Arshavin onset of Arsenal exodus

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Arsenal has sent dismal failure Andrei Arshavin packing back to Russia. (AKIRA SUEMORI / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS ARCHIVES)

Arsenal made its most significant move of 2012 on Friday by shipping Andrei Arshavin back to Russia, where the attacker will spend the rest of the season on loan at Zenit St. Petersburg.

On the face of it the transaction wasn't all that meaningful.

Arshavin had fallen out of Arsene Wenger's good graces, and the manager had even banished the 30-year-old to the reserves before finally giving up on him.

Symbolically, however, Arshavin's exit speaks volumes about Arsenal's decline -- louder, even, than the growing chorus of Gunners fans calling for Wenger to, if not retire gracefully into the background, follow the Russian out the door.

Arshavin, don't forget, arrived at Arsenal in 2009 as their record signing and was expected to be one of the jewels in the crown of Wenger's youth project when it finally came good.

It never did, and now Arshavin has become the first to leave. He won't be the last.

That the transfer came just two days before the season's second North London derby is purely coincidental, albeit not insignificant.

Arsenal will face Tottenham Hotspur, their mortal rivals, on Sunday and could fall out of the Premier League's top four if they lose at Emirates Stadium, which form and momentum suggest they will.

For while the Gunners are in a four-way race for the final Champions League spot, Spurs are securely bolted into third and could move to within four points of first-place Manchester City with a win.

While Arsenal has begun a squad makeover with Arshavin's departure -- one that may continue involuntarily if top scorer Robin Van Persie quits the side in the summer, as has been suggested -- Spurs are on the cusp of a period of excellence perhaps unparalleled in their history since the early 1960s.

Coming into Sunday's match Tottenham is unbeaten in five and have only lost once since Dec. 11 -- a run of 15 games.

Gareth Bale is in the best form of his life and is establishing himself as a world-class winger; Luca Modric has grown into one of the Premier League's top playmakers; Emmanuel Adebayor, who Arsenal sold six months after Arshavin's arrival, leads the side in goals and assists.

Masterminding it all is Harry Redknapp -- the man being tipped to manage England at Euro 2012. It's not hard to see why.

Under Redknapp's guidance Spurs have progressed from a decent side capable of the odd cup run into a legitimate Premier League contender. They have arguably the deepest squad in the division and have masterfully blended young blood and old.

They're about to qualify for their second Champions League campaign in three seasons and will be no pushovers when they get there.

But perhaps the most tangible achievement for Spurs, at least to their fans, is the way they've usurped local bragging rights from their hated rivals.

Arsenal, don't forget, were winning cups and titles a decade ago while Spurs were locked into mid-table mediocrity. And Arsenal, until recently, had that admirable ability to rise to the occasion on derby day.

Local pride has long dwelt at the south end of Seven Sisters Road, but it's about to move north.

On Sunday Tottenham Hotspur have the chance to do their first league double over their archrivals in 19 years.

And what a time to do it. Failure to finish in the top four would likely mean a mass exodus at Arsenal, with players and coaching staff--Van Persie and Wenger among them -- following Arshavin out the door like a trail of ants.

In Arsenal's decline it doesn't get any more depressing than this; in Tottenham's rise it can hardly get better. Their long-time foe is wounded and winded, and Spurs stand ready to apply the coup de grace.

jerradpeters@gmail.com

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition February 25, 2012 C6