How many times would you have used him as the 70min sub last season instead of some of the other options we had?
Me? About 90% of the time. He did look unfit to play a full game but I can't remember a single time where he came as a sub and didn't offer something new for us. He can make things happen from a dead play, isn't shy of taking a shot now and again, makes runs through thick defenses...
The Henry goal was a great example last season. We had a full team of "hard working" players who looked completely lost, Arshavin came in as a sub looking calm as usual and made a play out of nothing for Henry to score.
I don't know if he'll ever be fit to play a 90 minute game at this point, but if he's happy to contribute 60 minutes as a starter, or 25-30 minutes as a sub every game, his creativity would be welcome. He has shown that he is able to unlock games. I think him coming on as a sub and Gervinho alternating on the right could be a nightmare for defenses.
I've said this before (mostly as a Walcott bash

), but if the same argument of "useless for large portions of the game" was such a valid excuse Walcott should have been out of this club ages ago.