So why is Man Utd legend Kanchelskis dirty on Arsenal's Arshavin?

During his time at Manchester United and Everton, fans hardly heard a word from Andrei Kanchelskis.

Despite his high-profile, Kanchelskis kept his own council as far as the local media was concerned.

But that's all changed back in his native Russia, where the former winger is now one of the most outspoken pundits in the game.

Russian football expert Kate Partridge, the sports anchor at Russia's RT, told tribalfootball.com: "Kanchelskis has been coaching in the Russian second and third tier, while also working as a pundit, usually on the English Premier League. In Russia, he is recognised for both roles.

"As he was one of Russia’s best players in the ‘90s, played in the same Manchester United starting XI as Eric Cantona, and is also one of only a few in such a position who can speak both Russian and English, whatever he says is understandably given a high profile back in England."

Kanchelskis has often been critical of Andrey Arshavin's form at Arsenal, while Tottenham striker Roman Pavlyuchenko and Everton midfielder Diniyar Bilyaletdinov have also felt the full force of his opinion.

Partridge added: "In his December 11th column for gazeta.ru, he said: 'Arshavin is a good player – but not a star.'

"Kanchelskis says the Russian players in the English top flight spend too much time on the bench, and should make moves in order to get match practice, which is very important for Russia ahead of the upcoming European championships.

"He thinks that Arshavin, Roman Pavlyuchenko and Diniyar Bilyaletdinov are not bad players, but work needs to be done if they are to improve."

 
West Brom mad, Kate Partridge is the sports anchor at Russia's RT and writes a weekly blog on the Premier League for rt.com. Click here for more.