In praise of ... Andrei Arshavin

It was interesting to hear a lot of comments about Wayne Rooney in the past week, specifically that he could step up to challenge the 'big three' of Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and Kaka. Of the players in England at the moment, I reckon that Andrei Arshavin is closer to that most elite group. Fine player though Rooney is, and given his age he can still progress, but Arshavin is looking more and more like the finished product.

Arshavin's key attributes are those mesmeric feet which allow him to ghost past a defender if he can isolate one; that is important though because Arshavin is not a sprinter like Ronaldo and his little legs cannot carry him fifty yards in the blink of an eye. When Premier League teams start to routinely double and treble mark Arshavin (as Ronaldo was) then he will need to adapt - but he looks quite capable of that.

With all the talk about a return for Patrick Vieira it looks like Arsenal is going back to the future, with Arshavin cast as a high quality Dennis Bergkamp.

Arshavin is obviously an anomolous purchase for Arsene Wenger. Being purchased for £15m at the age of 27 from a Russian club does not fit with the established order of young western European or African that Wenger usually brings in. Also Wenger must have been sure of his purchase because at 27 he wouldn't have two or three years to bed in and money isn't that free at the club that it wouldn't matter if he didn't. But if Arshavin was a gamble at the time - it certainly doesn't seem like it now.

Wenger's instincts were proven correct because Arshavin immediately slotted into the team ethic and seemingly needed no time to bed in. This video of the highlights of his first few games shows his consistent 7+/10 performances from the moment he arrived.

Andrei Arshavin 2008/9 season

This season Arshavin has played 8 times for Arsenal, scoring four times and the team has bagged 25 goals in total in those fixtures. It is no coincidence as Arshavin drags defenders around and threatens to score from anywhere within 30 yards of goal. Arshavin and Fabregas are quickly starting to resemble the powerful axis that Liverpool has in Gerrard and Torres, and also why Arsenal fans are so convinced that if one of the big four is to be dislodged this season it will be a Lancashire team in red, not a London one.

Andrei Arshavin 2009/10 season

(apologies that the video quality is poor to start with, and there are some goals from last season!).