Russian legend and former Manchester United winger Andrei Kanchelskis believes Andrey Arshavin has still not adapted to the demands of the Premier League, despite signing for the Gunners almost 2 years ago.
The Torpedo-ZIL manager has expressed his thoughts on his national compatriot and has branded the diminutive Russian as a ’70-minute player’. Speaking after the home defeat to Spurs last Saturday, Kanchelskis was quoted in the Daily Mail as saying:
‘In the first half he played very well and played and assist, but in the match as a whole it wasn’t enough.’
He finished off by saying:
“Physically, our striker is not ready for British football. Andrey is a 70-minute player.”
So are Kanchelskis’ claims valid of the Arsenal forward? Or is the former Everton man being a little bit harsh towards his fellow countryman?
This is not the first time Andrei Kanchelskis has criticized the Arsenal man. A few months back he slated Arshavin for having no idea and heart to be the Russian captain, and it seems now the Russian is questioning the 29-year-olds ability and fitness to play in the Premier League. However, the 41-year-old believes that playing Arshavin out of position has led to his big decline:
‘Arshavin is good up front if he has freedom. But when he plays rigidly and has to cover, it is hard.’
With that being said and after having a look at the striker’s statistics for this season so far, it appears Kanchelskis’ claims of Arshavin are unfortunately true and Wenger also seems to agree as well.
Andrey Arshavin has made 13 Premier League appearances so far, 10 of which he has been substituted in. To add yet more fuel to Kanchelskis’ argument, Wenger is continually saying that the Arsenal number 23 needs a ‘rest’ which he got after the playmaker was left out of the squad to travel to Portugal last night.
Without a doubt, Andrey Arshavin is a top-class player for Arsenal when he is in the zone, sadly for us fans he’s not always init. His enthusiasm levels have dropped as the years have gone by, which is a shame because he is a great player. The reason(s) for his drop in interest is unknowable, but I have a feeling it has something to do with his deployment on the wing.
So, on the evidence stated above, it does seems that Andrey Arshavin is in fact a ’70-minute player’ like Andrei Kanchelskis states, although, he is a top quality one.
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I think Arshavion is a quality player when he shows it, on his day he is one of the top players but that is when he shows it.
Its so weird ever since his first game for Arsenal two years ago, he is just going down hill. I love this player but he must show more in games.
Only problem with this guy..is that he lacks heart…modern day players are mentaly weak…they are convinced that they are tired and therefore it affects their performance…..great player….when HE wants
some one please say him to defend the ball as he is not good at attacking and advice him to become a team player not the solo one who waits for the ball in the left side of ground.i remind his performance when we draw with liverpool 4-4 I wish i could see such performances in every match as all the gunners over the world wishes.But this little fat man always disappoint me.This man has passed his best years and will never display the performances as he was before when arriving to ashburton grove.As he has the experience of the Barclays premium league he can tutor the youngster to help them become the world class .
Anyway i wish luck for my team arsenal to win over the Dortmund tonite.