Before a preview for tonights game versus *THEM*, it is indeed appropriate to note that our smiley, cheery diminutive number 23 has already left us for Zenit St. Petersburg, albeit on a loan. His statistics reads as such,
132 appearances, 30 goals and 35 assists
A respectable tally I guess, but he was never what we gooners wanted him to be. Arshavin came after a protracted January transfer window, and was virtually the last signing to arrive as an appeal to the League was made (due to snow affecting communications), so he joined as a few hours after the transfer window had closed.
Most memorable was his 4 goals against Liverpool. Also, he scored one of my favorite Arsenal goal, that winning goal against Barca where he curled the ball into the bottom right hand for a rather emphatic victory.
Still, his stay with us was marred by laziness and perhaps, being played in positions and at situations he wasn’t used to. Still, we shouldn’t forget that there are times he still tried real hard and also, that his finishing is quite something else.
There’ll be Arshavin fans all over who will debate about his usefulness and value to the club. But the fact remains that he never did reach his potential with us. We are however, glad to have had him for these few years and I don’t think I’ll forget the rush of adrenaline I felt when we signed him 3 years ago. Thank you Andrey!
Moving on, the team faces Spuds in 2 hours time and I think I gotta go with the mainstream public with this: Things don’t look good. Particularly for Wenger’s Arsenal as we aren’t exactly the rat which goes wild when it’s cornered; we are more the crying girl becomes more depressed when cornerd.
STILL, I am never one to believe that Arsenal will settle for a loss and a draw, and the day I believe in that will be a very sad day indeed. With Koscielny likely to be back, we will line up with a back four of Gibbs, Vermaelen, Koscielny and Sagna. Up front, I am hoping to see the Ox-RVP- Gerv front 3 that never went into full gear against Sunderland.
It would seem as though we are more of a match for them Spuds, but there’s only one way to find out isn’t it?
C’MON YOU GOONERS!!!
