Quote Originally Posted by Syn View Post
You're right. It's probably not as clear cut as I'm trying to make out. But I just don't believe it's about confidence with Arshavin. I reckon he knows he's good. I reckon he knows he's one of the best around. He has been quiet recently but back when he was a hero, he used to get interviewed a lot and he used to say things that Joe Pubteamer doesn't. He is very intelligent. IMO he's far too intelligent to lose perspective and continue playing shit because he's 'low on confidence'. His mentality isn't a problem. But I think the thrill of 'being a hero' is gone for him now and it's not worth his effort to focus on getting back to his best. I don't think he's unhappy with his role right now.

Torres? Yeah, he's probably a fanny.

I know there are plenty of examples of very talented players starting to play bad due to an injury or lack of confidence - maybe even, as you say, mismanagement. Maybe Wenger hasn't dealt with Arshavin as well as he should have. I don't doubt that. But I just can't believe that a player of Arshavin's ability can consistently misplace simple 10 yard passes without a serious lack of self-focus. At a certain stage, as a grown man of 30 years old, you have to enough pride to decide that your performances are embarrassing and it's time to improve. If Arshavin decided to improve and focus, I reckon he could turn it around. But football, now, is just a job for him and he's getting paid the same regardless.

I think Wenger hasn't managed some players well. Despite most Arsenal fans disagreeing with it, I think Walcott has good technical ability. Not on Oxlade's level but Theo can take a 50 yard pass under pressure better than most. And from the way he strikes the ball, you can tell he has good technique. But he has been held back a bit. He has been allowed to keep passing in-field instead of being told to take people on. When he came here at 17, he could take players on. I don't think I was imagining that. He could beat players. But after a few years without practice, now he can't. Anyway, forget Theo - about Andrey Depreshavin™ (Depression? Could it catch on?) he has to take the blame IMO - not Arsene.
Could be that he doesn't give a damn now. His contract is running low, the fans hate him and Wenger won't listen to him. But, you get glimpses of the guy trying to make a real go of it and remember the guy putting in some hard tackles last season to try and please the crowd.

I blame Wenger because it seems like he's blatantly ignoring the obvious with this guy. He's not protecting him, that's for sure a knows the fans are on his back. But sentiment aside, Wenger's little sport science stat machine must show that this guy isn't suited on the flanks. If he's able to get info about peak condition and when a player is likely to tire, he must know that around the 60 minute mark this guy is dead on his feet. He must know that the clock his against him and at 30 his legs and stamina won't improve, it's all downhill from here. He must see on the stats sheet that this guy rarely makes an interception or successful tackle and as he tires the chances of him even tracking his runner diminishes. Those are the negatives.

On the more positive, his assist ratio is great and he goes for the risky pass. When we have playere that are too slow to spot the pass/afraid or just lack the skill to pull it off, why not play Arshavin where any natural playmaker would be dangerous? Especially when we're struggling to create chances and our defensive midfielder has more assists than Ramsey and Arteta. Wouldn't that make sense? He's poor at tackling and has stamina issues. Henry was allowed to be a lazy bastard at times and was able to catch his breath with his hands on hips while taking a stroll when the ball was at the other end. If Arshavin has a stamina problem and can't tackle, he shouldn't be on the wing. Fergie took off his full back and put Valencia to right back and Park ahead when he came on. He knew he could exploit the weakness. Wenger knew that Man U were dangerous down the flanks put took the risk anyway even though he knew that we'd be exposed. I really can't understand why Wenger plays him there, especially when the stats that he likes to depend on probably suggests that he has no business playing there either.

I mentioned Ramsey and we have all seen how useless he is. Why play a 4-3-3 when the middle three unit don't play together and are so disjointed? Just play a 4-4-1-1. It's not as if Man U were packing the midfield as they used to do back in the day. We have an inefficient player in our 4-3-3 every time and Wenger doesn't get it. Someone on another board even said he has to business playing a 4-3-3 without natural full backs. He's damn right but Wenger won't budge.