Zenit St. Petersburg coach Luciano Spalletti appeared to criticize Arsenal on Thursday, suggesting that the English Premier League side lack a winning mentality.
Spalletti last week brought Andrei Arshavin back to his hometown club on loan after three patchy years at Arsenal
“I think that Andrei is coming here and facing a harder situation and tasks than he had at Arsenal. We only want to win, but I don’t know what they want to do at Arsenal,” he said in website comments.
That said, the pressure will be on the 30-year-old Russia captain to prove he still has what it takes to bring success to Zenit, where he was part of the team that won the 2008 UEFA Cup, and scored 76 times in 236 appearances, Spalletti said.
“Someone born in Petersburg is very proud of his city and everything associated with it. ... Therefore for [Arshavin] it will be extraordinarily important not to disgrace himself and to help our team.”
Arshavin returned to Zenit to gain match practice ahead of the Euro 2012 tournament in June, after struggling to hold down a first-team place at Arsenal.
