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Great article, but Arshavin first name on the team sheet last year? he's been on decline a lot longer than that.
My Vision
Written by Mean Lean on Thursday, 10 November 2011 13:50
I flicked on Sky Sports news last night, hoping to get some form of football related news but instead I was bombarded with talk of shirts, poppies or Carlos Tevez going back to Argentina without permission. This is what international football does to you. It leaves you with nothing actually related to football.
I looked at the list of our players who are going away with their clubs and as usual the list is quite substantial and it is not just our fringe and youth players. We have seven key first choice players all putting their bodies on the line, all for the good of lining the pockets of others.
Wojciech Szczesny
Thomas Vermaelen
Laurent Koscielny
Aaron Ramsey
Theo Walcott
Gervinho
van Persie
If I remember correctly, we have had success in our last two internationals in staying clear of injury, only Tomas Rosicky suffered a minor strain I think and right now I'd take that, I must say. I cannot help but have this niggling feeling that unlike Bob Marley, something is going to leave us punching walls and snapping pencils. Not quite sure why I am torturing myself about this as nobody knows what is going to happen.
Andrey Arshavin has had his words used in a game of twister by the media once more which is something we should all be pretty used to by now. What cannot be twisted though is the fact that Andrey Arshavin was first on the teamsheet last season and this time round he is playing back up to Gervinho and Walcott. That cannot be ideal for a player of his experience and calibre but the truth is, it hasn't quite worked for Andrey Arshavin, not the way that we all hoped and expected anyway.
Where is the guy who skipped past his man on the byline and then lifted the ball high past the Blackburn keepers near post. A special goal from the new man who gave the team something different.
These days when I look at Arshavin, he reminds me of that 43 year old who comes down to play football with you on a Tuesday evening. The guy who tells everyone that he was a semi professional in his youth and you believe him from the quality of his touch and intelligence on the ball but in a game where the opposition are half his age and three times his fitness, he looks out of place. Yet from time to time he pings in a long range strike into the top corner. Those moments stick out and you hope that he can do that every week but it is often the younger more energetic players that give the team more on a consistent basis even if they only possess half the talent.
Footballistically Theo Walcott probably does not have many advantages over Andrey Arshavin apart from perhaps finishing but it is the physical point of Walcott's game that sets him apart from his Russian team mate.
To be honest when it became apparent that there would be a summer clear out at Arsenal, I expected Andrey Arshavin to be part of that list not because I didn't think that he had the talent but because it looked increasingly likely that he was falling behind other players. At 30 years old, he should be at his peak, he should be one of the players that we rely on to make us succesful just as we are doing with van Persie.
I like many have championed him as the main creative player behind the striker and in many ways I believe that would be a better position for him. A position where he can use his cutting passing or his explosive shooting. That would make sense in many ways but at the same time, it should be down to a player to prove to the manager that he needs to be used in a more dangerous position by his quality.
A player like Zinedine Zidane started out as a right sided player but because of his influence he was moved inside so he could be more involved in the game. The same was the case for Dennis Bergkamp at Ajax and even our very own Robin van Persie who last contributed to Feyenoord from the left wing. When you are a player who flickers in and out of games and find it difficult to dictate a game then you can see why he has been overlooked in the position that he prefers.
Andrey Arshavin's contract is ticking down and as much as I want him to find his 2008 form and then grow into a key figure at Arsenal, I just cannot see it happening.
Very concerned to hear about Coquelin's frustration but it has to be said that I have yet to find his full quotes and not just the mix and match tabloid version.
I have liked the kid since I saw him play on his debut against Barnet all those years ago and I hope he sees sense and remains patient. Yet I can understand his frustration. He was a regular last season at Lorient and to go from that to not playing at all apart from Carling cup must be difficult, especially when you produce the type of quality shown at White Hart Lane this season in the league. But Francis Coquelin has to understand that he is at a big club with big players ahead of him in the pecking order. This is not Lorient, this is Arsenal. He has fought his way up to second in the pecking order for the defensive midfield position and that is a very good position to be in for a player with his experience.
I hope Arsene or someone at the club can sit down with him and knock some sense into him. The right place for him to improve as a player is at Arsenal, under a coach who has improved more players than he has had hot dinners. I haven't used that since school days and couldn't resist.
Compare Coquelin's impatience with that of Ryo Miyaichi who also spent time on loan last season playing regular top level football.
“I am not in a rush, The manager advises me not to and to concentrate on training."
“The biggest change is that I train and play with these top players. I never imagined myself in this position a year ago when I was playing in the high school championship qualifiers in Japan.
“I can tell I am improving a lot through training sessions with my team-mates. I am also getting used to expressing myself to them without hesitation.
We have seen players jump ship too early due to wanting to jump the gun and it hasn't ended well for many. I remember David Bentley once upon a time urging Theo Walcott to leave Arsenal for first team football. Funny how that ended up David. Mug.
