mabe me laugh
Stick it in the Nietski
ANDREY ARSHAVIN reckons his Arsenal team-mates are Lenin to speak Russian.
The Leningrad-born midfield ace claims Gunners stars may only be Stalin to learn the language but they are already Putin it into practice.
He reckons it Ivan helped the North Londoners to thump Manchester City on Sunday for their third win on the Trotsky!
Arshavin insists he and skipper Cesc Fabregas were communicating in Russian at Eastlands, where the Spanish Tsar responded to the Ruskie's cry of 'Ya zdes. Dai', - or 'I'm here. Give it to me'.
The Russian international said: "It was automatic. I shouted to him in Russian and he passed the ball. He understood what I was saying.
"I am glad we managed to win such a very important game.
"We are still chasing Chelsea. But, hopefully, we can continue to play with the same motivation and drive to win every match."
Arsenal's 3-0 victory underlined their credentials as serious title challengers. Yet Fabregas has warned his buoyant team-mates they will not be classed as a great side until they win a trophy.
The World Cup winner said: "There are very good young players here. We have to make it a great team by winning things.
"It's still early in the season. After every win it's easy to say 'Oh, you are more mature' and this and that. The time to talk about whether we are better and more mature than before is at the end of the season.
"It's just one more game, let's not get carried away."
While he still has reservations, Fabregas was pleased with the character his team-mates showed against Roberto Mancini's men.
Despite fluffing the Gunners' third penalty of the season, he did not let it affect him and ended up playing a starring midfield role.
He added: "It's always easy to let your heads go down when you miss a chance or a penalty and feel sorry for yourself.
"But that's not the way we are and not the way I am. You just keep playing football.
"In that way, we showed great maturity and discipline."
He believes the Gunners put down a marker by ending their hoodoo against the new 'big three' of City, Manchester United and Chelsea.
Their weekend win brought to an end a sequence of 11 games without success against those teams and Fabregas feels that is a great sign.
He declared: "It was a very important victory, as we are back on track and it was against a direct rival.
"We are trying to win every game but it's difficult.
"When sides are at the top, it means they are the best.
"It's always difficult to play against them but we did well and played some fantastic football. We enjoyed it on the pitch and, hopefully, the fans enjoyed it too."
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