Andrey Arshavin has admitted a lack of fitness hampered his performance in the second half of Arsenal's goalless draw against Fulham on Saturday, reports the Daily Mail.
The Russian playmaker also revealed that his team-mates still do not understand him despite having been at the club for a month.
"Fulham was a hard match for me," said 27-year-old Arshavin.
"Even before the end of the first half I felt as if I had spat my lungs out. In the second half my legs simply refused to serve me.
"I am not physically strong enough yet to play the whole of the match. But I think with each coming game I play it will be easier in this sense."
Arshavin puts his lack of match fitness down to the length of his break before joining Arsenal from Zenit St Petersburg.
Asked why his Arsenal team-mates seemed to shun him against Fulham, Arshavin told a Russian newspaper: "We do not fully understand each other yet. At Zenit the players knew where to run after passing me the ball to get it back. At Arsenal we'll have to work quite a lot to achieve such an understanding.
"In the first games for Arsenal, I am trying to simplify the way I play so as not to make too many mistakes.
"I need to get used to the new kind of football and to my new team mates before I begin playing my usual way."