Tue, 17 Feb 10:32:00 2009 [Eurosport]
Tottenham Hotspur's Russian striker Roman Pavlyuchenko has launched a stinging attack on England's food and women.
The 27-year-old, who has made a lukewarm start to his career at White Hart Lane following a £14 million summer switch from Spartak Moscow, said he had to get his wife to cook his favourite Russian dishes.
"I don't like English dishes. At the Spurs training ground, the food is modest. All they have there is a simple canteen," he said.
"At the Spartak training camp, near Moscow, the choice and quality is better. But since my wife Larisa joined me in London it's not a problem for me any more.
"She is a good cook and now I eat at home. I'm back to my favourite borsch and vareniki - dumplings stuffed with cottage cheese - and from this point of view I now feel as if I never moved countries."
In January 2008, then-Tottenham fitness coach Marcos Alvarez criticised food at the club when he arrived with former manager Juande Ramos, saying he had changed it for the better.
Alvarez said: "It was mostly English food and it wasn't healthy. We needed to change the diet because food is very important, it is the fuel for the players.
"To eat healthy means there is no fried food, fatty food, no sauce on the dishes. Now there are salads and fruit, while fish and meat is grilled rather than fried."
Pavlyuchenko continued his assault on his new home when asked whether Russia or England had the better-looking women, replying: "Russia, of course - there can't be any comparison."
The striker, who has 12 goals this season - nine in cup competitions - also said he was baffled at English attempts to pronounce his name.
"I hear how all the English football commentators pronounce my last name - but I can't even reproduce it," he said. "It sounds so distorted. I can't even say it."
Alex Chick / Eurosport
Tottenham Hotspur's Russian striker Roman Pavlyuchenko has launched a stinging attack on England's food and women.
The 27-year-old, who has made a lukewarm start to his career at White Hart Lane following a £14 million summer switch from Spartak Moscow, said he had to get his wife to cook his favourite Russian dishes.
"I don't like English dishes. At the Spurs training ground, the food is modest. All they have there is a simple canteen," he said.
"At the Spartak training camp, near Moscow, the choice and quality is better. But since my wife Larisa joined me in London it's not a problem for me any more.
"She is a good cook and now I eat at home. I'm back to my favourite borsch and vareniki - dumplings stuffed with cottage cheese - and from this point of view I now feel as if I never moved countries."
In January 2008, then-Tottenham fitness coach Marcos Alvarez criticised food at the club when he arrived with former manager Juande Ramos, saying he had changed it for the better.
Alvarez said: "It was mostly English food and it wasn't healthy. We needed to change the diet because food is very important, it is the fuel for the players.
"To eat healthy means there is no fried food, fatty food, no sauce on the dishes. Now there are salads and fruit, while fish and meat is grilled rather than fried."
Pavlyuchenko continued his assault on his new home when asked whether Russia or England had the better-looking women, replying: "Russia, of course - there can't be any comparison."
The striker, who has 12 goals this season - nine in cup competitions - also said he was baffled at English attempts to pronounce his name.
"I hear how all the English football commentators pronounce my last name - but I can't even reproduce it," he said. "It sounds so distorted. I can't even say it."
Alex Chick / Eurosport
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