Today marks the sixth anniversary of one of the most frustrating Arsenal signings of the Wenger era. On the 3rd of February 2009, a day after the January transfer window supposedly slammed shut, Arsenal signed Russia’s and St Petersburg’s “Silent Assassin”, Andrey Arshavin, for a then club record fee of roughly £15 million.
Up until that point, Arsène Wenger had a reputation for buying players who had not yet hit the peak of their game: players who were young and relatively unknown, like Cesc Fàbregas and Robin van Persie; players down on their luck, like Thierry Henry; players who were bought for little and would end up worth a fortune, like Nicolas Anelka, Emmanuel Adebayor, and myriad other players who were sold to Arsenal’s rivals for big money.
However, here was something of a superstar hitting the peak of his powers. Arshavin, though he had had a successful career already with Zenit, including a UEFA Cup win in 2008, first came into the public eye in that same year in the European Championship with Russia. Though he missed the first two games, he was the key man in Russia’s fairytale run in the tournament, as his man of the match performances against Sweden and The Netherlands led Guus Hiddink’s men to the semi-final. Rumours of a big money move somewhere were rife, and Arsenal finally made the gossip come true.
Arsenal’s season had been a poor one up until that point: inconsistent performances and injuries to star players meant that The Gunners faced a fight to finish fourth and secure Champions League football. However, the signing of Andrey Arshavin allowed Arsenal fans to be happy again, and the Russian turned the struggle for fourth into a cruise.
After signing, Arshavin immediately impressed with some strong performances, the most notable of which was his man of the match performance away to Wigan in April, where Arsenal came back from 1-0 down with thirty minutes to go to win 4-1. Arshavin scored and set up two goals. However, ten days later, something even more spectacular came from the Russian.
Arsenal faced Liverpool, who were fighting for the title, at Anfield, and Andrey Arshavin produced one of the greatest performances in Premier League history. Arsenal had four chances all game, and Arshavin scored all of them. The match ended 4-4, denting Liverpool’s hopes of winning the league, and the Russian became the first man to score four goals in a league game at Anfield since 1946.
Arshavin was named Premier League player of the month for April, and was even handed the captain’s armband for Arsenal’s 3-0 win at home to Portsmouth in May. The 2008-09 season was a frustrating one for Arsenal, as they were knocked out by Manchester United and Chelsea in the semi-finals of the Champions League and FA Cup respectively. It is unlikely that such an inconsistent side would’ve won Europe’s top competition, particularly as Arshavin was unable to play in it, but they came very close to beating Chelsea in that FA Cup semi-final, and had luck been on their side only Everton could have prevented them from bringing silverware to the Emirates Stadium for the first time.
However, one shining light from that season was that Arsenal had found their talisman. Cesc Fàbregas was the creative hub of that team, and Robin van Persie had the ability, not the fitness, to score endless goals, but Arshavin was the true talent in that side. It seemed that Wenger had the man to build a sensational team around, and bring back the glory days of the Invincibles era. Andrey hinted every now and then that he eventually wanted to move to Barcelona, but for now, Arsenal had a good few years of glory ahead of them.
Arshavin’s plan in 2009 would’ve been something like: lead Arsenal to some kind of silverware in the 2009-10 season; set the World Cup alight with Russia; spend a few more years becoming an Arsenal icon; move to Barcelona and enjoy playing for what was then the best team in the world.
Alas, things did not go to plan. The 2009-10 was another disappointing one for Arsenal: a chance to win the league title presented itself; Arsenal spurned it and Chelsea won the double. The odds were always against them that season, but had Arshavin been able to continue his form of early 2009 into that season more effectively, things may have turned out differently.
Arshavin began to receive some criticism that season, after a number of poor performances. That is not to say that there weren’t some moments of pure genius: he scored a thirty yard thunderbolt at Old Trafford; ran the game despite playing out of position in Arsenal’s 2-0 win against Stoke; scored the winner at Anfield with a brilliant turn and shot; scored to put Arsenal on top of the league against Bolton; and was on the score sheet as Arsenal beat Fulham 4-0 on the final day to secure third place. After the heights of the season before, though, Arsenal fans expected more of their record signing.
Russia failed to qualify for the World Cup, and therefore he missed his chance to impress the world once again. From there, Arshavin’s Arsenal career started to spiral downwards.
The 2010-11 season ended in disaster for Arsenal: they lost to Birmingham in the Carling Cup Final and threw away their chance to win the league in comical fashion. The season was an indifferent one for Arshavin, but with one moment of sheer ecstasy in it.
Arsenal were drawn against Barcelona in the Last 16 of the Champions League, and hosted one of the greatest teams in the history of football on the 16th of February. Though the young Jack Wilshere was Arsenal’s man of the match, Andrey Arshavin scored the late winner to give Arsenal a 2-1 win and one of their most famous wins of all time. Perhaps this would be the catalyst for Arshavin to reach his true potential. Unfortunately, he would not kick on from that goal, and the whole saga became more and more sad as his time at Arsenal wore on.
The 2011-12 season was another poor one for Arsenal, and Arshavin was barely a footnote during the course of the season. Again, there were a few flashes of brilliance from the Russian. The moments which stick out in my memory are his perfect through ball for Robin van Persie in Arsenal’s 1-0 win over QPR, and his sublime cross for Thierry Henry’s late goal in Arsenal’s 2-1 win over Sunderland: the win that changed the course of Arsenal’s season as they came back from ten points behind to finish ahead of rivals Tottenham once more. However, Arshavin played no part in this renaissance, as he was loaned back to Zenit St Petersburg for the remainder of the season.
The 2012-13 season was the climax of the Andrey Arshavin anti-climax. He barely played at all, only appearing in less important games, and left at the end of the season. After leaving Arsenal, he revealed that he had found his time on the sidelines very difficult psychologically and had even nearly suffered depression. As he left for St Petersburg once again, Arsenal fans were left to ponder what might have been.
Andrey Arshavin is one of the most gifted players to have played for Arsenal in the past ten years. His ferocious shot and dribbling made him a nightmare for defences, and he had the ability to average fifteen goals and as many assists every season. Had he reached his potential, he, combined with the likes of Cesc Fàbregas, Robin van Persie and Samir Nasri, could have made some unforgettable memories. I’m sure that, had he been able to, he would have gone to Barcelona in the end, but he may well have been an Arsenal icon.
However, the Arshavin problem will never be solved by Arsenal, and the fans are left to work out why it didn’t work out for him. Many think that a lack of mental toughness was the issue: he couldn’t deal with it when the going got tough. One problem which is often overlooked is that some defenders found a few ways to survive when he was around. Many pushed him onto his left foot, where he wasn’t quite so effective, to stop his rocket shot coming into play. However, he still had the ability to dance through them and bring his right foot back into the game, but this didn’t happen as often as it should have. I will always have the suspicion that Russia not qualifying for the World Cup in 2010 was what stifled him: he never really seemed the same after that.
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