The club have a difficult balancing act to manage when bringing through so many young players in roughly the same age group. I think it is vitally essential that we continue to find 16/17 year olds and do all we can to bring them to Arsenal. I still cannot relate to those who scoff at when we spend £150k on a teenager.
I have heard the 'Not another kid' or 'We have enough kids right now' but if I asked those same people if they would take an unknown Hazard, Gotze and Neymar at 16 years of age then I suspect the answers may well be a little different.
It was this policy that allowed us to have the best striker in the Premier league today and arguably the best creative midfielder in our team for many years until last season.
Many of these youngsters will not make the grade and will not be good enough for us but then they gain a footballing education and move on for £1.5m like Jay Emmanuel-Thomas or a player like Fabrice Muamba who joined Birmingham City for a fee reported to be £4 million. Sounds like a good plan to me as long as we continue to purchase players like Sagna, Nasri, Vermaelen, Koscielny, Arteta, Gervinho etc etc etc.
I just wish we did actually bring a young Hazard to Arsenal because I know we have had our eye on him for a while now but once they get to this age (20) it is much more difficult to win the race to obtain their signatures.
Right, I am off for today.
Back tomorrow.
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10-Nov-2011 14:37 | | ZamaInternational break brings a raft of bullshit stories of players talking about growing impatient, leaving the club, so on & so forth. When I read the Coquelin story on google translate I made up my mind not to believe it & lo we have a denial from Le Coq himself today clarifying that although he's frustrated with lack of starts, he's only looking for a loan move in Jan if those opportunities don't come his way. Which in my opinion would be a stupid thing for him to do, firstly thats the time when suspensions kick in, also there are a slew of cup games to be played & the fixture pile up over the holiday season means he has the chance to prove himself & give the manager a problem selection-wise. As you say he only has to look as far as players like Bentley, Merida, etc to see the results of being impatient at Arsenal.
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10-Nov-2011 14:38 | | finsburyJa, AA started last season in the starting XI.
Otherwise I agree with you, great article.
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10-Nov-2011 16:13 | | SA GunnerCoquelin must go nowhere. IMO, he would be first back-up to Jenkinson at RB is he broke down as we cannot risk JD in an important match and he will step in as defensive back-up to Song or Arteta depending on the opposition. He would also start games in the CC. He is ready for first team action and in certain games I prefer he comes on rather than Rosicky as sub. Frimpong needs games out on loan where he can feel the pressure of being in an EPL team that needs to fight for every point to survive. But I'm sure wenger knows this and more !
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10-Nov-2011 16:15 | | Vuja DeHey Mean Lean, go easy on those 43 year old's, you'll be that age one day.
Hehehehehe.
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10-Nov-2011 16:23 | | StefAlso.... isn't there the African cup of Nations in Jan? Losing Frimpong AND Song. He'd be our only natural defensive mid available.
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10-Nov-2011 16:24 | | StefOh no.... Cameroon didnt qualify.... ignore my previous point. But still, he'd be Songs only understudy for a month.
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10-Nov-2011 17:08 | | goolemaps - Andre vs TheoNeither of them are good enough atm, arshavin looks about 20 yards off the pace in every match he's in and Theo has no basic positioning knowledge, half the time the ball is being moved down his wing he'll make a diagonal run into the box meaning jenkinson either has to cross or play it backwards where as if he held a position on the wing suddenly there are two Arsenal players and 1 opposition defender. As for theo playing upfront i don't think he has the skill or the finish to be scoring goals week in week out.
On a final not to win the league all we need is a 4-1-3-2 GET RVP A PARTNER AND THE GOALS WILL FOLLOW
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10-Nov-2011 20:05 | | PassenalML, it's interesting that Arsenal.com have printed two articles directly after both Arshavin and Coquelin quotes appeared in the national press, which contradict and undermine the angle they are trying to push.
Arshavin was not at his best last season but Arsene played him to try to help him play his way into form. This season he has more options so Arshavin has to accept his bench role until he can re-discover his form and force his way back into the team. I don't buy this 'playing out of position' excuse because he has played in the same position since he came to Arsenal and has played there for Zenit and Russia. A good player should be able to stamp himself on the game regardless of position especially in a team like Arsenal when there is so much switching and inter-changing of positions from the front 3.
In relation to Coquelin, I knew that he was talking about a loan option if anything, and his interview on the Arsenal player indicates that he understands that he is at a big club and is just glad to be here.
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11-Nov-2011 10:49 | | checker+1 that, he was hidden behind "first team players" Cesc, Nasri and Theo. Now two of them gone, but another players came in and he is "glued to the bench" again.
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11-Nov-2011 10:57 | | checkerHow on earth he could rediscover his form on the bench?
He played as sub some games before, had a rather good media (something like "AA is back" and all that), played with Bolton in CC 90 minutes, scored and assisted, and what next? Next 3 games in a row he is on the bench again, appearing only twice for last 10 minutes, with the same old chants around "Lazy, lazy Arshavin, go work harder!"
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