TheJinxedOne
Valar Morghulis.
Explained in more detail your points make sense, and I agree I guess on most of them. Except the Parker point, I still reckon he's a great player a what he does.
Follow along with the video below to see how to install our site as a web app on your home screen.
Note: This feature currently requires accessing the site using the built-in Safari browser.
Defending is of course crucial and as important as attacking flare (although the attacking side of the game steals the headlines). And in that England has a solid unit, players like Lescott, Cahill (now he's out sadly) and Cashley Cole are top defenders. But if you look upfront, this team will always struggle to score. Rooney is the only one who's truly gifted and ready for the big stage (Ox and Welbeck are very promising but they're still lightweight).
I guess what I'm trying to say is that your attacking players are burdened with this culture of defensive duties. England loves industry, and this is expected from all 11 players even the centre forward. I mean, you cannot have the best of both worlds, this is very difficult to find.
My example of Scott Parker is how I illustrate this culture of praising the effort (which is only fair) but to overlook another quite important element in the game: what else does that player bring to the team?
Stamina and blocks and tackles alone are not enough I think. In modern football if you're a holding midfielder you have to check all these boxes and offer more.
To be honest, I don't even think Parker is that great at what he does. Many will point out to the fact that the diving tackles and blocks he does are due to poor positioning in the first place. I started noticing this and found myself agreeing. He finishes the match all covered in mud from sliding on the ground but you see other players that are at least equally effective who don't need to dive in front of the ball all the time, because they got their positioning sorted.
Modern football demands players in that position to bring something else to the game, look at Yaya Toure's offensive contributions, look at Alex Song's assists.
To me that's ok, he's ok, I don't have anything personal against Parker. But I just can't understand the hype around him. And there lies the contrast that puzzles me: an average at best player gets lots of praise and a talented foreign attacker who's been played out of position gets all that stick from media pundits and fans. His own fans!
But going back to the English players: the hype and attention they get, the price tags on them (and salaries) has got them in a comfort zone. Some guys in this England squad think they're untouchable, but they wouldn't make the cut on many European 23-men selections.
Talent is out there, I think England can improve a lot in the future, but the mentality being so focused on defense makes it difficult for the emerging talents to turn into strikers full of offensive flair. The attacking talent has not been nurtured in the right way IMO.
The booing of players like Arshavin by his own fans comes to show that the average fan cannot acknowledge that in football there must be space for specialists, guys who are extremely good in one thing (creating) and very poor in another (defending). Arshavin as a no.10 playmaker receives top marks IMO. Special talent requires a bit of freedom.
So under these circumstances and the way the game is played in England, culturally, English players are developed to be all round players, but most end up being flat, not excelling in anything in particular. That's the way I see this England team for years now. It's flat. Look at that midfield, there's not enough creativity and guys who are only suited to play a straight line of 4.
With more foreign stars in the Prem, one would think this approach would change, they would be more influenced by continental style, but this is not happening. This right now is one of England's most boring sides ever
Now Bendtner I can definately agree with, him being played on the wing was not a good idea...although his crossing really improved
All of your points are good, apart from the Arshavin one where you put his failure at Arsenal down to him just being played out of position (But we have had this argument many times, so I won't bring it up again ). I also think Parker is better than you suggest aswell.
EDIT: It would also be good to see the formations when Arshavin had his best games for us? and see where he was playing then? Is there a site where you can see things like that, from a few years back?
The formation that Russia was playing the other day, seems similar to where he was playing for Arsenal?
Not to get too much in detail, because we've discussed this, but Arshavin managed to deliver some brilliant performances in his first 2 seasons, but let's face it: the guy is ageing. Not fair to compare 2009 and 2012 when he has just crossed past the 30 year old barrier.
At Zenit, he was 2nd striker, drifting behind and joining the midfielders in creation, a bit like the Bergkamp role. And for me that's the way to play him. He has a superb through ball in his repertoire (he fed RvP like this quite a few times this past season).
With Russia he played with freedom. I don't think that formation was a 4-3-3. It was free-flowing football and Arshavin was the center of the team.
But I know we would never see Arsenal with a formation revolving around Arshavin. He's a bit of a luxury player like some say, and that's it.
The 4-3-3 played at Arsenal is something I can't stand anymore. It's boring, rigid and predictable. Guys like Walcott and especially Gervinho can't hurt the opposition, except when we're leading - then they cause damage with more open spaces. But in other situations, opponents know exactly what to do to neutralize us.
But going back to Arshavin, I agree with the element of home sickness, it definitely contributes a lot to his form.
Still, the Russian showed what he's capable when played in the right position. On the other hand the player we did keep at Arsenal, Rosicky, didn't look good at all. Let's hope he can keep his good form at least with Arsenal.
About Parker, I started watching his performances more attentively after all the hype, and maybe that's why I'm so underwhelmed. I'm still waiting to see the great player the media raves about.
...would be typical if he scored a brace today against France today!!
I am sure we could have utilised Arshavin better, but I really don't think it was the main reason he didn't succeed (Which I think that is what you are implying?)
