The 62-year-old Dutchman, who succeeded compatriot Guus Hiddink after signing a four-year contract on Tuesday, inherits a team that missed out on this year's World Cup finals following a two-legged playoff loss to Slovenia.
Hiddink guided Russia to the Euro 2008 semi-finals and although he opted not to renew his contract after the World Cup failure, Advocaat insists the squad possesses enough talent to rule out the need for significant change.
"I don't think we would make a lot of changes in the national team. We have good players there," Advocaat said. "The main thing right now is to identify talented young players who could join the national team in the near future.
"I can only say that after such good work by Hiddink, we would only strive to achieve very lofty goals such as qualifying for the finals of Euro 2012," added Advocaat, who last month resigned as Belgium coach after just six months in the job.
"Arshavin is a good captain, he has respect among his team-mates," said the Dutchman, who often clashed with Arshavin during his three-year spell as coach of Zenit St Petersburg.
Advocaat was the preferred choice of RFU's new president Sergei Fursenko, who has known him since their days together in St Petersburg.
