Andrey Arshavin

He actually scored some really good goals in big fixtures I’ll give him that. United, Liverpool and Barcelona spring to mind.

Not sure I’ll ever forget the euphoric feeling after he scored against Barca.

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The 4 goals at Anfield was worth his aquisition alone :henry2:

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remember having to wait the extra day after transfer deadline day to sign him, brilliant memories from arshavin playing for us, loved watching him

Anything he can do, Craptista can do better (and we actually won that game!)

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Arshavin was the true definition of a maverick player. He’d often do nothing, but was fully capable of producing something special when you least expect it. Shame the game didn’t really suit him here, but I remember the excitement fans had over his signing, and I really liked having him. Quite the personality that we’ve lacked in recent times.

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He was very inconsistent and the problem was the significant disparity between his best and his worst. Scored some cracking goals for us though and I really enjoyed watching him play.

How dare you smear The Beast’s name like that!

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I was 16 rows back behind that goal, quite possibly my favourite moment live in the new ground.

Apart from both times we beat Spurs 5-2, particularly the first one.

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Baptista was a good player who struggled with injuries throughout his career and also suffered from managers who played him out of position.

He wasn’t a striker (or the left winger Real used to play him as at times).

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A good family friend sold me their season ticket for that season and that was literally the best game I’ve been to (for that season) and the odd times I’ve been to the Emirates since/before. I get goosebumps watching clips of that game, the atmosphere was amazing! Not been to a NLD yet but I definitely need to!

Loved Arshavin, but, similarly to Özil, his time at the club petered out. That’s not to say he wouldn’t pull off moments of majesty.

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Yep, every time I see that goal I get a literal shiver down my spine and raised hairs on my arms.

When I stop and think about it, it still astounds me that an old football clip like that, not even one that was particularly consequential in the long run, can still provoke a literal physical reaction. I love this game.

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Felt massive at the time, didn’t it? Such a beautiful worked goal too.

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God damn, how is this 10 years ago already?!

I remember how late the deal was announced, because of the heavy snow fall that befell across the UK and delayed so many of the transfers well beyond the deadline :smiley:

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I really thought he was going to be our Ronaldo. I was so so wrong. Arshavin was decent but he should have provided so much more.

Not that I blame Wenger for Arshavin’s failure, but I don’t think Wenger was the right type of coach to motivate the Russian.

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You’re always going to be disappointed if you think any player we buy is going to be a Ronaldo/Messi type talent.

That’s setting your expectations far too high.

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Pepe

Ronaldo wasn’t scoring 50+ goals on a regular basis tbf. 18 goals in Ronaldo’s last season at United felt obtainable for Arshavin.

Messi was already leagues beyond Arshavin.

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With Arshavin. I was expecting a player to score 12 to 15 goals a season and offer some assists. A bit like Freddie Ljungberg. I wasn’t expecting him to be a Ronaldo or Messi level type player. As I said he had flashes of brilliance and those moments will probably help him been more fondly remembered then he probably would be.

I do believe if he was managed by a Klopp type rather then Wenger, we’d probably would have seen a different player. But I wouldn’t blame it all on Wenger, Arshavin was his own worst enemy too.

I just don’t think Klopp would keep him around, simple as.

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Fun fact, Pepe and Arshavin share the same birthday.

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