Football Talk - Pavlyuchenko's 'psychological problems' - 29/10/09
Roman Pavlyuchenko's inactivity at Tottenham is causing 'psychological problems', according to his agent. The Russia international is fourth choice striker at White Hart Lane behind Jermain Defoe, Robbie Keane and Peter Crouch in the club's pecking order.
Pavlyuchenko, signed for £14million from Spartak Moscow by former manager Juande Ramos in August 2008 was handed a rare start in the Carling Cup victory over Everton in midweek. But he is expected to be back on the bench for Saturday's North London derby date with Arsenal, with Crouch set to partner Keane due to Defoe's suspension.
And his agent Oleg Artemov had admitted that his client is struggling to come to terms with Redknapp's lack of faith in his abilities. Artemov told The Sun:
"His poor performance recently is not due to a lack of match practice but psychological problems. Of course, not getting into the starting line-up, sitting on the bench is not good for any player. But Roman is much more affected by the feeling that the manager doesn't trust him and prefers to use other forwards."
Pavlyuchenko is now set to hold further talks over his future with Redknapp amid fears that his international place could be in jeopardy with the World Cup looming in the summer. Russia tackle Slovenia in a two-legged play-off in November with the winners booking their ticket to the finals in South Africa.
Artemov added: "The World Cup is next summer, to waste another half a year on the bench may be very bad for his international career. It's hard to say if Pavlyuchenko's less than impressive performance in the match against Everton will influence his future at Tottenham. It may become clearer after our next meeting with Redknapp. Roman and I plan to talk to him again after Russia's two World Cup play-off games against Slovenia in November."
