Josh Pedley
Manchester United have been the bane of my (footballing) life. Since 1985, the year of my birth, they have won 39 titles. Their record is astonishing. They may be absolute twats, but whether they play well, mediocre or completely sh*t, they win trophies.
Robin Van Persie came to Arsenal to win trophies. He joined a team that was invincible in the 2003-2004 season. By the time he decided to leave in the spring of 2012, Arsenal were invisible in the title race and have been, bar the flirtations of 2008 and 2010, since 2005.
Van Persie arrived a preciously talented youth. Thin and gangly but with a poise that belied his years and a technique, and physical edge, honed on the hard streets of Rotterdam.
He joined a team of legends, players like Dennis Bergkamp and Thierry Henry, who he had idolised back in the Netherlands and, in Arsene Wenger, a coach who had a proven track record of taking players of his ilk and turning them into world beaters.
The fit seemed perfect. We had an heir to Bergkamp's throne and he had a stage fit for his talent, and undoubted ego. But the timing was wrong. The age of austerity at Arsenal, as we moved down the road, meant that Van Persie, along with Cesc Fabregas, had to grow up quickly in a young team where talent, rather than personality and experience, was forced to lead the way.
It’s fair to say if he had stayed fit in 2008 we would have had a real chance of taking the title and not had to rely on just Emmanuel Adebayor to drag us through. And in 2010 we arguably had one of the best young teams on the continent but were let down by the club’s increasingly bizarre and prudent transfer policy.
The injuries no doubt robbed Van Persie of reaching his peak at a younger age but once fully fit he should, along with Cesc and Samir Nasri, have been indulged by the club and deserved to have a team built around him.
Wenger has always been lauded for his ability to spot talent but Van Persie and Cesc, and Nasri to a lesser extent, are genuine world class players. Some of the best of their generation. They were indulged on the field to do what they wanted, something Cesc is still paying for at Barcelona, but money should have been spent to make sure these two stars shone brighter than everyone else.
The calling of Barcelona was too good for Cesc to refuse, but it is also a point to think that it was an easy way out. A way to say goodbye without hurting anyone’s feelings because he was going home, an excuse not available to Van Persie or Nasri.
Yet there is no doubt that he also saw how far Arsenal were behind their rivals. That the manager was not capable of taking the team to the next level and the board not willing to fund the fans ambitions. Without the offer of Barcelona there would have been the real possibility of Cesc walking out on Sunday a newly crowned Premier League champion.
And that brings us back to United. We can hate them all we want but Van Persie, like Nasri to Manchester City, went their to win things and not for the money. The fact that he joined a major rival is irrelevant. Everton, Spurs are our rivals now. Not United.
If reports are to be believed he cared enough about Arsenal to demand changes to be made to make us more competitive, for players to be bought and coaches to be bought in. You may say who is he to demand that but, in an era dominated by fame and money, Van Persie is a real student of the game and he was only airing what all the fans have been thinking for a long time.
I have no doubt that Van Persie always dreamt of walking out at Arsenal as a Premier League winner and I'm sure a little bit of him still wishes he was doing it as an Arsenal player.
But the fact is, at 29, he couldn’t wait any longer for us to sort ourselves out. He did what he had to do to fulfil the ambitions that have driven him to become the player he is.
He is a champion and he deserves our respect.
