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Scaredy Meerkat! Arsenal flop Andrey Arshavin blames fear and a lack of pace for his loss of form
By Sportsmail Reporter
Last updated at 10:47 AM on 27th January 2011
Out-of-form Arsenal man Andrey Arshavin admits a shortage of pace and a fear of expressing himself on the pitch have seen his career in London hit the skids.
The Russian midfielder has endured a torrid 18 months, dating back to his country's failure to earn a spot at last summer's World Cup in South Africa, and culminating in him losing his place in the starting XI. He has started just one league match since the 1-0 defeat at Manchester United on October 13.
Gunners fans who had tipped the 29-year-old to be the missing link in a Premier League title push have grown weary of his perceived laziness, as well as his poor recent goalscoring record.
Out of reach: Arsenal fans have turned on Andrey Arshavin this season
But Arshavin believes he is just one or two good performances away from permanently rediscovering his form.
'I am afraid of taking the initiative,' he said. 'When such thoughts appear, your final decision, as a rule, turns out to be wrong. And you waste a lot of opportunities. That was happening to me in recent matches.
Benched: The Russian has started just one league game since October 13
'Now when I get the ball, I begin to think, "Should I try and trick an opponent? Or if I do, will I lose the ball? And what if I make a pass? Won’t they think that I am trying to get rid of the ball?"
'Unfortunately, there is no button in a human body to switch off unnecessary thoughts. I need to train and play. After a few good performances, the courage and automatic decision-making are going to return.
'I do not have enough acceleration. From the very start of this season I felt I’m fast enough only in separate episodes. The reason? I don’t know. Maybe I’m just getting old.'
Arshavin has scored seven goals in all competitions and has been linked with a move back to Zenit St Petersburg, the side he left in 2009.
The backlash was most evident against Leeds in the FA Cup tie at Emirates earlier this month, forcing manager Arsene Wenger to come out in defence of his player.
'The fans were frustrated. That comes from when you don't win,' the Arsenal manager said. 'The fans are demanding. We were not consistent technically and so they picked on our inconsistencies.
'It is not through a lack of desire with Arshavin. He wants to do well. He took one touch too many with his first chance and the keeper did well to save another shot he had.
Marked man: Arshavin claims a lack of pace is holding him back
'Every player during a season has strong and weaker periods and he has had a weaker period, then two or three weeks on the bench.'
Wenger continued: 'I have no worries that Arshavin will come back into the team, but their confidence does suffer a little bit from that.
'We try to analyse our games in an objective way and I am lucky because our players are self critical, they analyse themselves well and they want to do well.'
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/foo...#ixzz1CGbVWQwp
Scaredy Meerkat! Arsenal flop Andrey Arshavin blames fear and a lack of pace for his loss of form
By Sportsmail Reporter
Last updated at 10:47 AM on 27th January 2011
Out-of-form Arsenal man Andrey Arshavin admits a shortage of pace and a fear of expressing himself on the pitch have seen his career in London hit the skids.
The Russian midfielder has endured a torrid 18 months, dating back to his country's failure to earn a spot at last summer's World Cup in South Africa, and culminating in him losing his place in the starting XI. He has started just one league match since the 1-0 defeat at Manchester United on October 13.
Gunners fans who had tipped the 29-year-old to be the missing link in a Premier League title push have grown weary of his perceived laziness, as well as his poor recent goalscoring record.
Out of reach: Arsenal fans have turned on Andrey Arshavin this seasonBut Arshavin believes he is just one or two good performances away from permanently rediscovering his form.
'I am afraid of taking the initiative,' he said. 'When such thoughts appear, your final decision, as a rule, turns out to be wrong. And you waste a lot of opportunities. That was happening to me in recent matches.
Benched: The Russian has started just one league game since October 13'Now when I get the ball, I begin to think, "Should I try and trick an opponent? Or if I do, will I lose the ball? And what if I make a pass? Won’t they think that I am trying to get rid of the ball?"
'Unfortunately, there is no button in a human body to switch off unnecessary thoughts. I need to train and play. After a few good performances, the courage and automatic decision-making are going to return.
'I do not have enough acceleration. From the very start of this season I felt I’m fast enough only in separate episodes. The reason? I don’t know. Maybe I’m just getting old.'
Arshavin has scored seven goals in all competitions and has been linked with a move back to Zenit St Petersburg, the side he left in 2009.
The backlash was most evident against Leeds in the FA Cup tie at Emirates earlier this month, forcing manager Arsene Wenger to come out in defence of his player.
'The fans were frustrated. That comes from when you don't win,' the Arsenal manager said. 'The fans are demanding. We were not consistent technically and so they picked on our inconsistencies.
'It is not through a lack of desire with Arshavin. He wants to do well. He took one touch too many with his first chance and the keeper did well to save another shot he had.
Marked man: Arshavin claims a lack of pace is holding him back'Every player during a season has strong and weaker periods and he has had a weaker period, then two or three weeks on the bench.'
Wenger continued: 'I have no worries that Arshavin will come back into the team, but their confidence does suffer a little bit from that.
'We try to analyse our games in an objective way and I am lucky because our players are self critical, they analyse themselves well and they want to do well.'
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/foo...#ixzz1CGbVWQwp
Paul Marin -19 is one thing, 20 is a whole other matter. It gets even worse if they win the UCL. *groan*. 
05/18/2011.MU fans naah cough, but all a unuh a vomit?-Lazie 1/11/2015
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