On 3rd July 2007 Arsenal made a signing that got
me more excited than I had been about a signing for a long time.
Not because he was an up and coming talent. Not because he
was a big name or proven superstar. But because he was exactly what we needed –
a seemingly perfect fit for a team trying to rebuild itself after the
Invincibles.
Since our last trophy, the FA cup in 2005, we’d been playing
some brilliant football, but were finding it difficult to finish off our sumptuous
moves. We were dominating possession, but not turning that into goals (what’s
changed!).
Our strikers had the ability to do the spectacular, but
seemed to lack the killer instinct to do the simple; to sniff, to snatch, to
nick, and to poach.
Bergkamp was dropping deeper and deeper before retiring,
Henry working the channels a lot rather than staying in the box, Van Persie was
still finding his feet between time spent on the sideline, Adebayor was
starting his Arsenal career in clumsy fashion.
All could pull something special out of the hat, rarely
would they scuff a chance in off their backside after a scramble in the penalty
area. And it was costing us games.
Then along came a £7.5 million striker to change all that.
To be the final piece in a beautiful red and white jigsaw that was so nearly
complete.
To many he was an unknown, another classic Arsene signing
from his vast scouting network. To those in the know he was far from that. He
was consistently scoring in another European league and at international level
too. He was named player of the season in Croatia for three years out of
four.
To me, he was a ‘little-known’. I’d heard of him, but hadn’t
seen him in action that much. But when he signed for Arsenal, boy was I
excited. He was just what we needed.
With 83 goals in 123 appearances for his previous club Dinamo
Zagreb, this player defined the word prolific, he owned the term ‘Fox in the
Box’. People who scoffed at his scoring record only being achieved in a poor
league were reminded of his international record for Croatia – 18 goals in 29
appearances. Not too shabby either.
And I took great pleasure in reminding people that he was
instrumental in ensuring yet another pitiful England team didn’t qualify for the
2008 Euros.
Not only did he look to be a fantastic striker, but he had
character too.
Brazilian born, he moved to Croatia at the age of 16 to trial
at Dinamo Zagreb. That’s some culture shock at any age – never mind in just
your mid-teens.
Rumour has it he even spent a few freezing nights sleeping
in the Dinamo Zagreb stadium before he had somewhere proper sorted live.
I love it when someone has such an interesting background,
it made me respect the guy even more, it showed he had bottle, and I couldn’t
wait to see this brave, talented striker play in the red and white of my
Arsenal.
And you know what else struck me? He smiled. A lot. That
might seem trivial. But so many Premier League players seem to not enjoy the
game they are playing. Too intent on moaning at officials or looking cool. This
new striker seemed to really appreciate the fact he was at Arsenal, plying his
trade at the highest level. Seeing him grin so much helped me warm to him even
more. He just seemed like a genuinely nice guy.
He didn’t walk straight into the first team, taking a little
while to find his feet, as expected. His first competitive goal wasn’t long in
coming though, scoring in a Champions League Qualifier against Sparta Prague.
He impressed with 4 goals in two consecutive Carling Cup
games, and a mixture of impressive cameos like this and injuries to other team
members saw him become a regular starter for Arsenal. And by the end of 2007 he
was starting to score regularly for us in the Premier League. Goals like this
helped us top the table at the start of 2008.
He turned out to be much more than a poacher too. He had
more pace than I expected him to, and more trickery. He scored, he assisted, and
he won us penalties. Our new striker was really finding his feet, and the team
was clearly benefitting as a result. I was chuffed for the guy, I was chuffed
for Arsene for bringing in yet another talented player under the radar, most of
all I was chuffed for the team. I thought this could be the year we win back
the title, and I know I wasn’t alone in those thoughts.
Then it happened.
On 23 February Arsenal played Birmingham
at St Andrews Park. Unfortunately for our new striker,
Birmingham
employed a ‘proper centre-half’. A true Brit who knew how to play the game
properly. An experienced pro who knew exactly how to deal with a fleet-footed
foreigner. The type of brave, heroic defender a Brazilian-born Croatian
probably hadn’t come up against before.
Our exciting new player had clearly enjoyed too much of an
easy ride in the Premier League so far, and Martin Taylor took it upon himself
to change that.
As the Arsenal man ran towards the Birmingham
penalty area, up stepped Taylor
to stop him. So our man in red and white duly knocked the ball to Taylor’s left to take it around
him. Taylor
duly dived in, studs up, and planted the force of his boot on the Arsenal
player’s shin, raking it down towards his ankle.
