Is Ashavin ‘potentially’ Arsenal’s Berbatov?

Let me start by saying that I am a huge fan of  both Dimitar Berbatov and Andrey Arshavin. I absolutely believe they are unique class players with amazing abilities.  But as much as these two belong to a class of their own they also have some negative attributes in common.

Dimitar Berbatov: I personally like because when he’s on form, he’s got some very out-of-life nifty touches and his ball control is just amazing to watch. And when he scores, it makes you want to exhale because Berbatov just doesn’t score goals, he scores exhilarating beauties.

Here comes the ‘but’! – But, when Dimitar Berbatov is not in a game even though he is on the pitch, he is completely everything his critics say about him, or so he looks. Critics of Berbatov focus on his ‘slow’ style. He is not as quick as Man. Utd likes to play. He slows the game down and holds up play very well. He looks nonchalant. His demeanor seems like he couldn’t care less about what happens to the game at that moment. He hardly drops back to tackle and ‘strolls’ like he’s on a date.

This might sound harsh but this is the perception he oozes on a bad day. Ultimately he looks lazy when he is not doing well in a game.

Andrey Arshavin: I’m a fan of the little Russian magician as earlier stated. You only need to see the goal he scored against Manchester United this season to know why he is worthy of the noise. He hardly bent his back but had enough power in the shot that turned Foster into an aerial mannequin.

He creates space in small areas it’s almost unbelievable regardless of how many defenders he has on him and he is decent with his final pass. Bottom line, Andrey Arshavin is a small bundle of incredible skill and spellbinding talent.

But, here comes the similarities with Dimitar Berbatov that I’ve observed – when Andrey Arshavin is not in a game he looks so much like a poor performing Dimitar Berbatov as stated above – nonchalant, care free, ‘date strolling’ etc. They are almost inseparable in comparison when in that form. Arshavin sometimes even looks worse, and here is why.

Andrey Arshavin’s ‘laziness’ in a bad game, reeks ‘confident complacency’ and sometimes lackadaisical play. He seems to be confident in a false air of invincibility that he cannot be substituted by the manager which in most cases he doesn’t.

Most recent example is the game against West Ham, but that was just one of many games he’s been found wanting this season in which his ‘lazy’ demeanor prevailed. He is so incredibly talented its just sad to see more of his bad performances than his brilliance on the field. This makes you wonder if there could be certain things responsible for an amazing Arshavin blowing cold rather hot.

He’s doesn’t like playing on the left, he doesn’t like the UK tax law, he talks up Barcelona and you just wonder is Andrey Arshavin getting tired of playing in the Premiership a la Arsenal and is he potentially Arsenal’s Dimitar Berbatov?