QPR Pursuing Arshavin. For Some Reason.

In a surprising bit of news, several outlets are reporting that Queens Park Rangers are in the market to sign Andrey Arshavin.  The Arsenal winger, coming off a loan spell at Zenit, is probably not figuring in Arsenal’s plans this season, so he could be had for the right price.  Although nothing is confirmed yet, it appears that the Rs are one of the teams in serious discussions to bring in Shava.

First things first: I have no problem with Arshavin.  He’s got pace, he’s shown flashes of great skill, and he’s also an interesting character.  And, sure, if he comes to Loftus Road, I’ll be rooting for him to light up Premier League defenses.

Having said that … it’s really, really hard to figure out where Arshavan fits into the QPR roster.  And it’s not like we’d have to get rid of a reserve guy to make room for him.  We’d pretty much have to get rid of one of our new signings or few established players.  Which, of course, would make no sense.

Here’s how I see the QPR middie/forward/striker positions lining up.

Derry, Faurlin, and Park are all central / defensive midfielders.  Barton, if he comes back, is in the same boat.  Really only 2 spots for these 4 guys, but you need depth, and Barton is a huge question mark.  So no big overcrowding problem here.  But once you move forward …

Wright-Phillips is is straight-up wing.  He’s got the pace and dribbling to create from the edges, he’s got a decent shot, and a good motor.  Pretty much the same thing Arshavin brings to the table.  Taarabt is a winger / attacking middie-type who has dribbling moves, good vision, and can unlock defenses.  I’d pictured Taarbs and SWP on either wing this season.  There are other options, of course, but that was probably the most dangerous duo.

Hoilett is another true wing.  He’s a speedster who can dribble, pass, and who brings absolutely nothing to the table defensively.  I thought he wouldn’t be much of a scoring threat, but he notched one against Trabzonspor the other night.  So, basically, we already have 3 players for 2 starting wing positions.  OK, so Hoilett would work as a substitute and late-game “instant offense” guy, but I definitely don’t see either SWP or Taarbs starting the match on the bench.  If that’s the cost of getting Shava, no way should we be going in for that deal.

Of course, Arshavin can play a little striker or second-striker/”hole” guy as well.  But consider how many strikers we already have.  Cisse` looked solid the other day, and certainly has done enough to earn some playing time. Andy Johnson, who we just brought in, will certainly figure in the striker picture – as well he should.  He has the experience, the touch, and the toughness (which is exactly why we brought him in).  Zamora looks like he’s moving down in the pecking order; still, he’s a solid substitute or change-of-pace option.  And Jamie Mackie still has has something in the tank.  And since he can play multiple forward positions, he’s valuable to keep around, and can plug in in case of injury.

In other words, our front 6 were probably figured to look something like this, front to back:

Cisse`

SWP – Johnson – Taarabt

Faurlin – Park

with Mackie, Hoilett and Zamora as first subs, and Barton maybe getting some burn once he gets back.  But even if we had  injuries / needed two true strikers / people were ineffective, we could do something like this:

Johnson – Zamora

SWP – Faurlin – Park – Taarabt

or

Cisse` – Zamora

SWP – Faurlin – Park – Hoilett

or

Johnson – Zamora

SWP – Faurlin – Park – Hoilett

Basically, we’re already so deep up front that it’s going to be hard to find space for everyone once Barton and Faurlin are back.  Adding Arshavin would either (1) require us to get rid of Johnson, or bury him on the bench (a huge mistake), or (2) get rid of Hoilett.  And even that wouldn’t solve the problem.   In short, we already have an army of strikers, which isn’t even Arshavin’s best position anyway.  And we already have 2 really good wingers, and another decent looking one.  So someone is the odd-man out (even more so than now) if Arshavin comes aboard.

Again, though – if we pick him up, I’ll be the first to support him and hope he starts scoring some goals.  But I’d rather we go out and get one more defender, considering our 66 goals allowed were tied for worst against non-relegated Premier League teams last season.  Either way, though, we’ll be following the story all week.  Stay tuned to our twitter feed at http://twitter.com/QPR_offside for the latest news and notes.

Category: QPR Team News