Flash back to January this year. Tiny forward Andre Arshavin arrives at Arsneal after a protracted transfer saga. He stands in the chilly night outside the Emirates Stadium with a big smile on his face, declaring his love for Arsenal. His dreams have "come true". Well now he is singing a different tune, reinforcing the belief that there is no loyalty in football, just greed.
February 2009:
"I am happy to be at Arsenal. It was my dream." - Andre Arshavin.
June 2009:
"If I have the chance to play for Barcelona, I'd be really happy." -Andre Arshavin.
Now, it could be that Arshavin was suckered into the comment and his words were taken out of context. Sure, that's always possible in the world of tabloid journalism. BUT...I can easily believe that Arshavin, who is now 28 years old, would relish another big pay day and a big money move to the Catalan giants, if such a move was possible. Barca are looking to go shopping and maybe replacing Samuel Eto'o over the next few weeks. Why not show some interest and see how it plays?
If I was Arsene Wenger I would be pissed. Still, no one should be surprised. Most footballers are out for what they can get these days and see loyalty as an old fashioned concept.
Shame really.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Arshavin Wants Nou Move.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
**UPDATE** Oink, Oink
Some fun from the Champions League ManU-Arsenal showdown. Now the question is whether this gent is protecting himself from swine flu or protecting everybody else.
I didn't know Luka Modric was a ManU fan.
After the jump, see if you can spot Mr. PFA Giggs in his usual spot in the stands, plus a few other entertaining photos.
Does Andrei Arshavin ever take a non-goofy photo? I think he's skipping here with his Dorothy Hamill hair.
Must have been beans in the cafeteria that day.
Carlito seems to be enjoying that one a bit too much, don't you think?
Per request, the Vidic diving header pic and an Evra nipple biting picture
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Was This the Goal of the Season?
As part of a series titled "Discussion Starters that Do Not Really Have Correct Answers," I present to you the following: Andrei Arshavin's goal against Blackburn was one of the best of the season. And yes I realize this gif looks like it was created on a SNES.
Granted that us Gooners are maybe gloating a bit after a disappointing season, but honestly I thought the goal was a thing of beauty. As you can see from the very crude slo-mo above (which took me waaaaaaay too much time to create last night), Arshavin managed to completely beat his defender in very tight space, control the ball along the baseline and then still have an angle to hit the goal. Oh and he didn't blast it over the bar or wide, but rather kicked it with power just over the head of poor, defenseless Paul Robinson. (Fun fact: Arsenal have scored 50 goals against the former England #1 Robinson). Granted that Blackburn's defending was poor, but take nothing away from Arshavin's effort, who paid the ultimate price for Blackburn's kick-the-shins tactics and is out of today's FA match thanks to eight stitches in his foot [Ed.-maybe not].
That said, I will also admit that this weekend's free kick by Aurelio was amazing, as was the run made by Wigan's Charles N'Zogbia. But what say you? Was Arshavin's goal a candidate for goal of the season? Is it even in the discussion? And, more importantly, what do you think is the goal of the season? As our friend Ives would say, share your thoughts below.
Arshavin
Aurelio
N'Zogbia (starts at 2:55)
Monday, March 16, 2009
Contest Time!
Don't think we've rolled one of these out in a while Hey, we're rolling these out on consecutive weeks but so caption this pic of Adebayor and Arshavin and win a guest post.
Okay, you don't get a post just for submitting, only the best caption wins.
According to blogger, that's a 'large' sized pic. I'm thinking the Google coders have tiny penises (No, really, that's six inches). Anyway, click on the pic to get a slightly bigger view. It helps to get a better sense of how ridiculously the height difference is.
Or just check it out in its original context at the Daily Mail. Also scroll down for a pic of Cesc Fabregas checking out the b-cup rack on Clichy's wife.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
UF Quick Throw: Arshavin move done
It's taken long enough, but Sky Sports News is reporting that Andrei Arshavin's move to Arsenal has been approved by the EPL. How long until he reaches match fitness? I'm guessing March.
