During his playing days Andrei Kanchelskis was a fan favourite on the wings at Manchester United, Everton and Glasgow Rangers and hasn’t lost any of his attacking instincts, with cutting insights on Louis Van Gaal and Russia’s chances in France this summer.
On Louis Van Gaal at Manchester United
“I feel sorry for Louis because Sir Alex Ferguson is an impossible act to follow, but I don’t think he is the right manager for Manchester United.
“The best clubs have a philosophy and United have always been about attacking football, fast wing play and developing youth.
“Louis is a great coach with a lot of international experience, but his style is wrong for United. There has not been enough service and so there have not been enough goals and that must change.
“The one positive is that, recently, he has begun trusting the young players to deliver and given them chances. This will help give him some more time with the fans and maybe the club too.
“When I was at the club, the youth team became the first team. People always ask me who was the best when they were coming through and it is close between Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes. Ryan was electric in training and Scholes’ passing was amazing to watch – they were great to play with.”
On Romelu Lukaku overtaking his goal-scoring record at Everton
“Nobody likes to see their own record broken, but that’s what they’re there or and every season the standard of football rises, so you have to expect it.
“I’m very pleased for Romelu, he’s a fantastic player and Everton deserve a great goal scorer like him.
“He has the ability to hit over 20 goals a season, so that should be his target this term and next. Finally, I’d like to point out that Lukaku is an out-and-out striker, so I’m still the top scoring midfielder!”
“I loved my time at Everton. There was a really great atmosphere around the club and the fans were great with me, even though I came from Manchester!
“It seems like nothing now, but £5,000,000 was a lot of money and I did feel a bit of pressure, so it was great to have such a positive impact.
“To finish sixth with Everton that season was almost as good as winning the title with Manchester United because of the level of expectation. Nobody expected Everton it, so it was exciting to be a part of.”
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"Oh golly! What a volley!" Kanchelskis nets against Dunfermline, February 1999
On his time at Glasgow Rangers
“I really enjoyed my time at Rangers and in Scotland as a whole. The people are very friendly and passionate, in fact, I always thought there were a lot of similarities between Scottish and Russian people!
“It was a great time to be at Rangers because we were very dominant, so it’s sad to see them and Celtic not playing at the moment.
“The Glasgow Derby was one of the loudest matches I’ve ever played in, it was very intimidating so it was brilliant to score. I remember all of my goals, but that one against Celtic was very special.”
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Key man Artem Dzyuba finds the net for Russia
On Russia’s chances at Euro 2016
“Honestly, I think it is going to be a difficult tournament for Russia (66/1 to win Euro 2016). Our main issue is our defence is ageing.
“We have a lot of experience, but you have to look at how well England are doing now they have good young players coming through. We need more youthful players coming through.
“Luckily I think we have one of the best goalkeepers in the world in Igor Akinfeev and Artem Dzyuba is playing well for Zenit St Petersburg and has a good international goals record.
“I could see him playing in the Premier League, he’s very big and strong which is very important in English football.
“We have a very good manager in Leonid Slutsky, who is also the manager of CSKA Moscow.
“He has a very good record so far, but I thought Fabio Capello had a good record for us too – so he has a bit to build on. Staying injury free will be crucial if we are to make it out of the group.”
Key Man: Artem Dzyuba
Prediction: Group Stages
