Arsenal legend Winterburn: Arshavin not solely to blame for Man Utd defeat

Arsenal legend Nigel Winterburn has sympathy for Andrey Arshavin after his performance in defeat to Manchester United.

Winterburn, who also knows a bit about defending, insists he wasn't totally blame for United's winner.

"Arshavin has been smashed to pieces because he didn't tackle Valencia," Winterburn told the Sovetskiy Sport newspaper. "But he is only partly to blame.

"Andrey is not an experienced defender and it is not so easy to stop guys like Valencia. But he still keeps going to the end and tried his best. Where were the defenders? The blame must be shared by all the defensive players, and Andrey too.

"I agree with Gary Neville to some extent. If he doesn't get pleasure from playing in England then of course it would be better to go to Wenger and say, 'Arsene, I want to go home'. But I think it's just Andrey is suffering bad form. He can return to his previous level, he just needs to make an effort."

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