Arshavin: I was too hasty
Andrey Arshavin is the worst critic of himself.
Despite being renowned for some memorable strikes in his time at Arsenal, the Russian is occasionally profligate in front of goal.
Indeed, the former Zenith man rarely nets tap-ins and most of his goals have been harder chances to convert than his misses, but few oppositions ever forgive Wenger’s side for their lack of ruthlessness in attack.
That was nearly the case on Saturday as a string of one-on-one misses by Arshavin cost Arsenal a clear half-time lead.
And the 29-year-old is not making up any excuses either.
“We didn’t allow them too many chances in the first as well as the second half. On the contrary, I think that if I managed to use my chances in the first half, the margin would have been larger. And the game would have been even easier for us.”
Asked whether his misses were due to the brilliance of Bolton’s second choice goalkeeper Adam Bogdan, Arshavin criticized his own efforts instead.
“No, I can’t say that he worked some miracles in goal. In my case, I think that I was too hasty.”
The Russian was not squandering every opportunity on Saturday though. Arshavin played a part in a couple of Arsenal’s goals and the most notable was his assist for Song’s landmark 1000th goal under Wenger’s reign.
“In that situation, I got the ball on the right side, when I was in the penalty area. Alex Song picked up the ball so masterfully that one could only applaud him.”
“I was there and I saw it from such an angle that it would have been impossible to score. He did it indeed and even before the game he promised to score.”
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…I mean even Vela came on and buried one within a few minutes, wtf man?
But Vela = younger, fitter Eduardo. He lives on finishing.
That said, I do recall Arshavin missing a sitter at Birmignham (which would’ve made it 2-0) before the Brums equalized courtesy of Almunia’s flap in that 1-1 draw last season.
Arshavin, Arshavin Arshavin. Either so magical or so woeful. He’s never in between.
I like the fact that in every recent interview ive seen he doesnt sound happy with how hes playing.
Yea, but that’s not good either, it shows that he’s acting like a 20 yrs old not the experienced 29 yrs old that we bought him for. Instead of being there to add more edge on the final third and help youngsters, he’s doing none and actually needs help. Probably the criticism is affecting him in the bad way which is make him feel depressed. That’s what happened when you think you knew it all.
Randy, I think the miss your referring to at Birmingham was made by Nasri
george you are correct my man it was Nasri
Nasri missed his by passing sideways when he should have shot. But just before that, Bendnter set up a great low pass for Arshavin which he only had to side-foot home, but Arshavin miscued it horribly wide.
Here’s my illustration
Of course we all agree that arshavin hasn’t been playing to his potential.
But to be fiar to him he does have 2 goals and 3 assists in 4 matches……….
Yea but god forbid we didn’t win yesterday’s game then there was no one else to blame but him and no one would/should care that he scored and assisted before that game.
“no one else to blame but him” ???
how about koscielny for a terrible error? there’s 10 other players on the field that need to play their part in a win, and arshavin is not the only player we rely on for goals.
I thought he did ok, was involved and made some good runs. yes he didn’t finish but we are only 4 games in. the fact he was in the positions to score is encouraging enough for me as opposed to the liverpool game where he was almost completely anonymous.
he’s improving as far as i can see and i think we’ll see better things soon from him
Arshavin was a let-down. But that is an eye-opener to him for the oncoming matches. He admits his poor judgement(haste),thus realising a mistake to be corrected. He will not only improve but also be magical. Watch him out against chelsea. Just a question? Do you think arsenal can produce a top-scorer? I think NO! Every1 just scores at will. Lets keep the FOCUS! Gunners 4 life.
He just needs a few more games to settle back down. He was critical of AW’s transfer policy last season and was bitching alot to the press.
If AA doesn’t find his groove soon, then he’ll need a break from the first team in order to settle down.
Arshavin is cool. He’s not playing all that well but I like him. He is dangerous and smart. Some days it happens for him, sometimes not. I think his comsistancy depends hugely on fitness. It does seem to take him time to get fit at the start of a season. He’s not a young man.
I agree. I’ve never thought him a spectacularly skillful player by world standards but there’s something about him. He gets it wrong on a lot of occasions but when he gets it right, he or a teammate he’s passed to usually scores.
It’s a little concerning that his finishing is a bit off at the moment, but his general play has not dropped. It’s still unspectacular at times, but decisive at others.
He has never been my favourite player, but I’m glad that we have him.
You are all being too harsh. He missed a very good chance but the second two were not easy. He carried on though and in the second half helped create two goals. That shows he is still working hard and trying things. His form is OK right now, not brilliant but OK.
Well, a great job men, let just believe saturday match was not Ashavin’s day i guess, cos each player has his day. Keeps d good job.
Was it just me or was Arshavin just anxious to get off the pitch? When Vela came on for Chamakh Arshavin rushed off the pitch like a puppy greets his owner. It just didn’t look like he was enjoying himself out there.
And Fabregas, I know he had created two of the goals, however his work rate is somewhat lacking behind other team mates who actually want the ball. You couldn’t see this in MOTD however in the live game that’s what I saw.
Way back to score is enjoy the game and happy in every touch football to show . Every touch is the greatest show . Enjoy the game ,please Asha