Arshavin Unhappy with Form

Arsenal striker Andrei Arshavin has admitted to the fact that he has not been as good as he would have hoped before signing for Arsenal. Andrei Arshavin was one of the stars of the 2008 European championships, which resulted in a number of clubs surrounding him for his signature soon after, though it was Arsenal who ended up signing the Russian for around £15 million. Immediately after signing, Arshavin proved extremely worthy of his price tag as he both setup and created goals. However, he has not been up to the standard since then.

There have been plenty of rumours linking him with a move back to Russia, but Arshavin has denied such speculation. Now he has come out with the open statement that he himself has not been satisfied with his performances. In a recent interview, he said “To be honest with you, I think my match performances at Arsenal have been ok, but only average. I have done some good passes, assists and goals, but I don’t just assess my game on these things – I look at the bigger picture.  Hopefully I will improve.”

One of the main reasons that has been attributed to his average performances has been his playing position. For Russia, Andrei Arshavin place just in the hole behind the striker. For Arsenal, though, Arsene Wenger uses him out in the wings, which many believe is not his ideal position. That said, some of his best performancesfor Arsenal – including the memorable four goals scored against Liverpool – have come when he has been played in a wide position.

So far, Andrei Arshavin has made almost 150 appearances and scored 30 goals, which does not sound too bad initially, but his recent record has not been good. Only time will tell if he will improve his performances or not.