Shava Is Back!!!!

[TRA Dial Square]

I think he has every chance of being fit for the squad, I doubt very much he'll make the starting IV though.

2nd leg's gonna be a four a side match!?

[Leody]

Sorry, mate. Its called giving credit where it's due and you fail to do so.

That's your opinion, and I have mine...

I'm not saying he's shit or anything, but I'm not going to cream in my pants because he had one nice first touch finish either.

He's been able to thrive in the substitute role, there's absolutely nothing wrong with saying he should stay there if you ask me. There is really an undue negative stigma to coming off the bench. In my opinion he's of much greater benefit to the team in that role, and I don't see anything wrong with saying that. And I see no need to move him into the starting XI right now. The players that are being chosen ahead of him have proven to most to be more capable in that role, and Arshavin has proven that he is better than most at coming off the bench. Why mess with something that's working well?

[Van The Man Persie]

He hit a bad run of form. It happens.

Was never worried though about him. We all know how good he is and quality players dont stay in poor form for long

[Leody]

And the main point I've been trying to make is that I don't believe that last night was even his best overall performance. But people are going nuts just because his performance last night included a game winner against Barca...

He played well last night, but he's already shown us more since being moved to the bench. But now people suddenly take notice. Just seems very odd to me.

[Est83]

I think he has every chance of being fit for the squad, I doubt very much he'll make the starting IV though.

2nd leg's gonna be a four a side match!?

Not the first time I've made that mistake. Thursday nights is Pool night, I can't play unless I've had atleast 3 pints, add a few more to that and I start typing like a r***rd.

[Leody]

Or I watch the match with a little more scrutiny than most.

I don't think Arshavin even had a touch for the first 10mins he was on the pitch. Go back and watch it again if you don't believe me...

That's not the type of performance that's going to get my all delirious. It took him awhile to really have any influence, but when he did, it was a very large influence in the end. And apart from the goal, he did very little in all. But he put in a good effort, he tracked back and tried to help defend, but then he scores a goal with 1 of his 6 touches in 20 mins and everybody starts wanking over it. Sorry for not getting aroused enough to join in on the fun. (innuendo fully intentional (no homo)(how many ()'s can you put inside one pair of ()?)))

And let's not forget that in the last 10mins they were constantly pressuring us from Arshavin's side of the pitch, and he almost conceded a penalty with his shanked head attempt back to Sneezy that put him under real pressure of allowing a late equalizer.

It really wasn't his best in recent weeks. Just happened to score a goal that won us a very important game against a very strong opponent.

[Leody]

Don't get me wrong though Jay... my brother and I went absolutely f***ing nuts when that ball hit the back of the net. But I've had a minute to calm down and come to my senses, and judge the performance for what it was in total.

[GunnGunn]

Woah there...Steady on chap.

He didn't take anything by the scruff of the neck, he came on and scored....Thats about it.

He has been better in recent weeks, working much harder, but he is still nowhere near his best form, he would even admit that himself.

That goal however will go a long way to restoring some of that confidence however, but he isn't back, yet.

The truth is, he still could of been responsible for us not winning yesterday, i wonder if he would have been praised so much?

Lets not big him up too much, let him get back to form and banging in goals every other game like he is capable of before we start jumping about.

Give him the benefit of the doubt, he's won a huge amount of respect from me in the last few weeks, he's been very modest a unlike other prima donna players he recognized his poor form and has clearly made a huge effort to put it right,

also we all forget that i still believe the 4-3-3 simply dosen't suit him in terms of his all round play, his best position is the shadow striker playing in the hole (where he played for Zenit and where he's always played for Russia) where as out on the wing he runs at defenders too much and isn't at his creative 'genius' best.

He has rarely played in the hole for Russia, at least not in many matches i have ever seen in the last 5-6 years, he either plays on the wing or in Fabregas' role, he also moved around a lot at Zenit, he was never in a "fixed" position, and would often be deployed on the wing coming in from right and left to support the striker.

I don't want to yet again talk about his positioning but HE himself has admitted he plays best supporting a striker or on the left of a 4-3-3, so if he is no good there, why say it was?

He has ALWAYS been a versatile player, if he wasn't versatile, AW wouldn't have bought him.

We didn't bring him here solely for his creation, we brought him here because on form, running at defenders is what he does best and either going on to score one himself, or passing to a player i.e. Nasri against Fulham.

He has upped his work rate in the last few weeks, but if you think a player upping their work rate and still being poor is good, then you must fit in with PG2's headless chicken theory.

He may be running around more but its still a struggle for him to stamp on games like he has done in the past, even with more than adequate rest he still looks drained, even when he isn't doing much.

Like Leody said, i exploded when he scored, but if you sit back and analyze his performance, he came on, he scored, and he could have been done for a penalty (Harshly, but always given, especially against us) right at the death, he could have gone from hero to zero in the space of 7 minutes.

I am not trying to take away from him, because he scored a goal that could prove vital, but lets not try to kid ourselves he is truly "Back".

When he starts terrorizing teams and scoring for fun like he used to, then i will believe he is back.

If anyone honestly thinks he is back, then you have never seen Arshavin at his best with Arsenal, when every flick, trick and what not was coming off.

You will know when Arshavin is back, when he can go 70 minutes without losing the ball.

If you think thats harsh, well football is a harsh game, i am not going to get on Arshavins back like some fans, i WANT him to be back to his best, not to bring him down more, i am just stating it like it is.

To think he has scored 9 goals and had 16 (Yes, 16) assists this season, what would he be capable of on form?

[TRA Dial Square]

I don't think Arshavin even had a touch for the first 10mins he was on the pitch. Go back and watch it again if you don't believe me...

His first touch on the ball from what I recall, was a struggle & decent tackle which he won

[GunnGunn]

I don't think Arshavin even had a touch for the first 10mins he was on the pitch. Go back and watch it again if you don't believe me...

His first touch on the ball from what I recall, was a struggle & decent tackle which he won

Leody is right.

[TRA Dial Square]

I don't think Arshavin even had a touch for the first 10mins he was on the pitch. Go back and watch it again if you don't believe me...

His first touch on the ball from what I recall, was a struggle & decent tackle which he won

Leody is right.

How? His first touch was a tackle which he won and it was well before 10 min's.

[shamrock11]

Look Leody the reason i only posted the thread after the barca game is because that has been his fifth good performance in a row which pretty much means he has got his form back or is very very close to it

[thrice]

Arshavin is king

[GunnGunn]

I don't think Arshavin even had a touch for the first 10mins he was on the pitch. Go back and watch it again if you don't believe me...

His first touch on the ball from what I recall, was a struggle & decent tackle which he won

Leody is right.

How? His first touch was a tackle which he won and it was well before 10 min's.

He tried to win the ball from Pique and failed.

I watched the re-run of the game today on ITV4.

[Leody]

Look Leody the reason i only posted the thread after the barca game is because that has been his fifth good performance in a row which pretty much means he has got his form back or is very very close to it

I'm only questioning why the praise just happens to coincide with an average performance against a great team, when I feel he's honestly had better is all. It was in no way any sort of personal attack or criticism of you, so please don't think that was my intention.

People tend to get far too emotionally wrapped up in the moment and lose sight of the bigger picture. If you really thought it was a good time to mention his string of performances than fair play, we're in agreement. He's been playing very well in the substitute role. But I just find the massive praise that people are throwing his way after Tuesday to be oddly timed.