Will the real Andrey Arshavin please stand up

This weekend sees one of the most highly anticipated fixtures of the Premier League season as Arsene Wenger takes his side north to face Rafa Benitez’s Liverpool. The stakes could not be higher in a game where both managers are desperate for three points to keep their season alive and thus it is set to be an interesting contest.

Last season’s fixture was a thrilling encounter that saw Liverpool draw 4-4 for the second consecutive game in a row. The game had everything; great goals, errors and last minute drama yet Liverpool’s title ambitions were eventually smashed by four goals from the Russian Andrey Arshavin in what was one the best individual displays of the season. Reminiscing about this great match got me thinking about Arsenal’s Russian magician. He appears to have drifted off the radar a little since the end of the last campaign and I therefore have been asking myself; have we really been seeing the best of him this season?

Arshavin moved to the Emirates Stadium in a last minute January transfer window deal last season, with the deal not actually taking place until the 3^rd February due to registration complications. In the second half of the season the Russian bagged 6 goals in 12 appearances, winning the Premier League Player of the Month award for April, as well as Arsenal’s Player of the Month in both March and April. The 28-year-old came second in Arsenal’s Player of the Season poll, highlighting just how much of an impressive start he had to his Arsenal career.

However, so far this campaign, despite some stunning Arsenal performances, we have not seen the best of Andrey Arshavin. The Russian has drifted in and out of moments of brilliance and relative obscurity on the field. Even in Arsenal’s rich run of form that saw them demolish teams such as Blackburn, Wigan and Wolves, Arshavin, ever the creative outlet last season, was overshadowed by the likes of Robin Van Persie and Cesc Fabregas. This is not to say that the attacking midfielder has been poor this season, as that would be an unfair statement, yet there has been a distinct lack of cutting edge to his play. There are moments in which mazy runs and optimistic attacks have been ended by poor decision making and the Russians face is one that is often filled with frustration.

Arshavin is a modern day footballer. I mean this in the sense that he can play in numerous positions. He is predominantly an attacking midfielder yet has the ability to drift to either wing. This obviously causes a problem for defenders yet it appears to have also presented Wenger with a headache. The Frenchman is still unsure as to Arshavin’s best position, having deployed him in both right and left-sided roles, as well as in a central attacking role, and even as a lone striker as we saw last weekend against Stoke. Arsenal’s fluid football can sometimes cause positional dilemmas for players such as Arshavin as it is hard to know which role will get the best out of him. His ever changing position may be one that has contributed to his form this term as consistency is often one of the best ingredients for success.

However, in the game against Tony Pulis’ side, Arshavin showed the form we became used to last season. His dribbling skills won the Gunners a penalty, he scored one of the goals with a tidy finish and helped set up the other. It was a reminder that the Russian, on his day, is one of the most talented individuals in the Premier League. He tore the Potters defence apart with his pace and footwork and Rory Delap proved that sometimes the only way to stop him is by bringing him down. All in all, it was a match winning display from Arshavin.

Whilst he has not been bad per say, it is clear that Arshavin has not reached the high standards he set himself last season, whether this is because he set the bar too high, I do not know. However, Arsenal fans will be hoping his performance against Stoke is the beginning of a rich spell of form and if this is the case, it could not have come at a better time.