[Soccernet]
[Update: Hey look, here's actual visual proof that Arshavin is a Gunner. -Spectator]
Monday, February 2, 2009
A Snowy End to the Silly Season
The transfer deadline open thread turned into a bit of an impromptu liveblog in the comments. So we'd like to thank everyone who participated as we waited to see primarily if Robbie Keane would go back to White Hart Lane and, given the twists and turns, if Andrei Arshavin would turn out to be Kaiser Soze.
It seems to be well enough reported now that both are done deals (with the latter only waiting to be signed off on by the Premier League).
The Gunners ultimately get their man, but is it what they needed? Central defense and defensive midfield are still the areas of greatest need, but after a lackluster home draw to West Ham over the weekend, it's hard to argue with adding some creative attacking to the side.
There will be a lot of ambivalence among the Gooners over Wenger finally flashing cash for this guy, but I think for simply avoiding embarrassment there is at least relief that the Russian will be suiting up at the Emirates.
As for their "rivals" at Tottenham, Harry seems busy reassembling the team that finished in 11th place last season. That's good managing. With Jermain Defoe now out 10 weeks with a broken foot, Keane's return certainly addresses an immediate need. It's a bit puzzling though, not from a Spurs standpoint, but from Liverpool's.
The Reds paid £19M for the striker in the summer. Now they ship him back for a fee reported to be around £12M (with escalators). Did they not keep the receipt? Why take a loss on a player especially when Spurs had to have been desperate to get him back (was this Rafa basically saying "Up yours" to Rick Parry?).
It actually seemed like a brilliant move when rumors started swirling that David Villa would be coming in to Anfield (click-drag the image into your browser's address bar to get a better view of the highlighted bits of the wikipedia screengrab—and hat tip to commenter Mike Georger for the heads up). Valencia are going broke, so they need money. If Liverpool could unload Keane and get Villa to pair with Fernando Torres (even with a modest net loss), then Liverpool instantly look like an immediate threat to fight United for the league title. As it is, no Villa, and suddenly Liverpool's chances hinge on El Niño's tender hammy because after that it's Babel, Ngog, and Kuyt.
All in all it was relatively quiet closing with other moves of note including:
Ricardo Quaresma in at Chelsea
Henri Camara in at Stoke
Jo in at Everton
Oliver Dacourt in at Fulham
Angelos Basinas in at Portsmouth
Charles N'Zogbia in at Wigan
Tal Ben Haim in at Sunderland
Youssouf Mulumbu in at WBA
Oh, and Norwich brought in Rangers man Alan Gow as well as Cody McDonald (Dratford) and Adrian Leijer (Fulham).
Ten bucks says that, at season's end, everyone agrees that Moyes made the best move bringing in an out of favor Jo. Of course if you're Jo there's small consolation in knowing that at season's end you'll still be in the Premier League and Mark Hughes won't.
UF Quick Throw: Breaking News at the Emirates
No, nothing on that on-again/off-again front. But the weather in London has officially postponed the Arsenal-Cardiff FA Cup replay that was supposed to be played tomorrow.
Yeah, just having some fun here as we await news on the Arshavin transfer marathon.
Transfer Deadline Day Open Thread -- Updated!
Just hours to go now (and by the time you see this, maybe moments) until the January window slams shut. As always, there remain a host of possible moves. Keane back to Spurs? Arshavin to Arsenal? Veloso to SF Bolton?? Anyone and Everyone to Citeh? We'll keep count, with your aid and peerless commentary, right here.
Summary of the [more-or-less] confirmed Prem deals after the jump.
IN:
Everton-- Jo (Man City)
Fulham-- Olivier Dacourt (Inter loan), Gray (Coventry loan extended)
Newcastle-- Ryan Taylor (Wigan)
Portsmouth-- Angelos Basinas (AEK loan)
Stoke-- Henri Camara (Wigan loan)
Tottenham-- Robbie Keane (Liverpool)
West Brom-- Youssouf Mulumbu (PSG loan), JC Menseguez (San Lorenzo loan)
Wigan-- Charles N'Zogbia (Newcastle)
Chelsea-- Ricardo Quaresma (Inter loan)
Friday, January 30, 2009
UF Quick Throw: Transfers of minor merit!