The result? A broken left fibula and open dislocation of his
left ankle. The specifics aside, it simply looked like the worst break I had
ever seen - a mauling of his lower leg.
All that momentum, that finding of his feet, that promise
that was coming to fruition, now gone for a year at least… wasted.
And along with it went Arsenal’s title challenge. The shock
of the injury proving too much for some players to take in the immediate
aftermath. The loss of an in-form striker proving too much for the team to cope
with for the remainder of the season.
And all the while ‘Tiny’ Taylor was being defended as ‘not that kind
of player.’ A now all too familiar phrase used to absolve blame from the thugs
in our game. What our temporarily crippled player made of such staunch
defending of the man who potentially ruined his career we will never know –
because he was too classy to comment.
In a demonstration of true bravery, far above that shown by
our lionhearted centre-backs when they go in for a ‘robust’ challenge, our
Crozilian striker returned to first team action a year later in the FA cup on
16th February 2009. Two goals scored against Cardiff was a great comeback, a hamstring
injury wasn’t. And such niggly muscular injuries, as a result of being out of
action for so long, were to taint his comeback season, never really getting
going in the 2008/2009 campaign.
But all hope was not lost. Not for me anyway. With a proper
pre-season under his belt, I was excited once again about the prospect of
seeing the poacher make a real impact in an Arsenal shirt during the 2009/10
season.
Only yet again, he was a victim of a less than appealing
characteristic of the British game – this time at the hands of the media.
During our Champions League qualifier against Celtic, the
Arsenal man exaggerated contact from the Celtic goalkeeper to win a penalty.
Okay, he dived. Admittedly, it’s never nice to see. But the furor that followed
from the British press was even worse. This guy had done once in his time in England what our wholesome England captain
does several times a game. And yet he was portrayed as more of a villain than
the man who tried to hack his leg off 18 months previously. The media reaction
was truly unbelievable, and smacked of xenophobia. Anyone would have thought he
was a murderer, and such abuse and negative press clearly shattered our
striker’s confidence.
What followed was a season of brief appearances and more
small pesky injuries, with just the odd goal here and there. Something had
clearly been lost. Pace, confidence, sharpness, the ability to remain
consistently fit. And most significant of all – his smile had gone too. The
most exciting time of his career just wasn’t happening for him anymore.
Even at the times he was fit, he just wasn’t the player of
pre-Birmingham.
It didn’t help either that his long absence had seen a shift
in formation from 4-4-2 to 4-3-3, a change that didn’t suit his style or
maximize his abilities.
The club was moving on, and with so long out of the game he
couldn’t keep up.
And so now, in the summer of 2010, our great hope, our
smiling assassin, the instinctive fox in the box Arsenal Football Club has been
waiting so long for, has moved on. He signed for Ukraine club Shakhtar Donetsk for
around £6 million pounds on 21st July.
And who can deny him a chance to start again, to rebuild his
career, to rediscover his once lethal touch, and his once radiant smile?
Whilst he has been deprived of a real go at playing football
at one of the highest levels, us Arsenal fans have been deprived of what could
have been from one the most instinctive strikers to ever grace our turf, and
that will always hurt me.
But in one final act of class and humility, he left us this
message:
"Before I start a
new chapter in my career with Shakhtar Donetsk, I just wanted to send a message
to all my friends at Arsenal.
"The past few days have been very emotional for me. Although I am excited
about the challenge ahead with my new club Shakhtar Donetsk, I am so sad to be
leaving my home for the past three years - Arsenal Football Club.
"Arsenal is a very special football club and I will miss so many people -
my team mates, all the staff and of course, the wonderful Arsenal supporters.
"I would just like to thank everyone for your support during my time at
Arsenal. When I first came to England,
I could not speak the language and knew nobody, but as soon as I arrived I was
made to feel at home and part of this big family. Also, I want to say thank you
to the Arsenal supporters - you have been fantastic to me and always sung
my name and I will never forget this.
"I had some very difficult times with my injury, but Arsenal was always
there for me - the medical staff, the management, the players and the
supporters. Thank you everybody.
"Although I have now left the Club, Arsenal will always be in my heart. I
will always look for the Arsenal results and of course, I wish Arsène Wenger
and the great players at the Club well for next season and the future."
So, Eduardo Alves da Silva. I’m so sorry it came to this. It should never have. Thank you. Goodbye
and good luck.