Loading ...Jul 07 2008
How Much Will One Match Matter?
After his first two appearances in Euro 2008, Andrei Arshavin was the talk of the tournament. Having expressed his desire to move to FC Barcelona, the Zenit St. Petersburg attacker had put the Catalan club in an interesting, almost bad position. The club’s offseason plans were to bring in Daniel Alves, replace Samuel Eto’o with Emmanuel Adebayor or Dimitar Berbatov, and aside from some depth acquisitions concentrate on sorting out the player they had. Talent, after all, is not an issue for Barça; employing the talent is.
But when Arshavin said Barcelona was his favorite club, the Catalans were in a position where they would look foolish if they didn’t get the Russian prince. They at least had to make a play for him to see if he would come cheap. A talent like his is too good to ignore, no matter what the club’s previous plans were.
Yet, such an acquisition would take the club down the same road that failed them last season. They brought in Thierry Henry, perhaps the biggest move of 2007’s summer season, and it failed. It disrupted the club and kept the team from forming any kind of identity. It wasn’t Henry’s fault that Barcelona failed last year. Frank Rijkaard failed to appropriately use his riches. But who was to say that Pep Guardiola would avoid the same trap should Barça sign Arshavin? Can do you play Lionel Messi, Bojan Krkic, and Andrei Arshavin together?
If Arshavin had put together another stellar performance in the Euro 2008 semifinals against Spain, Guardiola may have had to answer that question. Thanks to a human performance against the dominant Spaniards, people have conjured doubts about Arshavin, allowing Barcelona to seem reasonable in offering only £12 million to Zenit St. Petersburg for Arshavin. It’s a number that Barça has to know Zenit will turn down, if for no other reason than Chelsea or Arsenal will give them more. At that price, Manchester United and Real Madrid might jump into the bidding.
It’s an offer Barcelona wants to be turned down. They never wanted Arshavin. If they did, the Russian prince would be at Camp Nou now. The situation developed perfectly for Barcelona. They were able to make a bid that seems reasonable in like of the Spain match with no risk of having it accepted. Their plans for 2008-09 remain in effect, Arshavin free.
If you saw Arshavin play during the UEFA Cup, you know he is about more than two Euro 2008 matches. Whether he could fit in with Barcelona is an open question, but his performances over the last two years have shown he’s more than a £12 million player. Although he profiles slightly differently, he is roughly the same age as fellow forward Dimitar Berbatov, for whom Tottenham is asking £25 million. Arshavin is certainly at least half the player Berbatov is.
How much will one game matter? For Barcelona, it made all the difference, as they were given license to steer clear of Arshavin. For Arshavin, he now seems destined for the Premiership, away from his favorite club. That it’s completely changing the destiny of club and player means that, in this case, one game matters too much.
Links
Will People Stop Talking About Arshavin?
Arshavin Perfect for Barcelona
WFP Related Posts
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