Frustration, despair and disappointment has been the general themes of the Arsenal World so I felt it was high time I wrote about Gooner Daily and Arsenal’s player of the season, Robin van Persie. This bloke was the T in troublesome in his days at Feyernoord but he truly matured with age and has become one of the most lethal strikers in the Planet. He has had one major problem that has plagued his Arsenal career but he has proved again this season that a fit rVp can be a goal-hungry demon and can also be counted when called upon.
The Flying Dutchman from Rotterdam was rested at the start of the season due to the fact that his motherland spent the entire month with those Spanish aliens in South Africa. Dirk Kuyt was also in the same squad with rVp but that blonde chap has the stamina of an ox. When Arsenal visited Ewood Park, what seemed like a simple tackle on his ankle from a Blackburn chum was more than enough to give rVp another lengthy spell on the sidelines. He made his long awaited comeback when Arsenal hosted Partizan in that all-important Champions League tie and scored a spot kick from 12 yards.
He didn’t score any other goal in 2010 but he started 2011 with a big bang. Birmingham was the first team to incur rVp’s wrath when he fired a free kick off some bloke before deflecting past Foster. rVp scored a brace against West Ham in Upton Park with a penalty and a good shot with his chocolate leg after Nasri executed a lovely dummy that fooled the bloke marking him. In the FA Cup replay against Leeds, rVp settled everyone’s nerves with a good header from B52’s inch-perfect cross. The striker in red-hot form ended January with his first professional hattrick for Arsenal against Wigan.
He started off February with 2 goals against Newcastle but it wasn’t enough because Arsenal capitulated in the second half to end the game at 4-4 despite going 4 up at halftime. rVp scored another brace a week later against Wolves. The first was a brilliant scissors kick while the other goal will be remembered by the raw pace of Theo Walcott who outran the linesman to give rVp an assist.
Robin van Persie is renowned as a great goal scorer and a scorer of great goals. The goal against Blackburn in the 2005/06 season and the goal against Charlton in the 2006/07 season still stand out to me as his best Arsenal goals but the goal he scored against Barcelona on the 16th of February will sink into the hearts of Arsenal fans for years to come. That was the type of goal you tell your kids about.
He ended his February with another scissors kick in the Carling Spoon final that came at a cost. He scored only one goal that came in the last game of March in that disappointing 2-2 draw against West Brom that’ll be fondly remembered for Almunia’s sheer stupidity. Last month was also a red-hot month for Arsenal’s Flying Dutchman because he scored 4 goals in the 5 games Arsenal played that month. The last 2 goals he scored this month has seen him surpass his personal best in Arsenal colours because his goal tally presently stands at 21.
However, the goal scoring exploits of rVp were not still enough to deliver the first trophy to Arsenal’s cobweb ridden trophy cabinet. The Black Widow spider that’s currently living in our cabinet just extended her rent for one extra year at least.
Like Jack Wilshere, Cesc Fabregas and Wojciech Szczesny, rVp is also active on Twitter and he has an amazing fellowship that has surpassed the 360,000 mark. Even if he’s not following all his fans, he sees their tweets because they mention him from time to time. He’s clearly disappointed about how this season has fared so he had this to say,
“In a way, I do understand them because I feel connected with the fans. We have a really good relationship and I do understand them, I do understand their frustration sometimes”
The season is pretty much over so our Flying Dutchman shouldn’t feel so gloom. rVp also talked about the overall performance of the team and pretty summed everything up. He says,
“We came close, very very close to winning the Premier League title this season. One thing is for sure, we need to be more consistent because we have everything in our team. To play at the highest level is to be consistent.
To an extent, you have to agree with rVp. Some Arsenal players were very consistent this season. Players like Sagna, Nasri, Szczesny, Wilshere and Djourou played at a level similar to Arsenal’s Dutch forward. It’s also heartwarming to know that rVp is in line to be handed a new 5 year deal by his current employers. I guess AW wants to tie him down because his best years are still ahead of him. His current deal expires in 2013 but AW is not willing to take any risk because it seems as if Nasri may not extend his contract with Arsenal FC. I don’t know what those blokes at the city of Munich have told Nasri but I really hope that he remains with Arsenal for years to come.
In other news, Thierry Henry has talked to his fellow old compatriot Robert Pires to join him at the MLS. In recent years, players like Angel, Ljungberg, Marquez, Beckham and other marquee footballers have joined the MLS so Pires’ introduction won’t raise any eyebrows. He should feel free to join Columbus Crew with that other old hag Frankie Hedjuk who played with Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubbles in BedRock FC before playing for USA in the World Cup they hosted in 94. Pires’ should also feel free to join another pre-historic player in Chivas USA, Cuautemoc Blanco. I love that first name. It sounds like the name of a Red Indian or something.
Please check out this post by Sounak Mukherjee in his blog called Arsenal’s Corner. It’s worth a read.
Vijah Murali also wrote about the positives we can take from this season in his blog, the Invincible Gunner. They include Wilshere’s emergence, the performances of the goalkeeping Poles, rVp’s goal scoring form, Nasri’s ascendance, Walcott’s goals and assists, Sagna’s consistency, Song’s progress, the Djourcielny defensive combo and Ramsey’s comeback.
Those were definitely the bright sparks of yet another dark season for Arsenal FC.
Cheers to Robin van Persie
Arsenal’s legend in the making.
Sayonara
