The ex-Arsenal manager George Graham said this week that the Gunners midfielder Andrei Arshavin was a very poor buy, and not good enough to play for Arsenal. This was then followed up by Roy Keane who slammed Arshavin’s performance in the midweek win over Marseille.
But naturally Wenger came out to defend Arshavin, but he may have gone slightly over the top in his description of the little Russian’s talents. He said: “You would not be surprised that I disagree with that. That is his opinion. I think he has been great for us and he will still be great in the coming months.
“He is a great player and you have to give him credit for that. He stands up for his performances. I personally respect him highly and I think he’s a great player.
“I like Andrey because he has a great attitude. It was a difficult game for him on Wednesday and for all the players who played up front because Marseille defended, they played for a point.
“There was not a lot of space for the strikers and as long as you don’t find an opening they will not come out, and that is what happened in the game.”
There were certainly a lot of “great”s in there from the Arsenal manager, but I am not sure that there would be many Arsenal supporters in total agreement with him…….
