Tom Martin
He's not the only player ever to have a dip in form...
It seems to be a human nature to build up an individual and then to tear them down when they display human imperfections. When I was in California back in '09, I walked past a shop which had an Obama t-shirt on display which illustrated this statement perfectly. The picture of Obama was depicting him ripping open his shirt Superman-style, revealing a big 'O' on his chest, as opposed to the iconic 'S' and my first thought was 'how much higher can they get that pedestal without him going into orbit?' Since then, Obama been unable to sort out every problem instantly and now the whole of America is on his back. The fickle American voting public turned on him big-time during the mid-term elections, voting in the party that spent eight years getting them into this mess in the first place. When I saw this t-shirt, I immediately knew that eventually people were going to be disappointed and agitated one way or another when something doesn't go right.
Like Obama, Arshavin's arrivial at the time was greeted with similar optimism and hope for the future which all lay within this one person. And also like Obama, the recent form of Arshavin has been a talking point for a while now. Whilst he has a fair amount of assists to his name and a few goals so far, it's fair to say he's had a dip in form. I accept that he's playing below-par, even the man himself accepts that he's playing below-par. That, however, is not the issue. The issue is with some of the fickle/hysterical reactions to his dip in form, as if he is the only player ever to suffer this.
Arshavin's talent is undoubtable and we have all seen what he is capable of. When fired up and full of confidence, he can be unstoppable and he has shown glimpses of that this season, admittedly not on a consistent basis. But as we know what he can do, it would be reasonable to assume that his recent form is obviously not normal. That Anfield game was not the only game where he made an impact and I personally believe that he can reach his best again.
He was close to being booed by so-called 'fans' recently (I'm sure I heard a few jeers when he came on against Wigan) and I hope I'm not the only one who finds this a bit disturbing. After the morons booed Eboue to the brink of a nervous breakdown, the man himself has since acknowledged that having the support of fans (as well as God, Mrs Eboue and the little Eboues) helped him redeem himself, evolving into a cult hero and useful squad player. And this is what we need to do with Arshavin, get behind him again, not condemn him.
Now I admit that I have been known to criticise players and certain ones I never warmed to, the two most recent ones being Gallas and Silvestre. Whilst Gallas did at times show why he's seen as a good defender, Silvestre showed why United fans were glad to see the back of him. In fact, it's safe to say that I found Silvestre to be the most insulting signing ever made. He wasn't the first slow, gormless defender Wenger had signed (Cygan, Stepanovs, etc) but neither Pascal nor Igor had spent a decade being not very good at one of our bitter rivals. Even so, I never booed him. Against Ipswich the other night, whilst Arshavin was not back to top form by any means, he did nevertheless set up two of the goals which is basically what he is getting paid to do - contribute in an attacking way with solid results.
He currently stands at 14 assists this season, the grand total of Hleb's assists in his entire Arsenal career and we've barely finished January. Whilst he could do with a few more goals, they should come eventually but that will come again with confidence. If anything, his recent form is the polar opposite of Hleb - not much in the way of build-up but a fair bit of end product.
History has a way sometimes of showing certain people's career through rose-tinted glasses. Winston Churchill is a prime example of this - for all the iconic quotes and speeches (which he undeniably had a knack for) attributed to him, the winning of the '100 Greatest Britons' polls and the association of him with greatness and glory, he was also someone who had the same success rate in General Elections as the not-so-covered-in-glory John Major, as both stand at won one, lost one with both losses coming from a landslide. He also held similar attitudes towards gassing Kurds as Saddam Hussein, loathed Ghandi, opposed the notion of the NHS and was only marginally less sexist than John McCririck. But ultimately, he is always remembered for his role in WWII and is therefore thought of in high esteem.
Bergkamp, whilst I assume doesn't have similarly outdated views to that of our erstwhile PM, is another good example of this. Whilst he is rightly thought of as one of the greatest players in Arsenal's history, it is not as if every single game he had was a classic and he was just as prone to the occasional dip in form as anyone. Come to think of it, from around 1999 to 2001 I can't seem to remember him doing a great deal compared to the years before and after. He missed an important penalty against United that shaped our season and was so scarred he didn't take one again. I remember many times in that period where people did begin to think his best days were behind him but ultimately, his true class was never in doubt and he eventually went on to regain his form in the second Double-winning season.
And the same could well happen with Arshavin. I am not saying 'give him two years' to find his form again but if he is still racking up the assists whilst he's off-the-boil then he may well run into some good form soon. But nevertheless, we need to start backing him again, encouraging him and not jeer him for every misplaced pass. The more we do that, the more likely he is to find his confidence again and maybe then his career in North London will be seen in a more decorated light in years to come.
As for the fickle morons who jeered him, there is a line from the movie 'Crash' which summarises how I feel about you -
'You embarrass me. You embarrass yourself.'