You mention that you can't compare 2009 Arshavin to now, that is one reason, he is getting older. His desire for the game has been questionable at times aswell.
I think if you can find where Arshavin played his best games for Arsenal (The formations and line ups) then he was probably in similar positions? (If not the same?) than he was at the end of his time at Arsenal.
So he proved he could play there and very well, but was very inconsistant. You say he had some great games in the first two years but they were very few and far between.
I heard he played well in Russia on loan (Not fantastic) and in the other International game the other day, but are they of similar opposition as we have in the premier league?
I think it is fine to say we could maybe have tried to use him differently this last year, but I don't think it is fair to say we played him in a wrong position for him and that is the main reason he has left and didn't live upto his potential at Arsenal.
Kerzhakov was home sick and never made the grade in Sevilla either.
As for this whole discussion about Arshavin's positioning at Arsenal, I rather say no more and instead I will let Arseblog say it better:
http://news.arseblog.com/2012/06/arsenal-at-the-euros-by-the-numbers/
Motivation is a BIG thing with any player and ESPECIALLY with those of the attitude/personality of someone like Arshavin!
Is Andriy as motivated playing for Arsenal compared to Russia or his beloved Zenit? Nope. Only a few times! Bobby has a point about that.
But yes, overall he's been unfairly criticized at times by English media and fans and they haven't played him to his potential and that's not only on him to blame but for Wenger, media and fans too.
As usual, there isn't one culprit but many who have played a role in his underachievement.
Definately there are many reasons why he was not successful at Arsenal, the only thing I had a problem was with how 'he was played out of position' was given as the main reason and that just isn't right imo :-)
Here is another qoute by Arseblog Rentboy
"Poland v Russia was a good game though, perhaps the best one in the tournament thus far, and we saw Andrei Arshavin looking lively and threatening, which provokes wistful thoughts in Arsenal fans. ‘Why can’t he play like this for us?’, I saw people ask. And then you get to the second half and he’s puffing and blowing like a 60 a day smoker and that’s pretty much the reason why he can’t play like that for us.
He is, and has been for some time, criminally unfit for a professional football player. I remember one of the first games he played for us and he took his shirt off after the game. Not since the days of Jan Molby has a player sported a finer pair of love handles and he was never bothered to get fit enough to produce on a consistent basis. Perhaps he was indulged at Zenit because he was who he was, but maybe he was indulged at Arsenal too long. He’s a fantastic character and a very likeable person, but the laziness was apparent from the start and we never got on top of that."
I stand by what I said before. He's played out of position. He was a second striker at Zenit. Bergkamp role in the 4-4-2. At Arsenal Arsene sticks him to the left and there he stays, occasionally switching to the right with the other winger. Damn predictable stuff.
In Arsenal we're tired of seeing Ramseys, Denilsons and Diabys not doing that, everybody wants to attack, but just come back jogging. it's kamikaze!
I think this Russia side is not so unbalanced as Arsenal, so Arshavin gets away with being only an offensive player, a "luxury" player..
For all his faults, I still think he's often unfairly massacred by media and fans. There are many midfielders at Arsenal who aren't pulling their weight defensively. Arshavin will depart and these problems will remain, and someone else will be the scapegoat.
That's a very good point, both Denisov and Zyrianov played for Russia and Zenit at the time when Arshavin shone in those teams. I Dont think Arsenal have defensive midfielders as organised as those players, Zyrainov's best years are behind him now, but Denisov is very good at breaking up posession and short passing, he's a ball winner Arsenal only really have Alex Song in this role.
Yes of this there can be no doubt, just like the defence wasn't magic once Éboué (booing favourite of 2009-10) left.
Unfortunately there does seem to be a very vocal militant element of fans at the club. Éboué, Arshavin, even Ramsey a little bit have all become targets of the boo boys. It must be fairly demoralising for those players, in the case of the first two it's not just been one off booing for a mistake in one game, it's been persistant booing when the player's touched the ball, come on as a sub or even warmed up on the side of the pitch, and over quite a few games. Éboué wasn't a world class defender, but he was very adaptable and could play in a number of positions across the back line. I'd argue he was/is better than the likes of Jenkinson, Miquel and Squillaci and certainly at the start of the season he's could have been useful in the Liverpool home game or Old Trafford away game. With Arshavin he's booed for his alledged "laziness", without much consideration given to his physique (he's one of the smallest players in the league and so it's hard for him to win the ball back in a physical challenge) and the fact he never had to defend before joining Arsenal so it's essentially a new skill he has to learn. Even when he did his job defending (tracking Valencia for Man Utd's second goal at the Emirates), and other more out-and-out defensive players (Mertersaker/Koscielny) didn't pick up their man, Arshavin still got the blame. It seems some Arsenal players can get away with mistakes (Squillaci heading back into the danger area against Fulham away, even Fabregas doing a criminally stupid back heel against Barca on the edge of his box in the No Camp) yet there are other players who immediately suffer from the fans.