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Andrey Arshavin lights up stage with show to dazzle even
the great
Patrick Barclay, Chief Football Commentator
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Another Tuesday, another eight-goal
thriller; it was going to take something special to sour the taste of
Liverpool's draw with Arsenal. Cue Richard Keys. "And Michel Platini,"
he reflected, gravely shaking a head full of misapprehension, "wants to
spoil it all."
The experts with Keys on Sky - Jamie Redknapp, Alan Smith and Steven Gerrard
- ignored this on the sound principle that, if you have insufficient knowledge
of a subject, it is best to keep your mouth shut. The normally excellent
Keys can take it from me: the Uefa president enjoys Barclays Premier League
extravaganzas like the rest of us.
A footballing migrant himself - like Andrey Arshavin, he fancied Tottenham
Hotspur or Arsenal, only to veer towards Juventus when he remembered that
English football was played over Christmas - Platini would have loved
the Russian's performance.
Arshavin has the knack of the very best attackers: he can run straight.
Remember how Diego Maradona, having completed an impish circuit of Peter
Reid, scored his second goal against England in 1986? Of course. And we
will not quickly forget some of Arshavin's.
His second at Anfield stood out because Jose Manuel Reina was prepared.
In such circumstances, it is difficult enough to bend the ball around
the goalkeeper's dive, as Federico Macheda did in giving Manchester United
victory over Aston Villa. Arshavin's technique went beyond that. He shot
almost straight at Reina, who delayed the footwork necessary for a dive.
By the time Reina saw the ball veer sharply to his left, it was too late.
There was class, too, from Yossi Benayoun, whom Gerrard considered man
of the match, thus proving that alternative comedy survives on Merseyside.
Likewise the ability to drive a team to heights of endeavour. This is
what makes English football different, apart from the money that attracts
sexy players such as Arshavin and Fernando Torres: the noise that spurs
them and elevates possibility over logic. The notion that Platini would
like to damage it is, fortunately, mythical.
As Arshavin revels in it, imagine the shudders at Tottenham, who were
expected to sign him last summer until Cornelius Pot, then Zenit St Petersburg's
assistant coach, came out after the Super Cup victory over United in Monaco
with scathing criticism of Spurs.
"They didn't do their homework," he said, disclosing that Zenit had wanted
?25 million but Spurs offered only "?16 million plus ?2 million for the
agent". How Arsenal got him in midwinter for ?12 million we can only guess.
But they must be as pleased as Damien Comolli, Spurs' discarded headhunter,
is rueful.
The
Times, April 23, 2009
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