Want away midfielder, Andrey Arshavin, has finally been
granted permission to exit Arsenal this summer after Gunners boss, Arsene
Wenger, conceded the Russian’s contract will not be extended.
Arshavin joined Arsenal in 2009 after an impressive display
for his national side at Euro 2008 yet never really hit it off with his teammates
and football pundits on Betfair.
He will forever be remembered for his four goals at
Liverpool in April 2009 and his winning strike against Barcelona in the
Champions League two seasons ago.
In his first full campaign at the Emirates, he scored 12
goals in 39 appearances yet inconsistencies in his performances and a tendency
to drop out of games meant he never cemented a place in the first team for
long.
That inconsistency, it seems, is the main reason Wenger is
letting him go:
"I don't think he will stay here, because he doesn't play
enough," Wenger told reporters. "But he has shown 100% commitment at
absolutely every session, he has been an example for everybody.
Unfortunately for Wenger, many Arsenal fans will disagree with his
appraisal of Arshavin’s commitment.
For the Russian has often been caught wanting on the touchlines in games,
unwilling to put his wonderful skill and footballing brain to good use against
less talented opposition.
It isn’t that he is a shirker or a bad player, it’s just
that whatever brilliance he produced in training rarely made it onto the
football field. He has never looked entirely comfortable playing on the left
side of midfield and hasn’t the strength, it seems, to contest for a central
role.
The majority of Arsenal fans are hoping to see the club shed
much of its baggage this summer and Arshavin, along with Johan Djourou and Marouane
Chamakh, quite rightly won’t be around for the 2013/14 season.
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