Robin van Persie, Captain – Arsenal FC. At
least this is what the resume of the Dutch forward read a few days ago. After
the departure of the then captain, Cesc Fabregas, to FC Barcelona under very
similar circumstances (considering the players’ version about why they wanted
to leave AFC), the captain’s arm-band was rightfully passed on to RvP. Having
been in the squad for almost seven years, RvP was certainly one of the most
experienced players among a group of relatively young and inexperienced people.
The fans were desperate, the players were desperate, Clichy, Na$ri and Fabregas
had already made their intentions clear and even the mighty Professor was
feeling the heat. The Gooners, had all the rights to be desperate – six years
without any form of silverware is not what you expect from a top club that had
been one of the most successful teams in the previous decade under the able
guidance of Arsene Wenger. All this weight was falling on the shoulders of two
men – the Manager and the Captain. Either of them didn’t disappoint last
season.
The Past:
Many considered bringing in van Persie from
his boyhood club Fernyood at the age of 21 to Arsenal was a bad decision.
Infamous for his rather hot tempered on and off the pitch antics, RvP was
written off by many football pundits to be a bad buy. But the comparison
between the transfer sum for which he was bought by Arsene and the sum for
which he was sold – tells you about the transformation that was brought about
in him by Arsenal. His initial stint in the team primarily consisted of just
watching the legendary football display by the likes of Dennis Bergkamp,
Thierry Henry, Robert Pires, Patric Vieira and Freddie Ljungberg. But then his time did come after the retirement of
Bergkamp. Filling in the shoes of the former Dutch man was a big challenge for
young Robin. And being plagued by injuries didn’t help either. Thierry Henry,
on the other end, kept the show running for Arsenal. But soon ‘The Invincibles’
started to disintegrate. Ashely Cole, Patric Vieira, Sol Campbell, Lehmann,
Pires, Ljungberg and eventually even Henry left AFC in quick succession. New
crop of players – all particularly newbies formed the core Arsenal team. Cesc
Fabregas, barely 21, took the leading role. It was during this time, that RvP
had to capitalise and establish himself as the main striker. Hardly did he do
so. Many players came and went during this window – Eduardo, Adebawhore, Cashri
to name a few. Soon the patience was running out. During the start of last
season Fabregas quit Arsenal to join his
boyhood club –FCB. Even the petite pute
(French for little whore) – Samir
Nasri was lured by the cash rich blue half of Manchester. This was RvP’s
moment. The baton was passed to RvP in hope that he would finally lead Arsenal
to the ever so distant finish line and end the draught for a trophy.
Season 2011-2012:
Fabregas – gone, Nasri – gone, Clichy –
gone. What was left? A mediocre midfield consisting of Aaron Ramsey – returning
from his horrible injury, Abou Diaby (touted as being the next Patric Vieira)
*rolling my eyes* – who featured for Arsenal for not more than 5 games a
season, Jack Wilshere – who was to be later declared as injured for the rest of
the season, Tomas Rosicky – again a hard worker but injuries again playing
spoilsport, Theo Walcott – quick on the field but a bit dim tactically, and
Alex Song. But he took on the baton, and boy did he live up to the expectations
of a desperate fan base.AlongsideRobin, was a laughable strike force of Marouane Chamakh and Nicklas Bendtner.
Practically dead-wood. The fragile defence consisted of Thomas Vermaelan, Laurent Koscielny, Sagna and Gibbs ahead of
Wojchieh Wojciech Szczęsny in the goal. Clearly the team needed additions. To portray
the ambitions of the club, Wenger pulled off a seeming miracle by landing five
players in the closing 50 hours of the transfer window. Mertesacker, Arteta,
Park Chu Young, Benayoun and Ox-Chamberlain. This unit was the proposed
solution for Arsenal’s trophy famine.
The team wasn’t gelling; this was evident
in the 8-2 battering at the hands of rivals Manchester United. Then followed a
series of dull draws and not-so-emphatic wins. The team looked up to the
Skipper in these difficult times. RvP was the savior. It looked as if he took
it on as a personal challenge to guide Arsenal out of misery and install
consistency. Robin’s efforts on the pitch were seen when he helped Arsenal take
down Tottenham and Chelsea 5-2 and 5-3 respectively. Arsenal’s resurrection was
ultimately a result of a majestic 37 goals scored by the Captain and some
timely displays of brilliance by Yossi Beayoun, Arteta, Song, Rosicky, Walcott
and Oxlade Chamberlain. This included a fight back that saw Arsenal bridge a 13
point gap to finish above Spurs in the third position.
The Future:
Arsenal’s attack if RvP was to stay would
certainly have been incredibly potent. Giroud ahead of Podolski and RvP
supporting him and the midfield consisting of Wilshere (once he is back), Song
and Arteta with The Ox, Theo and Gervinho offering some fantastic options from
the bench. But sadly it’s not to be. Anyway, let’s talk money. Arsene’s
transfer kitty was credited £24 million
when Sir Alex Ferguson finally gave in to AFC’s evaluation of the Dutch
striker. And mind you, getting £24m for an injury prone striker who
had just one successful season under his belt is shrewd business by The Professor. A four year deal was
penned having weekly wages close to around £220000. Over the four years
duration RvP is set to earn around £45m just in wages. This means the overall
transfer will cost Man U a staggering £70m! Paying £11.5m in form of wages to a
player in his thirties is only next to impossible under the self-sustaining
model that Arsenal adheres to so prudently.
The Gooners are very much used to this
paradigm. Top players who give us a hope for a while and then poof - gone. Most
common reason during the exit interviews is - “Arsenal lacks ambition”. Maybe it’s true, maybe not. Different
minds, different perspectives. At the end of the season, as long as the balance
sheet shows profit, things are all right for AFC. Wenger brings in super
talented kids, nourishes them, harnesses them puts them in a fancy wrap and
then BAAM – sold to some rich club who somehow manage to pay at least 10 times
of what Arsenal bought the player for. Same was the case for Cesc and for
Robin. Robin now will be vying for the starting role of a striker in a team
which has Rooney, Welbeck, Hernandez, Berbatov, Bebe, Macheda and Nick Powell –
all of whom play in more or less the same position as Robin’s. That’s a lot of
competition for a 29 year old to break into the first team. Anyway Robin is a
wise guy. He obviously sees a future under SAF, so that’s that. The Gooners can
either mourn the loss or believe in a future with the new additions. As long as
Arsene holds the fort, we shall not worry. In Arsene, we trust. Now and always.
It’s tough being a Gooner. But we’ll survive,
we always do. No one is greater than the club.
