Arshavin says

During his stay in Russia Arshavin has talked to a number of local sports media. Here are some of the ideas.

On life in England

“The hardest thing was to adapt English principles. I was born in Saint Peterborough and has lived here for 27 years. England much varies from Russia, everything is different”. (“Sport-Weekend”)

“Of course for me it’s more comfortable in Saint Peterborough than in London, but it’s good that in London people don’t recognize me on the street”. (radio Zenit)

“During the first week I had problems with driving in England. I constantly wanted to turn left, I used to hit the borders. Paul, who is running common issues in Arsenal, after a ride with me said that I’m a crazy Russian”. (radio Zenit)

“In England if you are coming out of a night club you’ll sure meet one or two photographers, several times I met photographers, but I always was with my wife and my kids, and that’s not interesting for them”. (radio Zenit)

“The first season wasn’t even the beginning, it was just a demo. I just tried things, felt how it works, how to move, what to do”. (radio Zenit)

On English Premier League

“English Premier League is much better than Russian Premier League. Manchester City, who came 10th, have Robinho, Sunderland, they were even lower, had Cisse”. (“Sport-Weekend”)

“Of course, “the Big Four” are distinguishing, but Tottenham and Manchester City also have good squads, Everton have been very stable for the last 2-3 years. I think in the upcoming season at least 8 teams will be competing for the top places in the table”. (“Sport-Weekend”)

“Arsenal fans are supporting their players during the game, just like Zenit fans. In Saint Peterborough we have more performances, more banners, but in England they sing more. In England fans notice more elements of the game. A player can be cheered with applause for a good dash or even for an unsuccessful pass, if he passed into the right zone”. (radio Zenit)

On Arsenal

“Fabregas is the leader not just on the pitch, but also outside the stadium”. (“Sport-Weekend”)

“4th place is not that bad, but for 3 years Arsenal has not won a trophy and that’s disappointing”. (“Sport-Weekend”)

“I haven’t contacted the club during the vocation. Though I wanted to send an sms to Eboue, when media started to talk about his will to change the club, I wanted to tell him he shouldn’t. After all, I found out that I have only Bendtner’s number in my phone’s memory”. (“Sport-Express”)

“When I was signing the contract with Arsenal the 50% tax didn’t exist. But the only recipe now is to play better, so that the club would wish to sign a better contract with me”. (“Sport-Express”)

“I like the dressing room chemistry in Arsenal. The music is on, the guys are at ease, some are getting massage, some are playing with the ball, people are joking”. (ARSHAVIN.EU)

“Arsene Wenger is an intelligent and a very devoted coach. As far as I know, he watches very much football, he is constantly looking for young players. In Arsenal he is an icon, guarded by everyone. Everyone listens carefully to what he says, tries to do everything he wants. Before every game he says a couple of words to each player”. (radio Zenit)

On other Russian players

“There are plenty of rumours about Roman Pavlyuchenko, but I wish he’d stay in London. If any other Russian player comes to London I will be happy and will try to help him by any means”. (“Sport-Express”)

“Zhirkov is good enough for Chelsea. He is an attacking player, so he will compete with Chelsea’s attackers”. (“Sport-Express”)

“I would be happy if any other Russian player comes to Arsenal. Arsene Wenger knows Russian players and he has told me his opinion on some of them”. (radio Zenit)

On Russian Premier League

“I watched the whole 12th round and I enjoyed it very much. Firstly, the strife was hard, second, referees were determined and unbiased”. (“Sport-Express”)

“FC Moscow are doing very well on the moment, but CSKA and Zenit are much better than the “citizens” and any other team in the Premier League”. (“Sport-Express”)

On Zenit

“Zenit need to replace the departed players, but they don’t need just good players, the need star players and it’s hard to convince them to move to Russia”. (“Sport-Express”)

“Zenit needs a coach, who will guide the team to the title again. For the players it would be easier to work with a foreigner”. (radio Zenit)

“I want to end my career in Zenit, then my career would be beautiful”. (radio Zenit)

Miscellaneous

“My son Artem doesn’t play football. It’s embarrassing that my daughter Yana is playing football. Actually, I wouldn’t like her to become a professional player”. (radio Zenit)

“I have a dream. I wish to score throwing the ball over the goalkeeper while hitting from the centre of the field”. (radio Zenit)