Sam Palerme
Players come. Players go. That’s the life cycle of a football club. Arsenal Football Club was founded in 1886, giving it a long and a proud history of 125 years. Robin van Persie was not the first player to join The Arsenal and he certainly won’t be the last to leave.
However, as is always the case, everyone will assess the reasons for his leaving and the nature of the exit. Some retire as legends (Tony Adams) and some will be sold with a legend’s status (Brady, Vieira, Henry). Others will leave in unpleasant and disappointing circumstance; in recent years we’ve had Cole, Adebayor, and Nasri. Sadly, I think we will be adding Robin to that list.
That Robin has chosen not to renew his contract is of little surprise; if he had wanted to stay, he would have signed a long time ago – just as Thomas Vermaelen did back in October. What is surprising is the manner in which he has gone about his business. Whilst many will blame his agent or his PR team, the fact remains that he is Robin van Persie. The statement was on RobinvanPersie.com. If he truly had class and respect for Arsenal Football Club, he would not have issued the statement that he did. This to me is the most disappointing factor of the whole situation.
So what of the statement? How have I personally read between the lines? Here are a few of the quotes, with my translations and views:
“This was a meeting about the club’s future strategy and their policy… unfortunately in this meeting it has again become clear to me that we in many aspects disagree on the way Arsenal FC should move forward”.
Translation/my view: at a recent meeting with fans, Ivan Gazidis spoke about Arsène’s policy to have no big stars when it came to wages. It’s for this reason, amongst others, that Arsenal have such a high wage bill, despite not paying the kind of big-star wages Manchester United do (a better comparison than oil-backed City and Chelsea). Essentially, Robin’s view seems to be that we could afford to pay him big-star wages (like United do Rooney) if we didn’t have squad players taking up so much of the financial resource (for example, I’d bet that Bendtner earns more than Hernandez). Having carried the team for large parts, if not all, of last season, Robin clearly feels he should earn significantly more than our squad players, and not just a little bit more as is currently the case with our ‘equality wage structure model’.
“Financial terms or a contract have not been discussed, since that is not my priority at all. I personally have had a great season, but my goal has been to win trophies with the team and to bring the club back to its glory days.”
Translation/my view: Robin thinking “I’d best get my PR people to remind everyone it’s not about money, it’s about winning things… ooh I know, like Mr Nasri did.” Well Robin, in eight years at Arsenal, you’ve only played 50% or more of our Premier League games in two of them (according to Opta). Of the seven trophy-less years we have had - and you have spent six of them in the treatment room – our ambition must have been good then though, Robin, as you accepted our contract offers, right?
“I’ve thought long and hard about it.”
Translation/my view: I decided about ten minutes after my agent returned from his Brian Marwood hospitality day at the Etihad Stadium, telling me City would offer me £250,000 a week.
Arsenal’s response was exactly what you’d expect. A reminder to everyone that Robin still has one year left on his contract, so if you want him, then you pay for him. What was interesting was how they emphasised our planning with “ambition and confidence”.
Using these words, in particular ambition, would seem to me like Arsenal’s way of sharing Robin’s real motives - money. You cannot say that Arsenal or indeed Arsène lack ambition. The journey on which Arsène has taken this club is unbelievable; none of us in our wildest dreams could have imagined being where we are today when he first arrived.
I’ve already heard people saying we must spend money to prove our ambition – this is nonsense and a result of the Abramovich/Sheikh Mansour days we now live in. Besides, if Vermaelen (Robin’s best friend) and the signings of Podolski and Giroud have not been enough, then where do you draw the line?
Robin’s likely destination is City. Let’s be clear – the money they spend on fees and wages does not prove they have ambition. It defines everything that is wrong with the modern game. City had ambition when they worked hard to climb back up the football leagues, to negotiate a move to their new stadium, when they spoke of being as good as United. When they failed to achieve that last (most important) part, they turned to an oil-funded billionaire. I’m sorry, but that is not ambition. It is not a philosophy. It is not filled with history, tradition, class, or pride. It is simply a method, to which they argue the end justifies the means, and to hell with the long-term stability and future of the club.
So Robin will go, and it will be about money, not football. Regardless, the most important part of either statement is the final line of Arsenal’s:
“We are planning with ambition and confidence for the next season with Arsenal’s best interests in mind”
That’s what we must all remember. Robin will have been offered a new deal; he would have kept putting it off – now he has finally confirmed his hand. We can do without players who have this mindset. We want and need players who share our vision, our ambitions, and who want to wear our shirt with pride. Sell Robin, and sell him fast. Sell him for a price we are happy with, to a club of our preference. Robin van Persie no longer cares about the interests of Arsenal Football Club, so we should pay little attention to his wishes.
