George Graham – Arshavin not good enough for Arsenal
Former Gunners manager George Graham has lambasted Wenger’s signing of Andrey Arshavin, criticising both his performances and his commitment to the club.
Speaking to talkSPORT the day after Arsenal’s excellent win in Marseille, Graham said, “Arshavin’s been a poor buy, his enthusiasm doesn’t seem to be there. Last night and in the past, he’s looked like he doesn’t want to be there. When he pulls that shirt on he’s not been good enough for me.”
The tricky Russian played for most of the game – being replaced by game-winner Ramsey with 10 minutes to spare – but some might have expected him to have come off sooner after a disappointing display in which he offered very little at all.
However, despite this and numerous other substandard displays, can the Arshavin transfer really be described as “a poor buy”? He started his Arsenal career well, his first half-season seeing him score a goal every other league game, and his quadruple at Anfield is among the most incredible achievements an Arsenal player has managed in the past few seasons. Even last season, when his form took a seemingly disastrous turn for the worst, he weighed in with 10 goals in 36 playing appearances which included his classy finish against Barcelona. He may have been lazy at times, but he still seems to be making some sort of impact each season.
There is no doubt that this season has been arguably his least impressive so far, with the player himself admitting that “the fans expect more” from him despite showing signs of vast improvement against Sunderland.
Surely, though, Arshavin simply cannot be labelled a bad move. Regardless of his record transfer fee, he hasn’t been overly injury-prone and his ability still shines through despite him being supposedly past his best at 30 years-old. If Graham sees the Russian as a waste of money, some might argue that the £3 million paid for Robin Van Persie was money squandered, the Dutchman having spent so much of his seven year stay on the sidelines with lengthy injury lay-offs. However, the vast majority of Gooners would disagree with this completely.
Is George Graham talking nonsense or is Arshavin simply not good enough for the Arsenal?
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keep ur tot to urself. cant just see anything gud with dis arsenal team. u had ur time dude
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Shut ur mouth man
…..
Opinions divided. What do you think?
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Short memory! Liverpool 4 Arshavin 4! At Anfield!
Top Gooner!. Agree or not?:
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Expectation is HIGH on Arshavin…but I would agree with George on his ENTHUSIASM…!
Top Gooner!. Agree or not?:
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It’s not down to talent, it’s down to consistency. He’s clearly got it, it’s just down to whether he can deliver it week in week out. Not just every 3 or 4 games.
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George Graham making a judgement mmmm with his history of decision making he really should keep his gob shut his last decision for Arsenal was pay 2 million pocket 200000 $$$
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i think we should make george are defensive couch. who agrees
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Have you seen Arshavin play for Russia? He’s amazing and works his arse off, but he doesn’t do it for Arsenal.. Get rid, he clearly doesn’t want to be there.
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Might be in bad form right now but he started life in the premier league with a bang. can not be labeled a bad buy. Old Georgie is just pissed Wenger took his place as the best ever manager of Arsenal.
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He doesn’t do enough for the team, hes getting on and he’s hogging someone elses spot that could do a whole lot better just now.
I don’t think its a case of just form anymore, its passion and drive. He obviously still loves the game and isn’t driven by money, but maybe its just England or Arsenal thats getting him down, would be a shame to see his flame die while just doing enough at Arsenal to get by.
If Russia comes in with a 10-15mil bid this January, just let him leave. Put the money towards Hazard.
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Arshavin is an intelligent footballer. He knows how to take care of himself. He is always alert even if he doesn’t shows it. A perfect example of this was against swansea. Shoulders dropped in one second ball in the back of the net in other.
Coming back to taking care of himself. He doesn’t do unnecessary running hence keeps himself away from stress related injuries…touchwood long may his fitness continue.
BTW George graham making a comment on attacking player, ha ha….u can only laugh on that.
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I want him to leave, that is for sure. I dislike the team having to carry people. It only takes one cog in a well oiled machine to not fit properly and the machine works under par.
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i don’t agree with george graham but arsenal fans need to forget 4 goals he scored against liverpool and smell the coffee. i knew santos was going to have a bad game with arshavin in front of him.
do you really want him to start against stoke and chelsea?
unfortunately george graham is right, selling arshavin in will be the best transfer in january. we have ryo,chamberlain despite being young they can fight for ball
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Yes he scored 4 against Liverpool.
But that was a distant memory.
He hasn’t looked interested in a while now. I wouldn’t say he was a poor buy. But wearing that shirt definitely doesn’t mean as much as it should.
When I’m watching him on tv every pundit says the same ‘The little Russian has been disappointing’. They say it over and over again. I’m just surprised its taken this long for people to realise.
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Arshavin can t make a decent pass…lack concentration power…
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I still have confidence in the little russian.just give him till the end of this campaign to prove himself.
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mr graham is doing to much bitching in the media against arsenal… i can only see that he is jealous and doesn’t care about arsenal, only about being right…
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Arshavin is a great player … hes wanted to move on now for at least a season. you dont go from great to average overnight!
its obvious.
wenger plays him out of his natural position and lets face it, with the only expectation of the club to be a feeder club and keeping the board rich Arshavin is hardly happy ! i dont blame him.
wenger out
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I think they way you need to look at it is Arshavin is one of those luxury players, bags of talent and ability to the unbelievable. In a high flying team, it is easy to carry a luxury player that may only come alive for 10 minutes in a 90 minute game,
But where Arsenal is now, we need the player that is there for the whole 90, maybe not trying the specatcular but putting in the yards and effort while ensuring they do the basics right.
