Arshavin Says Yes We Can

Arshavin Says Yes We Can !

After Arsenal's 1 - 0 win over Liverpool Andrei Arshavin is more upbeat about Arsenal's - da vozmozhno ! - he might have said (Yes, it is possible). Not sure if that's what he actually said but certainly words to that effect.

On his site he says "The gap was reduced to 6 points ... but we need to win all remaining games. It is difficult to say whether it’s real. Back to Liverpool game, .... I liked the way we played today. We were not afraid to play, the whole team was well-coordinated, if I can say so, all Arsenal players played the same football, that is, we understood each other and combined."

"I didn't see the goal because of my injury. I was in the room under the stands with the doctors. While we were looking for a TV remote, Diaby scored. I think he scored a beautiful goal that brought us an important victory."

How serious is his injury?
"It is hard to say, I’ll have my leg scanned tomorrow."

It appears in fact that Arshavin will be on the sidelines for a while after picking up a hamstring injury against Liverpool.

Arsene Wenger said after the game "Arshavin has a hamstring problem... We have to make a scan on Arshavin tomorrow."

Arshavin came off in the 67th minute of the match.

Samir Nasri was also injured and replaced by Tomas Rosicky after 33 minutes with a head injury.

Arsene Wenger said : "Nasri had a knock on his head. He felt unwell and I didn't want to take a chance because it was his head. That's why I took him off. He wanted to stay on but he felt sick so I didn't want to take a chance."

So it's game on for the Gunners, except they may be without Arshavin for a while. Arsenal have an easier run-in though as they have already played all their games against the other big 3, whereas Chelsea Man Utd and Liverpool all have to play each other at least once.

So maybe they will do it after all ! Da vozmozhno !

Rumours are doing the rounds again that Fabregas may be moving to Barcelona at the end of the season, but they sound a bit warmed up to me.

Home : Andrei Arshavin

Why Arshavin Says What He Does

Why Andrei Arshavin Speaks His Mind About Arsenal

Some people may be surprised or even shocked at the way that Arshavin speaks his mind about what he thinks is right and wrong with his team Arsenal. In general, in English football, players tend not to criticize their own teams and try to be upbeat and positive at all times.

Leo Tolstoy - possibly the greatest Russian writer - (1828 - 1910)
But Arshavin is Russian, and Russians tend to speak their minds, quite often in such direct terms that they may appear rude, but they are not being rude, they are just being brief and to the point. Russia is the land of Gogol (born in the Ukraine) Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Pushkin , Lermontov, Chekhov, Turgenev, Pasternak, Mayakovsky, Gorky, Bulgakov, Tvardovsky, Nabokov, Solzhenitsyn and many more. For the whole list of great Russian writers see - Russian literature. Russians generally don't beat about the bush. If they've got something to say they say it. They do not stand on ceremony and if they don't agree with you they will let you know. They don't mind annoying you and in fact find the English way of trying to be polite or noncommittal and trying not to offend anyone, incomprehensible and even wimpish. Russians just tell it like it is.

So what does Arshavin think about Arsenal?

First he says he is not being used to the best of his ability as a lone striker, which is true, that is not why he was signed.

As a result he says the Gunners' Premier League challenge is faltering, that is also true.

He said to the Daily Mail "If Arsenal want to become champions, how can they select Arshavin as centre forward?'".

The change in position is due of course to injuries to Arsenal's leading forwards.

"It's from frustration," Arshavin said 'Van Persie is injured and unlikely to play again this season.
"Eduardo is injured too, but he may be ready to face Chelsea. We are in a difficult situation when it comes to recruiting players."

"Third place is where we stand today, and that is already a great success for Arsenal when you take into account the class of our 11 players," he added. "Of course, we try to win every match, but class is class."

As for Gael Clichy he says Nani tormented the Frenchman in their match against Man Utd. "In training it is very difficult for me to beat Clichy, but Nani made all the play through him."

He also said, however in an exclusive interview with thesportreview.com - - “I still believe [that Arsenal can win the Premier League], but the recent games are making it more difficult for my dreams to come true,” said the 28-year-old. After the Chelsea and Liverpool games the situation will become clearer.” And not with him up front.

At the end of the interview he sounds a bit frustrated. When asked if he will spend the rest of his career at Arsenal he says “Why not? My adaptation to English football has been OK more or less, but I want to win something.”

Arshavin during Arsenal v Stoke


Today Arsenal play Chelsea and they really need to win. So perhaps Arshavin could be direct up front and not beat about the bush in front of goal, as Arsenal usually do !

Arshavin on Arsenal's Chances

Arshavin on Arsenal's Chances

What was Andrei Arshavin's assessment of the match (or should that be mis-match) against Man. Utd. ?

"Man. Utd. controlled mid-field and moved quickly from defence to attack. They also scored three times. They outplayed us. It was a very good match for Nani ...

They were stronger than us. We tried to fight back and not give up.

It’s getting even harder to believe that we can win first place after such defeats." - edited from the Arshavin official website - Arshavin.eu

Arshavin also said he hopes Arsenal will do better against Chelsea and Liverpool as this is a critical juncture in the season.

In our humble opinion Arsenal got a bit of a thrashing from Man Utd on Sunday - 1:3

The main reason being that Arsenal were ineffective in front of goal, where they often seem to see scoring a goal as the last resort only to be attempted if they run out of passes. Given the opportunity they seem to prefer to pass the ball to someone else rather than actually trying to get it into the back of the net. Maybe this is the philosophical approach to the game where the number of intricate and complicated passes is seen as being more important than the number of goals ? After all, in the words of the Dalai Lama "Life is like a beanstalk".

Let's face it, if Arsenal can't beat Liverpool then the game is up and they don't deserve to win the league. A draw against Chelsea would be a good result, but Arsenal will need to wake up, although John Terry on the naughty step might help.

Arshavin did OK in the match against Man. Utd. but the team as a whole seemed to lack penetration and at this moment in time the race for the league title is looking like a two horse race.