This post was started very sketchily last night as a eulogy to Robin van Persie beginning something like this; where the hell would Arsenal be without him right now? Well we learnt today after Arsene Wenger’s unfathomable decision to leave what is comfortably his best fit player on the bench until he was desperately needed with around 20 minutes left against a rather in-form West Ham side. Without him they were tepid, for all their possession they were a blunt in attack and recorded precisely zero shots on target in the first half.
Basically without him they are not going to score at the moment. It is becoming an increasingly well known stat that he scored or assisted every Arsenal goal in 2009, but what is most striking is that out of those 8 goals he has only scored three of them. That means 5 assists for what is actually Arsenal’s top goalscorer. So not only is he Arsenal’s main goal threat, he is currently the only reason why anyone else will be a threat. No wonder the wonderfully creative Arshavin is apparently Wenger’s only transfer target.
Suffice to say his introduction today was met with an absolutely enormous cheer at the Emirates. Van Persie is an absolutely fantastic footballer blessed with an incredibly articulate left foot, a newly developed shotgun of a right and the ability to produce the absolutely breathtaking; witness this ludicrous turn, or this absurd gravity-defying volley.
His stats this season aren’t bad either. In 26 appearances, including three as a substitute, he has scored 13 goals with 10 assists. That compares rather favourably with Wayne Rooney’s 12 goals in 29 appearances, and given that Van Persie was purchased for just £2.75 million compared to Rooney’s £30 million that’s some return.
Robin van Persie, when fit, is a good a striker as any in the Premier League, including Rooney and Torres et al. So why, why God why, when he is in the form of his life and fit for as long as he’s ever been, was he left on the bench for a rather tricky London derby. Wenger is clearly worried about losing his star performer to injury once more, but given Arsenal’s current plight, they cannot afford to leave their one shining spark out.
With Fabregas, Walcott, Rosicky and Eduardo fit, by all means then wrap our flying Dutchman in cotton wool from time to time. But now, when leaving him out means leaving the already rather inept Adebayor up front with Nicklas Bendtner, leaving him out cannot be an option.
