Arsene Wenger: “Exceptional” Andrey Arshavin loves to play behind the strikers

Written by Renzo on October 26, 2011 – 19:00

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger was extremely satisfied after the Gunners reached the next round of the Carling Cup, on Tuesday, against Bolton Wanderers.

Speaking to Arsenal Player, the Frenchman confessed that the players suffered from fatigue in the last part of the game and how their job was to focus on the result so as to avoid extra time with the manager adding that the experienced players in the squad took charge after Bolton took the lead and made sure to turn things around.

On the performance of one of the “veterans”, Andrey Arshavin, the Arsenal boss was full of praise for the Russian, a player who loves to play behind the strikers, a position that may be experimented again by the manager.

With Chelsea coming up on Saturday, Wenger concluded by saying that the objective is now to “keep going” so as to recover from a bad season start and to also to improve as in football there is always room for improvement.

After the Bolton win, the boss said:

In the last 20 minutes our legs had gone a little bit and we were hanging on with a bit of luck.

Many players have not played at that level and that intensity so it was vital for us tonight not to go into extra time.

The experienced player [when we were down] took charged of the game and made the difference. The young players kept battling.

For them it’s a fantastic experience to learn, how intense it is at this level and how much you have to fight for every single ball, that’s a good learning lesson for them tonight.

[Andrey Arshavin] loves to play behind the strikers, he scored a goal and gave an assist, he’s an exceptional talent Andrey, everybody knows that.

He is normally a wide player but he wants to grow in a role behind the striker.

Of course, he can do that. He plays where you want him to play but if you ask him honestly he will always tell you that he likes to play in there.

We want to just keep going and I think it is down to us to change the mind of people.

We have a good spirit, a good attitude and there is still some room for improvement of course. We are getting better and better.

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wengers straightjacket says:

October 26, 2011 at 19:48

i and many others have noticed that arshavin is an” in-the-hole” player…he isnt a winger….trouble is RVP is also that type of player……arsene knows!yeah right!

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Blindoldpete says:

October 26, 2011 at 19:49

I love this man. I always have. I don;t blame any of the fans who lost faith in him. But I do ask them to come back. One day. Any day.

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darcy says:

October 26, 2011 at 20:13

Arshavin is a real X factor player if we can get him firing- I personally think he’s better than cesc but he just needs a bit of self belief, a bit of confidence.

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Grumpyoldman says:

October 26, 2011 at 20:31

How long has AA been at Arsenal? Has our glorious intelligent manager just realised AA’s best position. Unbelievable

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soul says:

October 26, 2011 at 20:55

Come on man that is a bit harsh, we had this guy names Cesc he was pretty good and played there until three months ago. Then you have that Wilshire kid and Rambo trying to put his career together (and yes he will be a true Arsenal legend) and playing himself into a world-beater. Yes AA likes the hole and plays well there for his country., but there was this Liverpool game I watched once and he seemed to play just fine on the wing.

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Aussie Jack says:

October 26, 2011 at 21:28

He`s been telling Wenger this for a long time now. Don`t ask me the team formation but I see an inverted triangle up front with Parks and RVP and Asharvin playing just behind them.

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summerbreez says:

October 27, 2011 at 19:26

that is exactly what i am looking for

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jason says:

October 26, 2011 at 21:45

A bit sad that Ramsey cant play there now but hes young and will get there eventually.

Whatever is best for the team and i think playing Arshavin behind the striker will be a smooth move.

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Alex says:

October 27, 2011 at 1:42

Maybe Arsene should consider playing this formation more often, it certainly was pretty effective last night!! Perhaps Song next to Arteta in the central midfield, Walcott and Gervinho out wide, and Arshavin/Van Persie sitting behind Park/Chamakh (my fav would be arshavin in the hole with Van persie up front)

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Waleed says:

October 27, 2011 at 7:24

Walcott and Gervinho cannot play as wingers in a 4-4-2. They are, essentially, strikers playing out wide. Call them forwards or wingers or strikers, what they are not is wide midfielders.

We could play a 4-4-2 with Rosicky and Hleb or Eboue on the wings. We could afford to put another striker up the middle.

Right now, it would leave us too exposed defensively.

And with Flamini in the center, the two midfielders could manage the ground they had to cover.

Right now our best players wouldn’t fit into a 4-4-2. We’ve played somewhat a 4-4-2 in the Carling Cup because Benayoun and Chamberlain can play the wide midfield role.

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- JohnDale says:
  
  October 27, 2011 at 17:38
  
  This is the worst player analysis i’v ever read!
  
  Seriously, Rosicky, Hleb and Eboue are rather actual wingers?… seriously Hleb and Rosicky?? These two are the most obvious creative midfielders you’ll ever find anywhere.
  Do you know what position Gerv played for his former team and currently plays for his national team?
  
  Reply to this comment »
  - Waleed says:
    
    October 28, 2011 at 4:55
    
    I didn’t say they were “actual wingers.” I said they could play as wide midfielders. That is, they had the defensive instincts, the strength, the passing ability to play that role.
    They were attacking midfielders who could play centrally (they did for us often too) but they could play out wide in a role where they were required to cut inside anyway.
    
    I mentioned Eboue because at the very least he gave us some defensive stability on that side.
    
