Roman Pavlyuchenko admits that life in the Premier League is played
at a much faster pace than anything he was used to in the Russian league,
but confirms his love for the English atmosphere.
In his competitive debut for Tottenham Hotspur the Russian
forward failed to make an impact, but the former Spartak striker believes
he can fill the void left by Dimitar Berbatov if he is just given time.
"Everything was unusual for me," he told Izvestia daily newspaper.
"It's a different kind of football, with a different speed... I immediately
realised that English football is much faster than in Russia. Our opponents
didn't give me enough time to get to the ball properly."
"That's why I had practically no chance to score. So I'll have to
keep it up and work on it. And about 20 minutes before the end, the strength
started running out of me. My leg muscles felt unusually cramped up,"
he added.
"But what I also felt was the amazing atmosphere of the Premier League.
It's hard to describe. After each good pass or corner, people applaud,
they even stand up from their seats to do it. It's really pleasant to
play in such surroundings."
"I'm aware that Tottenham fans want me to be a replacement for Berbatov.
I failed to score, so I'm not a proper replacement for him - yet. He was
a key player and that means that if the Spurs people want me to replace
him, they must believe in me so I hope that I'll manage to help the team,"
he continued.
"But I have mixed emotions now. We lost and that means the result
was bad for us. As for my own performance... It was probably OK for the
very first game. In London I'm happy about everything - except for Tottenham's
position at the bottom of the table," he concluded.
