Comments on: David Silva and Andrei Arshavin: Just Another Big Question

By: jake

jake — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 11:31:32 +0000

If we take the risk on Neves, I’ll trust the club, but if it comes down to Arshavin or Silva, I’d take Arshavin any day.

By: ursus arctos

ursus arctos — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 09:15:36 +0000

Isaiah, there are very complete stats for Arshavin on the Zenit web site here:

http://www.fc-zenit.ru/eng/person.phtml?id=9

I find myself in general agreement with Kxevin, though it is one of those questions where there is no right answer. Another factor in Arshavin’s favour is that he seems very, very much to want to come to the Camp Nou, which is not necessarily the case for either Silva or Thiago Neves. On the other hand, Silva’s experience with Xavi and Iniesta at the Euros should allow him to hit the ground running at full speed if he joins us.

Of the three, Neves has the highest risk/reward ratio, while Arshavin probably has the least; one knows what one is getting with the Russian, the question is how long he can maintain that form. Silva is somewhere between the other two on that particular continuum.

By: Ramzi Tanani

Ramzi Tanani — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 07:44:13 +0000

hi all I am new here,thanks to BA hehe
Isaiah I concluded from ur analysis the following:
“Statistical uncertainty, specialy for Arshavine”(increase the risk)
“comparing the 2 players in europe give very close score rating”
But “one of them is on his peak(abd actually wildly driven by the dream of playing abroad) and the other still have 6 years of improvementto reach that peak”
“one of them play on the ice, the other play in spain and already proved he can link well with Xavi and iniesta”
“one of them played more as a center who go wide, and the other play wide and cut inside”
Then I was smiling expecting that no doubt u will make the obvious judgement but…again medea hype make miracles!u still pick Arshavine over Silva, opposing all what you built your analysis on…
for me I will enjoy having iniesta on the wing, Silva if we can afford, or neves as a resonable/young risk…but a player who will start playing serious football(in barca)when he is 28, just because he had couple of good desplays…
hm…i wonder y clubs all arround europe (with all the scouting&Statistical staff) are crawling for Silva, it has to be for a reason.
Arshavine stocks raised when he was considered as a cheap hunting…afterward he turned to become a pop player to amuse public.

By: BA

BA — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 21:37:45 +0000

well most people know where i stand. Arshavin should be our last signing of the summer. Silva’s pros and cons have been discussed enough, but Neves is, in my opinion, more of a risk. he’s never played at a very high level, he’s not particularly fast, good at dragging defenders, or passing; he’s more of a shooter a la Cristiano Ronaldo. in fact, that’s probably the best description of him. a low rent Cristiano Ronaldo. is that really what we’re looking for? but even all that aside, it’s not certain we’ll be able to sign him anyway.

at best, we’ll have to wait 3 weeks to a month to start bidding, and who knows A. what his price will be like, B. if he even wants to come to the club, and C. who else will be interested. and if we DON’T get him, it will be too late to sign either Arshavin or Silva, and we’ll be left with our original problem.

By: Isaiah

Isaiah — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 18:43:44 +0000

I forgot to consider Thiago Neves, actually, but I have never seen him play (that I’m aware of) so I’m not sure how I can rate him effectively. I need to YouTube him and see what comes up.

His goalscoring rate for Flu is 30 in 83 league games according to Wikipedia. That’s 0.361 goals per game, which is fantastically better than either Arshavin or Silva. He’s also 23, and is 5′11. Both Silva and Arshavin are in the 5′7 – 5′8″ range.

Those are pretty good numbers and if he’s what Kevin is suggesting (that is, the real f’ing deal), then we should splash that €18million right about, um now. I’m hoping the Brazilians crash and burn in the Olympics for two reasons now: so Dunga gets the ax and now so that Neves remains cheap.

By: sid

sid — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 18:42:13 +0000

What about the celtic Winger who won the man of the match against AC Milan? Maybe he can step up his scoring after playing for barca

By: Kxevin

Kxevin — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 18:28:19 +0000

That’s a tough one, Isaiah. I still prefer Thiago Neves over either Arshavin or Silva, because of his size and trickery. He was on the boil for a while, but now Flu is waiting until after the Olympics, when his price will either skyrocket, or stay roughly where it is, in the 18 million euro range. I think that’s why we aren’t pulling any triggers yet. I know that Neves was a top target for a time, as was Hernanes. This latter was scuttled because of Sao Paulo’s refusal to deal. We suddenly stopped hearing about Neves, which makes me think that something is still working.

Arshavin is worth not a penny more than 20 million, and is actually worth more like the 15 that we offered. But the market is crazy right now. Silva is not moving for less than 25, a price I don’t think we’re willing to pay, nor should we be. In a way, Silva, who would demand first-team duties, would be a more complex addition than Arshavin or Neves, who would both be okay with sharing time with Hleb/Iniesta.

So given my druthers, I’m taking Neves, with Arshavin a distant second, then Silva. As Isaiah pointed out, age is the other complexity. At 27, Arshavin pretty much is what he’s going to be. Silva still has some growth potential, which is why Valencia want to keep him.