Robin van Persie says he has sacrificed some of his idealism when it comes to playing sexy football and claimed he urges his teammates to kill off games more clinically during tight encounters.
The Dutchman has been a stalwart defender of Arsene Wenger’s intricate passing philosophy since arriving in 2004, but despite still being a fan of quality interplay accepts that only points mean prizes. And he’s not had one of them since 2005. Which is a long time. As the press like to remind us.
“Nobody can play beautiful football all the time,” the Dutchman said in The Sun.
“When that happens I tell our lads ‘If it’s not happening for you, just try to kill off the game so we can move on’.
“I am still a lover of the beautiful game and always will be but I have become more realistic.
“It is too romantic to think that you can win matches by playing beautiful football alone.
“Barcelona are the exception – and I have to admit they and Arsenal are the only teams that I often watch on TV.”
Now the club’s outright number one striker, Van Persie also admitted that it has taken him some time for him to come to terms with his shift in responsibility. For years it looked as though the Feyenoord youth product was being groomed for a Bergkamp-esque strike support role, but with the exit of Henry and Adebayor and Wenger’s use of a 4-5-1 (4-3-3) formation the transition has been somewhat forced upon him.
“I have felt more like a centre-forward recently,” he said.
“In the beginning I had to get accustomed to the idea, I was not convinced that I could play in this position.
“Since then I have become clear in my mind, and grown into the role. I enjoy scoring more now these days.
“You can see it from my goals – some come about from willpower pure and simple.
“You can see it in my face, ‘OK, the ball’s got to go in no matter how’.
“I used to think about other options when faced with the goal – looking to find team-mates with a clever pass, going for a hook shot or blasting it.
“I am now far more matter of fact, even though I still enjoy a good assist.”
Yesssss!
He can play behind a striker, yes, but who would he play behind? Chamakh?
If we played a 4-4-2 I think alot of the pace we possess would be wasted.
The days of 4-4-2 being a useful attacking formation are over. Most teams use it to have two banks of 4 players to defend and then work possession up the field. Our present game is far to quick for that setup to be effective
good to knw dt we need to change our game wen d need arises
Are you adverse to certain vowels or just finishing words?
I think you’ll find the word you are searching for is averse.
Well i feel sheepish George, that was a very rookie mistake from me. I will be giving you a thumbs down for showing up my mistake but i also offer you kudos.
He should have a long talk with chamack
I think im reading too much into his statements :'(
In what way? Your comment has no information, just part of a paragraph…..
“RvP issues “come and get me” plea to Barca” <— how the red tops would see it
Surely if he has Barcelona DNA, with their money they would be able to create a clone. Wenger could then bid for that one too, which would be the perfect backup should the original ever get injured. You could also rotate without too many problems…
I am sure Wenger has stored all kinds of Fabregas’ hair, spit, skin tissue should the cloning technology ever be perfected in future.. 😛
Since RVP drops that deep, I can understand why Wenger opts for pacy wingers next to him. I could actually see Arshavin (or the same kind of player, in form) play off of RVP.
I don’t even know where to begin with that comment… Play Arshavin? Are you mental?
Reminder: Arsenal 2 Barcelona 1.
WhoScored?
Reminder: All the games after that.
Who didn’t score..?
Robin van Persie to equalise that allowed to us even get to 2 -1? Arshavin also let Alves go during the end of that game which almost led to an equaliser. Are you one of those fans hanging on to the memory of Arshavin scoring 4 against Liverpool in his first season and the second goal against Barcelona and reassuring yourself that he’s an amazing player and that having the Herbert Chapman statue on the pitch instead wouldn’t be more useful. In 90 league appearances, he’s scored 23 goals. That equates to about a goal every 5 games which isn’t… Read more »
His time of trying to emulate Bergkamp is past, now just chase after that legend of legends – Thierry Henry.
Lets be honest; there aren’t many, if any, players in world football right now that could emulate Bergkamp. Some of his technique was just surreal and looked like it was an accident until he did it again and again.
Either we Citeh and Spurs fans on here or some Arsenal fans are wrong in thinking that Bergkamp wasn’t the greatest technical player in the Premier League to date and some of his skills were immense. Name me one player that has done the “Newcastle goal” since….
wanna go for a drive? grab some pizza?
No thanks.
Just so you know, his name is Nicklas Bendtner and not Nickolas Bentdner. I don’t know if you’re being funny or have genuinely got it wrong…..
erm, sense of humour by-pass?
Slow day at work steve?
Haha well said Dan. Cheers
Not really, just need to cover all bases with my thoughts. Whether you or they want them or not
I just said what we were all thinking
Haha true
I love Arsenal and I love my fellow fans no other team has fans like us! Steve cheer up its xmas
“You can see it in my face, ‘OK, the ball’s got to go in no matter how’.
“I used to think about other options when faced with the goal – looking to find team-mates with a clever pass, going for a hook shot or blasting it.”
FUCK YES
Van persie- Dutch gold