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Arshavin had two golden opportunities to make "one more pass" to ensure a better scoring chance. Both these chances happened in the first 5 minutes of the match.  Two points: One, the game could have went a totally different direction if one of those two chances was a goal. Secondly, it can be quite the morale buster when your teammate refuses to make the obvious pass after you have gotten yourself in position. Contrast his play with the "reward" pass that Rooney got when he made his incredible charge 70 yards towards the goal. When everyone is involved, the results are usually better.
Most the analogies used above could easily have described a key basketball play. However, in soccer, you don't usually get so many chances to do the right thing/make the right play. Mistakes in soccer have much larger consequences.
Instead of the result of this one game, I would be more worried about the effect of Arshavin's choices on future matches. His teammates need to know that he is more concerned with the number of goals scored by his team, not how many come off his own feet.
As for the video site, I stumbled upon it in order to see why you said what you did. Thank you for "leading me" to this great site. I do not get to watch much soccer (no cable). But, now, I can get a fix when I need one.
As for the number of shots (20 vs. 12), Arsenal actually had a lot more chances. And, yes, many were forced as you pointed out. However, I would much rather be a team with many chances that occasionally results in few goals than a team with a few precious chances to convert.