Arsenal: The Rise and Fall of Andrei Arshavin

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The arrival of Andrei Arshavin caused quite a fanfare at Arsenal, it’s fair to say. 

After spending presumably the entire month negotiating, during the final moments of the January 2008 transfer window, a deal appeared to be struck between Arsenal and Zenit St Petersburg for Arshavin’s signature. Indeed, given that the deal wasn’t announced until around two days after the window shut, who knows when the transfer was actually concluded?

Eventually, though, a slightly bemused Arshavin appeared in front of a small crowd of Arsenal fans outside a freezing Emirates, and uttered the immortal words, “I am Gooner.”

I saw one of Arshavin’s first games for Arsenal and was immediately struck by a few things. He didn’t move a lot. He looked vaguely unfit. But he could do more with one touch of the ball than some of his other teammates could do with 20. 

After gaining some modicum of fitness, he made a superb contribution to the remainder of the 2008-09 season. 

While his four goals at Anfield are the stuff of legend, he made significant contributions in other games as well, such as a marvellous individual goal against Blackburn, and wonderful assists against the likes of Newcastle and West Brom. With six goals and nine assists in his first 15 games for Arsenal, the stage seemed set for Arshavin to become an all-time great at the club. 

But, he didn’t.

After the departure of Emmanuel Adebayor and injuries to Robin van Persie and Eduardo, Arshavin was shoved into an unfamiliar centre-forward position for large parts of the 2009-10 season, almost completely nullifying his ability to influence the game. 

On other occasions, Wenger seemed happy to put Arshavin in a wide position as part of a front three, somewhere he had never really played while in Russia. Indeed, Arshavin never really got a chance to play in his favoured role, just behind the striker. One wonders what he could have produced if he’d been given a chance in this position. 

All this meant that Arshavin became frequently isolated during games, and the moments of magic he could bring to a match were frequently outweighed by long period of dross. While memories of that magic night at Anfield remained strong, by 2011, Arshavin had effectively lost his place in the team to Theo Walcott, and he has been a bit player for much of the 2011-12 campaign. 

If one looks at Arshavin’s stats during his time at Arsenal, they’re still relatively impressive. Until this season, he had averaged about seven goals a season, and during the 2010-11 season he racked up 17 assists. He also scored one of the more notable goals in Arsenal’s recent history, when he stroked home a fantastic finish against Barcelona in the 2-1 win in February 2011.

Yet, the thrill is gone. Most Arsenal fans no longer believe in Arshavin. On the rare occasion that he gets a start this season, he’s wandered in and out of the match, producing little. Indeed, it wouldn’t be unfair to say that some of the vitriol that greeted Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain’s withdrawal against Manchester United was based on the disappointment of certain Arsenal fans that Arshavin was to be the youngster’s replacement. 

But, he can still produce the goods on occasion. Only a week and a half ago he produced a magical assist against Sunderland to help Arsenal win the game at the death. However, Wenger then chose not to play him in any part of the two matches that followed. Tuesday he suffered the ignominy of being involved in a reserve-team fixture. Maybe the two goals he scored will convince Wenger to give him a chance against Tottenham this weekend. 

So, there you have it. From one of the most coveted attacking midfielders in European football to someone making up the numbers in a reserve fixture in under three years.

Arshavin clearly still has some magic left in his boots—but how much? At present, it seems that he will go down as a player who dazzled English football, but only in small doses. This seems a poor return for a player which helped Zenit St Petersburg win the Europa League in 2008, and who dazzled the world during the last European Championships.