So, I'm curious for some thoughts on this subject, as I've been thinking about it a bit lately. Historically we've been told that when we sign new players, we should expect an "adjustment period," during which the players get acclimated to English football. After this adjustment period, they're supposed to hit their stride and become the valuable players we'd hoped they'd be when we signed them. Lately, it seems like the opposite has been true – we've brought in several players in the last few years who have sparkled at first before seemingly losing their confidence and much of their ability. So, what do you make of this? Is it nothing? Coincidence? Or are we too often playing players out of position and coaching them away from some of their natural strengths? Here are a few recent examples... there may be more: Andrey Arshavin Signed in January 2009, he started life in the Premier League with a bang. Scored 4 at Anfield. Finished the season with 6 goals and 9 assists in 15 appearances (in all competitions). He was still pretty decent in 10-11, but since then has diminished greatly. Factors: Laziness? Being played out of position? Age? Maraoune Chamakh Started the 2010-2011 season with a flourish. In his first EPL start he caused a Reina own goal, before going on to score against Blackpool, Bolton, Braga, Partizan, Birmingham, Shakhtar Donetsk, Wolverhampton, Tottenham, and Aston Villa. Then hit a major drought, losing playing time and his ability to find the net -- after scoring 10 goals through December, he scored only one in the second half (in the replay against Leyton Orient). And we all know what Chamakh has seen in terms of playing time this year. Factors: Possibly gassed from his first run of games with us, perhaps needs more PT in general to get into form. Gervinho The sample size is smaller here, but there's the same general sense that Gervinho was much more dangerous in the first half of the season, when he created a lot of chances and converted a few goals. I believe someone put up the stat in the match thread the other day that Gervinho's last shot on target was in January (I'm not sure of the accuracy of that stat, though it seems plausible). Gervinho had 4 goals and 6 assists through December, with only one assist since then. And we all know he's been terrible near the goal. Factors: Could have been gassed from ACN, but seems low on confidence in general as well.
The two latter players may have "not being good at football" in common. Arshavin was an infuriating genius.
Arshavin had one good year in the UEFA(Europa) Cup and Euro 2008 that had everyone on here think he was the greatest players ever. He is an infuriating muppet.
as someone who watched way too many Lille game's 2 years ago, Gervinho was the star man (not Hazard, who won POY). He can play. period.
Yeah, I was one of those owned. AA's destruction of Holland in Euro 2008 was one of the finest games I've ever seen.
i'll reserve judgement on gervinho at this point next season since he will not have ACON to interrupt his schedule etc etc. chamakh i am not sure about although he has shown some decent touches lately.
I think AA23 was always a laid back player...I think it is simple that he lost a step so was less effective, but he was still getting assists right up until he was loaned out. van Persie's great form killed Maraoune's confidence. He got limited time and didn't have a chance to find his form again. I think Arsene played this one badly. He should have found away to make him not to feel so discarded. I don't think Gerv was ever a true finisher. No one was shocked when he missed that penalty in the ACN even if he had a better run pre-January.
I second that. Gervinho was amazing and fearsome at Lille. He won l'Etoile d'Or de France Foot Ball ( the Gold Star of France FootBall magazine - Basically the MVP title) in 2010. He had a rather disappointing year at Arsenal, while showing some glimpses of immense talent skills. I think he will come good next year.
Yeah, I don't worry too much about Gervinho. I still really like what he brings to the table in terms of taking on defenders directly. Hleb had better ball control, but Gervinho goes at people. There are lots of ways to create space for others, but the best way is beat your man and make the defense collapse trying to recover. We need what Gervinho can bring to the table.
i think if gervinho played on the right like for lille he would be more effective, he is not a cutting inside and scoring player imo very wasteful when he has time
AA might have had fitness issues. No matter your technical ability and tactical acumen is, if you can't get yourself to the right place all the skills and smarts are useless. I think Gerv is just waiting for the light to "come on". If the EPL is the best league in the world, in terms of quality and depth of quality then these players are just not used to the quality of the defenders they are now facing. With strikers they can be very streaky. It's like a chicken/egg discussion. If they were scoring then they wouldn't be on the bench, but they can't gain the confidence to start scoring if they're on the bench all the time. Strikers just can't turn it on and off (and I think this is part of Arsha's problem) so the more you play the better you are.
Maybe the answer is less complicated than some of the theories above. We often buy lower quality players who struggle to preform against top level teams. The ones who do well at first but then fade might be down to other teams getting a chance to learn the player's strengths and weaknesses and design tactics against them. Many of them seem capable of short periods of playing above their usual level but then can't do so over the long season. Many also seem to struggle with the more physical nature of the Prem. The constant kicking they get (which goes up when the play well and are seen as more of a threat) makes them fade as seasons progress and they often get injured too. Refs offer less protection in the Prem so some of them clearly get more hesitant since they know the other team can get away with murder (or broken legs usually). The other factor is that some of them come from leagues with a winter break and thus are more likely to have trouble without that chance to recover.