Alex Hleb: ‘Andriy Shevchenko is too old to play in the Premiership’

Ollie Irish

16th, January 2007

5 Comments

HlebCrisis club Chelsea – although second in the Premiership is the kind of crisis most clubs would kill for – are fair game at the moment. And Arsenal‘s Alexander Hleb has taken the opportunity to have a potshot. The Belarussian has claimed Andriy Shevchenko is too old to adapt to the English game.

Hleb, aged 25, says the 30-year-old Chelsea striker left it too late to make his move. He added: "I was never convinced he would be able to play in England. I don’t have anything against him. I respect him and rate him as a player. The Italian and English leagues are two very different propositions. And the younger a player is, the easier it is for him to adapt and get to grips with English football." [Rob Parker, Via The Sun]

Posted in Arsenal, Chelsea

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5 Comments

  1. Ollie, Pies Ed. says:

    Don’t agree with Hleb – Chelsea’s style is more of a problem for Sheva. It doesn’t suit him – plus, he’d clearly rather be out on the golf course.

  2. joe says:

    Hleb has been pretty disappointing himself.

  3. Kazama says:

    Heh.. then what Hleb has to say about Henrik Larsson?

  4. Nicky S says:

    Larsson played for many years in the Scottish league, much more similar to the English league in style than the Italian league. So presumably it would not be so difficult for him to adapt.

  5. joe says:

    I think there is definitely a chasm between the pace of both the Scottish League and the Italian League when compared to the Premiership. Point being, at 35 and having spent precious little time in any of Europe’s four biggest leagues it is quite remarkable how well Larsson has done right off the bat. A great little pick-up by United.