Arsenal News » Robin van Persie says he will reconsider his priorities

By Walter Broeckx of the Arsenal Benelux Supporters’ Club

After what seemed to be ages the return of Robin Van Persie comes nearer.

This week the manager revealed that our striker could be two weeks at the best away from real involvement in games. Last weekend Robin Van Persie was on Dutch TV and he really looks ready to take any chance he gets to come back in the team.

He was feeling great, he had worked real hard and he felt real strong. He has done most of his rehabilitation in Holland and according to the physio he really was in a good condition.

He even said that in the future he would reconsider some of his priority’s. This could mean that after the world cup he will choose the Arsenal before his country’s side and that must sound like real sweet music in our ears. Except maybe for the fans of the Dutch national team.

Did we miss Robin ? Yes we missed him. This season he played 11 games in the league and had 7 goals and he also had a fair number of assists to his name as well. In the CL he played 4 games and had 14 goal. So this makes a total of 15 games and 8 goals scored.

These are really good statistics one could say.

But there is more. Apart from being a good goal scorer he also is a player that makes people around him play better. He has good vision and he can pass the ball to team mates to let them score. Even his right foot was getting better and better in the last seasons.

And for the first time in years he looked stronger and he wasn’t bothered that much anymore with muscle injury’s that have hampered him in the last seasons.

So we not only missed his finishing but we also missed his overall play and his great link with Cesc during the first spell in the season. Since the day he got kicked off the field in Italy we did suffered a bit, not least because of the injury that Bendtner had in the same period. So we did not score as many goals as we did with him in the team. But even without him we are in the race.

Would our season have been different if we had him fit, apart from a little injury that every player suffers every now and then? Yes it would have been a different story and certainly in the top games which we lost.

Robin is one of those players who really likes the big games. If you just go back a few season when we won 2-1 against MIOU. Who scored the winner, and got himself injured at the same time? Yep, Van Persie.

Let’s go back to Chelsea last season. 1-0 down and who stepped up ? It was Robin who scored two goals in a few minutes to give us victory.

Or let’s take our home game against Liverpool and who made a magnificent goal? Yes Robin once again proved to be a player who can do something special in the big games. So we did miss him in the games against MIOU and Chelsea this year.

I’m not going to say that we would have won those games but I really believe that with a Robin Van Persie in full fitness we would have had more chances to come up with a result. Let’s not forget he is 26 now and he has showed that he is a world class striker.

I know that I have high hopes about Robin and really think it will be great to have him back in the team. But one has to be careful about him when he returns. Will he just go on like he did before his injury? It would be great if he could.

But if we are realistic about it we must realise that he will need some games to come back to this level and it will be the question if he gets enough time to reach this level in the remaining of this season. It would be really a bit ironic for The Arsenal if Van Persie would be fresh and shine in the World Cup because he was unable to play for us in the biggest part of the league due to his injury that he got when playing for Holland.

But it is great to see Robin back and we really will welcome him back on the field as an Arsenal player. The only thing is that we must give him the time he needs to come back even stronger than before. And I can only hope that the fans who like to moan a bit give Robin the time to get back and not slaughter him if he is not from the word GO at his highest level.

Robin told on Dutch TV that he is ready and real hungry to get going again. Let’s just hope that with his contribution he can bring the last missing link to bring us to an even higher level.

Robin who told to the fans when he signed that he could not leave The Arsenal because it is a club that gets in your blood. Welcome back Robin, we have missed you.

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