    There is a big difference between playing as a wide midfielder in a 4-4-2, and playing as a wide forward in a 4-3-3.
    
    Walcott and Gervinho are suited to the latter, not the former. Walcott and Gervinho cannot play a passing game (at least not Walcott) and help in midfield battles.
    
    What they are good at is running and driving forward with the ball in the final third, and finishing chances.
    To be effective they need to play higher up.
    In a 4-4-2 they would be too deep to be able to play their game.
    
    And on top of all that they are not good enough defensively to play as midfielders.
    
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Waleed says:

October 27, 2011 at 4:45

We’ve known for a while that Arshavin can play there, but the problem with him isn’t his position, it’s simply his form. When he is in form he can change the game from anywhere. But perhaps the position behind the strikers would be his best.

The problem with playing him in the center is that he does not have the stamina or strength to play as a midfielder (nor the mentality). Rosicky can play there in the center, but not Arshavin.
So he would play in the center as a forward and that would mean playing a 4-4-2. There are problems the 4-4-2 creates against a 4-5-1 but I think Wenger would be open to plyaing a 4-4-2 IF we had the players to do it.
As we saw in the Carling Cup, when we have players like Benayoun and Chamberlain starting, players who are wide midfielders, not wide forwards or wingers, you can put two forwards down the middle.
When you have Gervinho and Walcott, two strikers, playing on the wings, you’d leave yourself very open defensively if you play yet another striker in the middle.

That is why Arshavin finds himself on the wing. But also because I think his style, his physique, suits that role. As an inside forward he dribbles inside and plays through balls and takes shots. It works for him.
And in the wide role he isn’t restricted to staying wide, he often comes very central in that zone behind the striker anyway.

I think Wenger experimented with Arshavin in the center yesterday because he’s seen us struggle to create chances in two matches at the Emirates. Perhaps he wanted to see how well Arshavin does in that role and he didn’t disappoint.
So now I think we have another option in the hole. Not in our starting formation, but when chasing the game, we can bring Arshavin on and put him in the center and let him go wherever he wants and do whatever he wants.

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Aussie Jack says:

October 27, 2011 at 8:54

In a game like Chelsea in form players must take precedence.

RVP…………Parks

Asharvin

Gervinho Song Rosicky

Santos Vermaelen Mertesacker Koscieny

Sczcensy

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konde grace says:

October 27, 2011 at 9:32

Ausie, where do this leave Arteta

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- chris from Cambridge says:
  
  October 27, 2011 at 10:02
  
  Shopping with the wife by the look of it ??
  
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- Aussie Jack says:
  
  October 27, 2011 at 10:22
  
  On the bench for the time being.
  
  Reply to this comment »

don says:

October 27, 2011 at 10:57

we all knew how good AA was before he came to arsenal and that he can match cesc technically,i blame wenger for wasting him and he personally agrees that he’s tactically inept,he agrees that AA loves playing in the hole and for sure its his natural position but never plays him there,this the second game he’s played there and both has given a MOM performance,that is against villa at villa park last season that he completely shreaded the defense with kill passes and the curling cup game.Arsenal will never perform well and win trophies until wenger plays players on merit not his personal preferance,we all know AA and rosicky can play in the hole or in that central position with song and arteta covering them but wenger insists on ramsey who isn’t as good as both of them.another thing is he should encourage competition for positions and you will see ramsey perform like he did on the weekend after seen rosicky play in his position the previous games

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Jack Mo says:

October 27, 2011 at 11:59

So, why is he not playing there?.

It is not like our current “support strikers”, Ramsey and Rosicky are exceptional themselves are they?. They are just good.

I think, If all our healthy players were to re-discover their original form, I would line them up as follows, In a 4-4-2 system.
.
…………………………………..Szczesny
.
.
…Koscielny……….Mertesacker……..Vermaelen……….Santos.
.
.
..Gervinho…………….Song……………..Rosicky………..Arteta
.
.
………………………..Arshavin………….Van Persie.

And lucky for us, It is like they are doing just that (re-discovering form) as Tomas Rosicky was exceptional in the Sunderland game while Andrei Arshavin was very good during Stoke game and exceptional during Bolton game.

Whatever anyone says, there 2 are the most talented midifielders we have in the squad and if only they were to be on top form and play with absolute commitment, then we would have one of the very best midfields in the World.

Arteta used to be superb for Everton while coming from left and I see no reason why he can’t do it with us.

And with the likes of Jack Wilshere, Abou Diaby, Kieran Gibbs and Bacary sagna not in this squad here due to injury and the likes of Theo Walcott, Aaron Ramsey, Park Chu Young, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Johan Djourou, Francis Coquelin all available as deputies, we still have a great team, all that is needed from them now is absolute commitment, effort and mentality from the players and maximum utilisation of them by our manager.

He shouldn’t be telling us where a player prefers to play them play them in a completely different position, that is negligence. He has always told us how Walcott and Bendtner prefer to be strikers, now he is telling us how Arshavin want the role behind the strikers, he told us how Van Persie looks more like a creative players in the team rather than target man and then he goes on to use them where they are not strong? why?. Even RVP could help many other players score on top of what he has been scoring if used in his preffered role, partnered with a more central striker mould of a player.

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