Arsenal: Arshavin “Depressed” and Van Persie Out for Months

Published by William | Filed under Football (aka soccer)

Please don’t cry Andrey.

Well, here we are again. Just when they make you think they are great, they turn around and look more awful than they have all season. In case you missed it, Arsenal yet again reaffirmed why they are perhaps the most bi-polar team in football (no pun intended Adrey) after taking one on the chin at home this weekend to Premiership leaders and rivals Chelsea, 3-0.


The Gunners, since dropping 2 straight matches to Manchester City and United nearly 2 months ago, had managed to make it through 12 straight matches without suffering a loss before losing 1-0 to Sunderland last week. They then regrouped to claim an impressive 2-0 victory over Standard Liege in the Champions League before hitting rock bottom again this weekend against Chelsea. I think I’m beginning to get nauseous on this roller coaster.


The bottom line is that Arsene Wenger’s club has failed to show up in the big games thus far. In their 4 “big” Premiership matches this season (United, City, Tottenham, and Chelsea), they are 1-3 with their sole win being against Tottenham. If they wish to retain their annual top 4 spot, they will need to start showing up when it counts. They will have their chance on December 13th when they travel to Anfield to take on a depleted Liverpool club.


Arshavin “Depressed”?


After returning to London following Russia’s elimination from the World Cup finals, Andrey Arshavin was reported to say he is depressed and that he “does not want to play football at all”. According to an article from The Gunning Hawk, Arshavin told reporters, “I am inconsolable and desolate at what has happened.” (click here for full article and Wenger’s response). I feel for Andrey and respect his apparent and undying love for his Russian countrymen and teammates. But it is time to sack up and be a professional here. Do be emotional and do play with heart but do NOT let that emotion get in the way of what you are paid millions of pounds to do and that is to play for one of the most storied clubs in all of Europe. You owe it to yourself, your family, your teammates, and most importantly, the Arsenal fans. They deserve better and don’t lead people to believe you are not giving everything you have out on the pitch. Especially when Chelsea comes to town.

Van Persie out up to 5 months


In other news and to makes matters much worse for the Arsenal faithful, Robin Van Persie is said to be out up to 5 months with the ankle injury he suffered in the Netherlands recent international matches (full Gunning Hawk article here). This is terrible news for Arsenal who was initially led to believe that their leading goal scorer would be out for only 4-6 weeks. Instead he will undergo surgery in Amsterdam that will likely end his season for the Gunners and hopefully not affect his ability to play in next summer’s World Cup. With RVP gone, it will interesting to see who picks up the slack in the offensive third. Look for Vela and Eduardo to be the immediate answer but do not be surprised to see a big time signing in the upcoming weeks.