Andrey Arshavin has admitted he has been no better than average during his time at Arsenal, as he has failed to impose himself as the team's main man.

The Russia forward arrived in February 2009 as one of the hottest properties in the game, after his starring displays for his country at Euro 2008. He had also been the talisman at Zenit St Petersburg but, after a bright start to his Arsenal career, he has found himself on the fringes. Arshavin lost his place in the starting XI last season and, this time out, he is now behind the summer signing Gervinho in the pecking order.

All Arsenal's attacking talents, though, must play second fiddle to Robin van Persie, who is in the form of his life. The captain has scored 33 goals in 38 games in all competitions for the club in 2011, with the more eye-catching statistic being his 28 in 27 Premier League matches.

"Speaking honestly, I think my performances for Arsenal have been average," Arshavin said. "I've done some good things but I don't assess my game on goals or assists – I look at the whole picture. Normally when I'm on the pitch, I take control of a game but I haven't really done that here. I'm an extra tool in the team rather than the main one, so it's been different."

Arsenal's over-reliance on Van Persie was the talking point after the 0-0 Champions League home draw with Marseille on Tuesday. The centre-forward was used only as a 62nd-minute substitute and the team laboured in his absence. Ironically, he missed the game's clearest chance when he under-hit his attempted chip following Tomas Rosicky's excellent through-ball.

"It is a fact that Robin is a world-class player and an amazing striker," said the central defender Thomas Vermaelen, "but he can't play every game, we have a big squad and we have enough strikers to fit in in his place. I think there are goals in the team, away from Robin. We have enough players who can decide a game like Gervinho, who is very quick. We created enough chances without Robin against Marseille and Andrey can decide a goal, also. So we are confident that we can create and make goals without Robin."

Vermaelen has recently returned from surgery to correct a problem related to his achilles and he partnered Per Mertesacker for the first time, against Marseille, offering a glimpse of the future for the club, even if the omission of the in-form Laurent Koscielny felt harsh. Vermaelen came through the 90 minutes and he hopes to fulfil Arsène Wenger's prediction that there is "no reason why he should not play 50 games on the trot".

"The main thing for me at the moment is to get these 90 minutes under my belt," Vermaelen said. "I feel good and great. It's up to the boss who plays and it does not matter for me who is playing or who I am playing with because we know each other's qualities. You have to cope with it every game. It is not an excuse that you don't play or train a lot with each other."

Arshavin also feels as though he is primed for a positive period, after the relief of Russia's qualification for Euro 2012. "Since we've qualified, I've felt completely relaxed and comfortable," he said. "Hopefully, that will show in my performances because mentally, I feel much better than before.

"International results are very important to me and it's vital that Russia go to big tournaments. We missed out on the World Cup but we have made a big step now."