Blackburn Rovers open the flea-bitten wallet for El-Hadji Diouf, leaving us all wondering why. Citeh get massive bid for Santa Cruz rejected! My guess: they'll sell for 5 million pounds more as Sparky is desperate. And Bolton lose their talismanic/average midfielder Kevin Nolan to the SS Newcastle.
Oh, and Arshavin lowers his wage demands to get a deal done. Sorry, Gooners; looks like you'll pass another transfer window without buying based on need.
[Diouf @ BBC Sport]
[Santa Cruz @ BBC Sport]
[Nolan @ BBC Sport]
[Arshavin @ Guardian Sport]
Thursday, January 29, 2009
NBC Writers: Football Fans or Lazy Hacks?
.
Here's a little secret. When you work in scripted programming, made up names tend to sound made up. Think about it, parents spend nine months trying to craft the perfect name for their kid, you spend 4 seconds coming up with "Johnny Waltershine."
Actually, that's not bad for off the top of the head.
Anyway, half of the names you hear in sit-coms or TV dramas are actually lifted from guys the writers went to high school with. Or sometime they get cute. So when last night's 'Law and Order' needed some Russian mobsters, they went EPL on their (likely) unsuspecting cast: Abramovich, Pavlyuchenko, and Arshavin. That's as in Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich, Tottenham striker Roman Pavlyuchenko, and Arsenal transfer target Andrei Arshavin. The only clever part was that they made the latter a loan shark, which, if he's holding up the Arse for more cash, ain't all that far off.
But someone on that staff clearly likes his London footie. Still, seeing how crime shows lift 90% of their story lines from actual real-life crimes, they're still kinda hacky.
[Update:: Flash player is fixed (hopefully... and obviously). If it goes haywire again, the audio can be heard by clicking here until we get it straightened out again.]
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
UF Quick Throw: Not So Fast, Gooners! (with an update)
It appears that there's still an obstacle or two for Arsenal to overcome in the Arshavin deal, notably Arshavin himself. He wants more money! He kinda needs it, I guess; in order to leave Zenit, he needs to buy himself out, so why not ask the new club for more moolah with which to do it?
All those dreams of yet another sexy footballer at Emirates hang in the balance. Maybe Arsene should use the wait to look for a midfielder that can tackle.
[Guardian Sport]
Oh, and then there's the comments from Arsene mentioning how there's no such deal in place with Zenit or Arshavin. Can someone give us the straight talk on this? Actually, don't bother. We're all sick of the story.
[Sky Sports]
Monday, January 26, 2009
UF Quick Throw: Zenit and Arsenal Finally Come to a Meeting of the Minds
After weeks of negotiating and haggling and posturing, Zenit St. Petes and Arsenal have finally agreed on a transfer fee for Andrei Arshavin. Zenit claim that Arshavin still must negotiate personal terms, but I'm still calling this saga finally over.
[Sky Sports]
[Telegraph]
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
UF Quick Throw: Wenger chases a baby-faced Russian
So it's official: Arsenal want Arshavin. Having watched Spurs flame out with one Zenit St. Petersburg striker, why on earth do they think this one will pan out? Little Andrei looks set to become the latest player to have one good international tournament and then profit. I still have nightmares about El-Hadji Diouf's spell at Anfield.
[Yahoo! Sports]
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
UF Quick Throw: Andrei For Real?
Andre Arshavin has said today, that he is likely joining Real Madrid in January.
"I can confirm that officials from Zenit have begun preliminary negotiations with Real Madrid about my transfer. At the moment there is nothing concrete on the table. " -Andre Arshavin.
Looks as if Juande is getting one over on his old team Spurs, who refused to meet Zenit St Petersburgs price tag for the speedy Russian back in the summer. I doubt this move has anything to do with Ramos though as he was only handed a deal to manage Madrid until the end of the season and they will be reluctant to hand him any money after the mess he made at Spurs. Ramos is on a short leash and will surely need to have Madrid in the top two at the end of the season to gain a contract extension. Real are currently nine points behind leaders Barcelona and sitting 5th in La Liga. Juande Ramos was appointed Real Madrid boss yesterday.
Posts
