I think so.

I’ve stoically ignored the stories about Villa on the basis that it sounds too good to be true, I see no reason to start taking it seriously now.

I don’t think anyone would complain though, pretty cheap considering his quality.

Frog

Hope he holds up the first time the thugs at stoke kick the shit out of him. I don’t think the move will happen anyway.

goontang

Sky sports have pretty much moved to dismiss the rumor like half an hour after they also posted we were in talks.

Probably wenger just calling up journo’s for shits and giggles.

eduardo da silva

you ve gotta love andrei arshavin… yes he s been frustrating to watch at times as he make s a lot of missed passes and doesnt tread back as much but hes such a lovable character. so damn funny to listen to him talk.
the goal he scored against barca was simply legendry. listening to the commentator go Arshaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaavin when he scored the winner just makes you have goosebumps… its just a shame that he didnt have a good career with us.
wish him all the best

Frog

He’s been past it for a year and a half now. I like the guy, but he should have been moved on and replaced by now.

Dial Square

Arshavin says “Wilshere is best player at Arsenal”,,,,,fucking genius!!!!!

Dave

When Arshavin came he was a big name with lots of talent. He showed everyone what he could do and his ability was/ is obvious. He had a great opening game in the Euro’s and proved that he’s still got it, despite only playing bit parts for his club. He has been totally wasted over the last couple of seasons. With our current predicamrnt why don’t the coaches and manager do their job and work with him to get him into a position into the team where he can do a job for us and give him a chance to… Read more »

Vic Viniger

‘Poldi has gathered the team around him’ its great to hear that he is fitting in so well, just a shame that for one reason or another that never really happened for Andrei. I would love to see him put down the burger’s and really make an effort to not waste the undoubted talent the he has.
You never know, the little enigma may have another shock or two left in him yet.

Arseblood

About six good games for us. Paid him too much.

Gedi

I don’t remember how or when it was, but I seem to remember arsh having a prolonged stint as our lone striker…. Seemed to all go downhill from there…. Unless he’s been trying to bulk up in preparation for another go at it!!!

mersonsrightnostril

Arsh, the Russian Tom Cruise. I wouldn’t be surprised if he were a scientologist too

Goon Goon Goon

I thought this topic was common knowledge?

Frrrred

No love lost for arshavin. 4 goals against litterpool, sublime one against Barcelona and keeping his usual chubby attitude now who’d hate that?. Apart from being well fat….fattidy, fat he was obviously a real talent. Not properly utilised and that blame lies squarely on Wenger, no one else. Sad to see his once career go down the drain so quick but heck if you ask me i’d love many players who are now retiring or have already retired to get their groove back on…….kanu, henry, bergkamp, e.t.c. Why did they grow old so fast?, oh well. Arsh was talking about… Read more »

Goon Goon Goon

He’s one of those players that I wish we played more as a sub, but not only that, one of which I hoped could live up to his full potential. The man is a professional. It’s a shame and yet he was NOT worth the money in terms of performance but he is still worth using.

jellison

Likable guy. Maybe that doesn’t make him a great player but with all the asshats around, I’d rather have him in the team then many others.

goontang

I am not sure about this lazyness/ fat thing. Ive just read Franny Coquelin’s daily routine on the junior gunners site.

To my suprise the question was “which team mate do you think is the best trainer?”

Le Coq “Andre Arshavin works really hard”

Dunno about anyone else but when arshavin came on against chelski, i actually thought he looked the most in shape hes been in years.

DocBrody

Seems like a nice enough guy, but we need players with edge who get stuck in, track back at a full sprint to help the defense, and fight until the last second even when all hope is lost. Unfortunately, Arshavin isn’t the only player at Arsenal who lacks these qualities. He’s just been of the worst offenders in the last couple of years.

MAllen

I’m gutted!!!! He sounds nothing like the Arshavin that graces the Arseblog podcast every now and then. My all time fav Arshavin podcast moment was his Xmas carol in December 2011 (I think).

Mannoneck

Fake interview!
As we all know, the real Arshavin always starts with :
“Hello, I am Arshavin. This week not good week..”

Frrrred

COME ON YOU BECKHAM!!!!!
HAHAHAHA!

philrev1966

All this talk of where the forwards play should be immaterial. If they were as good as they think they are should be interchangeable across the front 3 (4 if you include the forward midfielder. The system needs to be flexible to work. Our guys seem too rigid at the moment.

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