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For on the bench he’s okay..
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Arshavin is the modern day Kanu. Brilliant on his day, anonymous on others.
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I would give 20% blame to the players for not being up to scratch and 80% blame on the manager for playing them out of position, that goes for both Arshavin and Walcott
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wenger gets 20 percent less out of players than other managers…..he cannot inspire and he cannot form the correct tactics…..Even RVP is not playing to his full potential. he needs a big guy upfront (like drogba) to take the physical impacts and for RVP top pick up the knock-downs and loose balls. Wenger is tactically inept……in many ways he always has been….those glory years were with players that could step up to the plate and sort it out themselves. ARSHAVIN is just another example…he is deadly in the box but no left-winger….more of a create midfielder/striker.Graham is invariably correct….whatever people say about his 1-0 boring style(largely a myth if you look at the results). and his bungs smear. The man is crystal clear in his assessments. Arsha at least has the ability…looking at mertesacker last night makes me feel more worried about the defense than arsha’s lazyness
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well i think walcott should be the one who should be critized he is so f. bad… arshavin is over 30 so dont expect much from him
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Arshavin used to be good but he is no more. I don’t know why Wenger keeps playing him week in week out. There are better players there he has not given the chance. That is Wenger there for you. No amount of criticizing will change the situation. Arshavin should be sold if any one comes buying. I pray Wenger sees that too.
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Glad we won yesterday and finally after years, arsenal managed to score in the dying minutes to win a game! At least they tried to fight till the very end, which is good.
The match though was extremely boring – even the commentators were falling asleep. Let’s not kid ourselves here. Based on all the previous matches since the start of the season – Gone is the “beautiful football” and arsenal shouldn’t even compare their style with that of Barca.
Something is still “missing” in the team. We need a creative player and that is definitely not found in arteta who was thought to be fab’s replacement.
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I believe Arshavin can do it for Arsenal but I don’t think his head is in it and that he “wants” to do it for Arsenal. I think he’s sorta like Tevez (although Tevez gives much more on the pitch) where his head is out of the game for one reason or another, he’s unsettled, etc. At least Arshavin isn’t a disruptive force on the sidelines, he’s merely an extra body on the pitch for 10 other players to pass around. Sadly I feel his 4 goals at Anfield is the crown jewel of his Arsenal career and we can’t expect anything other than the occasional goal and a load of give aways to the opposing team.
My verdict, if any of the Russian clubs want him at a fair price then sell him and don’t think twice. I’d rather have commitment and drive on the pitch vs unfulfilled promise
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i agree with selling arshavin as long as a decent price is offered.. i personally arshavin has the ability to succeed, but maybe graham is right, his attitude isn’t there…
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Please be honest, you can not just keep your mouth shut, You say that now after the match, Arshavin had scored a goal yesterday hadde not you written that today, when did you say good buy by Wenger, have you forgotten what mkt he has done for Arsenal , Arshavin is one of the 4-5bästa players in the world, so sit not here and say that Arsahvin is bad, so go to bed haha, that Wenger has done with Arsenal is that you have found some island in Africa, only diamonds; just dig this up hahaha Wenger is king the best trainer in the world
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“Surely, though, Arshavin simply cannot be labelled a bad move. Regardless of his record transfer fee, he hasn’t been overly injury-prone and his ability still shines through despite him being supposedly past his best at 30 years-old.”
your right admin,its not like wenger paid 25mill for him.overall hes contribution has been ‘OK’.still,for the first time i am starting to think that some of the players are being given too many first team opportunities,even though they are giving ‘below average’ performances.yes,walcott comes in this list as well…..
arsenal is a ‘big club’ and you have to keep fighting hard to remain in the first team.but i wouldnt write them off completely until they fail in their ‘preferred’ positions…..
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Wenger is actually in love with Arshavin. I don’t understand why he cannot see what everybody can see. He should have taken him off long before. Arshavin is really supposed to be an impact player as was the case at his former club.
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come wenger just sell arshavin reports r saying that Anzhi r interested to put 20m
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Because his best position is not wing. He play very well for his Nation team, because he is not a wing there
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arshavin i think shud b used as a sub since he doesn’t like running around a lot. impact sub. frustrated at his low work rate but cant deny his talent but needs consistency. walcott is also in the same position, cant deny his talent but needs consistency. play chamberlain and miyiachi instead lol. Gervinho by far the best winger. and bring in gourcuff our midfield is fucked atm!!
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The comment is not aimed at Arshavin alone but more to Wenger. Arshavin’s enthusiasm may be called to question but not his class. At his best, he can fit into any team on the planet. There is not doubt about his class and that was what Wenger saw when he bought him. There is no way he could have determined how enthusiastic he would be.
With all the vitriols that George Graham have been throwing at Wenger’s Arsenal, I am of the opinion that he wants Wenger’s job. He wants to take us back to the days of boring, boring Arsenal that is at best a mid table team.
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Graham is right.
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Well , Arshavin has the least stamina of them all and his poor performance should have been expected owing to his inclusion in Sunday’s match too.
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How can we pass judgement when he is constantly played out of position?
Arshavin is a Central Midfielder, Walcott is supposedly a striker, RVP should play in the “Bergkamp” role. We should give people a proper chance to play in the position that best matches there strengths in order to get the best out of them. If that means that we need to change our system then so be it. Then and only then can we pass judgement.
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you guys are very funny, when someone shines in only one game, & fail to shine in dozen matches u still keep on refering to anfield, the truth of the matter is that arshavin is no longer useful to gunners
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