The sad story of Andrei Kanchelskis. The former Manchester United player insults everyone, but does not coach anyone.
Football expertise from former players and coaches is a special genre, beloved by fans. At the same time, it is not at all necessary to be an outstanding football player or a great coach in order to competently and competently evaluate the actions of colleagues. Unfortunately, something else is also true – sometimes the recognized stars of past years slip into comments that cause nothing but a smile, and firmly consolidate the image of football comedians.
So it happened with Andrey Kanchelskis. A man whose name is familiar to almost every resident of Manchester, and for United fans, he is on a par with Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and Eric Cantona.
So how did it happen that one of the most successful Russian legionnaires, whose game was admired in England, ends up in the information field only thanks to sharp comments on any occasion, which, with rare exceptions, are not without insults and bile?
Andrey Kanchelskis / Photo: ©
RIA Novosti / Evgeny BiyatovExpert full of bile
In recent years, the former midfielder of the Russian national team Andrey Kanchelskis has no job in football, but is very much in demand as an expert by sports (and not only) publications of any kind. This is understandable: the 54-year-old specialist willingly communicates with journalists, speaks brightly, bitingly, backhandedly – have time to choose headlines sharper and more outrageous.
At the same time, it is difficult to find someone about whom Kanchelskis speaks in a positive or even neutral way. His players are entirely of a low level, almost seeing the ball for the first time, coaches are amateurs who know nothing about football, and club leaders are crooks and thieves.
Here are just some of Kanchelskis’ recent comments:
– “Spartak” got me so much that I can’t talk about them anymore. It used to be such a great team, but now it’s a disgrace, like in the market. Therefore, please do not ask me questions about these ridiculous leaders. Previously, Spartak was a team with history, good leadership and ideas, but now there is nothing. It’s a pity, it’s a pity that everything is happening in the club,” Kanchelskis commented to Match TV about the changes in Spartak’s leadership.
– Until Dynamo sorts out its internal problems, it’s too early to talk about something. Previously, there were great specialists there – Gazzaev and Semin, in Spartak it was Romantsev. Everyone sees everything, but for some reason no one says anything. For some reason, I say, but they look at me as an enemy of the people and an enemy of football. I say what I see. It’s as if I’m saying that there is no rain on the street, when it really isn’t, and they answer me that there is rain, ”Andrei assessed the chances of Dynamo and the general situation in our football in an interview with Eurofootball.
— Departure “Ufa” was predictable. When crooks and dilettantes work in the club, that’s what happens. It’s a pity, because I worked in this club. Life goes on, it is necessary that the leaders of the club draw conclusions. “Ufa” does not deserve to play in the Second League. When we arrived in Ufa, we had serious goals. “Ufa” should be in the RPL. There are enough examples of such: “Tambov”, now here is “Ufa”. Leaders, draw your own conclusions, don’t you see what’s going on? Are you all blind? I can’t figure out what’s going on. If you want to develop like this, well, develop further, – Kanchelskis explained the relegation of Ufa to the Second League Match TV.
From Manchester to nowhere
Kanchelskis himself cannot be called an amateur or a random person in football, however, even the fans who share his position do not like the categorical and rude tone of his statements. This can be judged from the comments on sports sites, where under the news with the opinion of the former Manchester United star, many users openly mock him, and some doubt his adequacy and even suspect him of drinking alcohol.
One can only regret that Kanchelskis is not currently engaged in serious coaching or leadership work and does not pass on his wealth of experience to young people. Football players with such a powerful foreign career in Russia can be counted on the fingers, and Kanchelskis will still stand out. The talented midfielder made his debut in the main USSR national team at the age of 20, and two years later he moved to Manchester United on the personal initiative of the great Alex Ferguson, who was just building his legendary team.
Andrei quickly adapted to the English Championship and took the place of the main right midfielder of the Red Devils. Kanchelskis spent four seasons with United, playing 123 matches and scoring 28 goals. Together with Manchester, the Russian football player became a two-time champion of England, the owner of the FA Cup and the Football League Cup, and a two-time winner of the FA Super Cup. He also has a victory in the European Super Cup, although then the player only came to the club and watched the final against Barcelona from the stands.
The uncompromising and technical footballer almost immediately fell in love with United fans, who named him the best player in the team at the end of the 1994/95 season. Considering the array of legends Kanchelskis has played with, this award is truly worth it. After leaving Manchester, Andrei brightly played for Everton, Fiorentina and Rangers, with whom he became a two-time Scottish champion. At 33, the Russian briefly visited Saudi Arabia, and then came home to finish the game. After a scandalous parting with Dynamo Moscow, for which the player did not play a single official match, he played for Saturn and Wings of the Soviets, where he played his last match in 2006. A career that any Russian football player would envy!
Failed to train
After long and successful years of playing for the recognized European giants, as well as working under Sir Alex Ferguson himself, Kanchelskis had everything to make a great career as a coach or functionary. The prerequisites for this were both vast experience and authority in the football community. The work as the general director at Nosta and as a coach at Torpedo-ZIL, Ufa and Volga Nizhny Novgorod seemed to be only the first steps to great coaching achievements, but Andrei’s further path became a ladder down which he descended as rapidly as once soared to the top as a player.
After leaving the Volga in 2013, Kanchelskis was unemployed for a year, after which he went to Latvia, where he did not achieve success. Then there was the Moscow “Solaris” from the PFL, the student team of Russia and the Uzbek “Navbakhor”, from where the once tough footballer left with a scandal. The club’s management accused Kanchelskis of violating discipline related to addiction to alcohol.
It must be said that this is not the first time that the former Manchester player has been caught in a similar problem. So, the former coach of the Russian national team Miroslav Romashchenko responded harshly to Andrei on criticism of the game of the national team during the 2018 World Cup.
“I see the drunken yelps and empty howls of an unclaimed person who has nothing behind him but the past. The addiction to alcohol seems to have hopelessly removed him from a sense of reality, – Romashchenko wrote on the social network.
Alcohol was the reason for the unexpected termination of the contract with Kanchelskis by Dynamo Moscow in 2004. The White-and-Blues had high hopes for the most experienced football player, but in the end they did not include him in the application for the season. The reason was the appearance of Andrei in training while drunk. Later, this fact was noted by the leaders of Dynamo and other players. True, Kanchelskis went to court and won the process, having achieved the removal of the dismissal entry from the work book.
Andrey Kanchelskis / Photo: ©
RIA Novosti/Vladimir Trefilov
Now Kanchelskis, who has not had an official job in football for three years, is making comments so vitriolic and toxic that he may end up in court as a defendant. The list of people from our football that he insulted is already very impressive and constantly expanding. Another thing is that Kanchelskis has turned from a top football player with infinite authority into a person who rather causes pity. It is not customary to be offended by such people, you should rather not sue them, but feel sorry for them. But the clubs are in no hurry to offer them work – too ambiguous reputation and high risk.
