Dick Advocaat: Arshavin isn’t fielded just because he is Arshavin

Russian national team head coach Dick Advocaat spoke about Arsenal and the national team striker Andrey Arshavin.

«Andrey is showing willingness to give the team the best of what he has. I worked with him for over two years at Zenit and I know who he is. A brilliant player of a single episode. Expecting from him a ninety-minute running means not knowing and not understanding Arshavin.»

«But he doesn’t score. Since joining Arsenal, he scored only one goal for the national team. What does it mean?»

«One of his problems is that he plays 20 minutes per game. Arsenal head coach Arsen Wenger uses him as a player who can be fielded in the second half and who can refresh the game.»

«When Arshavin moved to London, he was a player of the starting eleven. Later he fell out of the line-up.»

«At Arsenal it is not enough to be a player of an episode.»

«Do you think Arshavin is the right captain for the national team? Is he a leader in the locker room?»

«To be honest, this team lacks leaders. But if you ask abroad, whom of the Russian football players they know, you’ll find out that everyone knows the name of only one player.»

«Don’t you think he is getting older?»

«No. But I want to emphasize one thing. I respect him as a player and a person, but If we find anyone better than Arshavin to replace him, this anybody will play instead of him. We have no ‘special relationships’, none of that. Please, do not think that Arshavin is fielded just because he is Arshavin. Not at all,» said Advocaat as quoted by Sport-Express.