Arsenal 'must resist Arshavin'

Football Pools.com pundit Tony Cascarino has insisted that Arsene Wenger must resist the temptation to go for Russian playmaker Andrei Arshavin if he wants a chance of winning the title this season.

Cascarino believes that the Gunners need more physical players and told Football Pools.com that Arshavin is not the kind of player they should be buying.

ANDREI ARSHAVIN

"Arsenal need a central defender and a central midfielder and I think he's got to go after respected, top quality players, instead of always buying potential," he said.

"I think if he's ever going to get near challenging for the title again, he needs to have a few proven players in his team.

"I think it would be the wrong move to go for Andrei Arshavin, because Arsenal don't need that sort of player. They have too many that get the ball, run with it and play pretty football, and their problem is that they concede too many goals, with midfielders not being defenders and defenders not being defenders either.

"Going for flair players is not what Arsenal need. When I remember their line-up from when Wenger first took over, they had the back line of Dixon, Winterburn, Adams, Keown and Bould, they didn't have flair but they were rock solid and knew how to defend and how to do their job.

"I think he needs a couple of them in his team. He needs a midfielder who knows how to defend and a centre-half that is dominant and strong at the back."