Robin Van Persie: Classy Player; Classless Exit Strategy
424 comments July 5th, 2012
Gunnerblog has been going for eight years this month. When you’ve been writing a football blog for as long as that, you become acutely aware of the cyclical nature of sport: you constantly have to find new ways to describe ‘thrilling’ comebacks, ‘shock’ defeats, and ‘unexpected’ triumphs. You’re always wary of sounding like you’re repeating yourself, or treading on old ground.
As an Arsenal blogger, this is particularly difficult. Our seasons have, of late, had an air of ‘deja vu’ to them: a promising start followed be a painful collapse. At least last season had the good consideration to feature three or four collapses rather than one disastrous diminuendo.
There is one specific theme I’ve become accustomed to facing. At this point, it is tempting to copy and paste an article I’ve written focusing on Patrick Vieira, Thierry Henry, or Cesc Fabregas. Instead, I’ll try once again to find new words to describe the beginning of the end of a relationship between club, captain, and icon. Robin van Persie is leaving Arsenal football club.
It’s a bold statement, but one that is impossible to contest. Certain fans cling to the similarities between the statement Robin issued yesterday and the transfer request issued by Wayne Rooney in October 2012. Rooney’s turned out to be a posturing act, designed to force United to increase his pay packet. I’m afraid, as far as Robin is concerned, there are several key differences. In the first place, Rooney was a good deal further away from the end of his existing – United were in a far stronger position. Secondly, Robin has already made plain that this is not primarily about his wage. Thirdly, Rooney was never likely to move away from his native north-West; Robin has already showed a willingness to change scene. And lastly, the Englishman always knew his goals were achievable with United. The Dutchman plainly does not feel the same way about Arsenal. The most optimistic prognosis is that he stays for twelve months before departing on a Bosman, but for reasons I’ll go in to later, that seems infeasible. In all likelihood he’ll be off in a matter of weeks.
We can’t pretend to be surprised by that prospect. We all knew this was a possibility. And we’re used to it by now – the loss of a star player and a captain has become routine; like a shake shedding its skin we’re accustomed to building new teams, new heroes. What’s so disappointing about this year’s annual betrayal in the manner of it. After keeping his mouth shut during the Euros, at Arsenal’s behest, Van Persie has gone rogue and issued a full and damning statement. It’s a statement that damages the manager, the chief executive, and the club as a whole.
I can imagine the way Van Persie’s ‘people’ have sold it to him: “It’ll keep the fans onside; show them you share their concerns. People will appreciate your honesty”. I’m sorry to say that if he bought in to that he has been severely duped. This statement makes Van Persie’s position as captain, and at the club at all, untenable. There is no way back from this, and as such he’s immediately knocked a few million quid of any price Arsenal could hope to get for him. Â The buying club will know that, and will doubtless have told Van Persie that without such a statement, any transfer could falter.
He did, however, have other options. People criticised Cesc for his silence last summer, but it was one borne out of a respectful pact with Wenger, allowing the club to negotiate a marginally better, albeit only slightly, fee from Barcelona without the added pressure that would have been created by public statements from the player. Alternatively, an agent friend of mine told me yesterday it is common for a player to do a deal with his club whereby he maintains a public silence in exchange for a small percentage of his eventual fee. In speaking out so vehemently, Van Persie has set light to bridges built over eight eventful years.
The club’s response was swift but ultimately meaningless. To say we “expect” our captain to fulfil his contract moments after he has done something we plainly did not expect at all demonstrates our powerlessness.
For Robin to be so bold, I suspect he already has an agreement with his next club in place. My hunch is that it will be Manchester City: a club who will surely satiate his desire for trophies, as well as providing a huge payday for a player who is 29 next month and beset with injury problems.
Arsenal are left to pick up the pieces, yet again. Fortunately some of them are already in place: yesterday ought to have been a ‘good news’ day, as Lukas Podolski officially signed his contract to join Olivier Giroud at the club. Van Persie’s imminent departure puts enormous pressure on those two players to hit the ground not just running, but sprinting.
There will be plenty of fans and pundits in the next few days getting their violins out for Van Persie, telling us how such a great player ‘deserves’ the opportunity to pursue their goals elsewhere. I won’t shed a tear for him. I’m an Arsenal fan, and I love the club above any individual. If Van Persie was the fan he claims to be, he’d be staying and fighting to win something his our club, our team.
I think that’s the saddest part. Deep down, we all hoped Robin would be a footballing anomaly: the one player who put the love of a club before purchased trophies and piles of cash. The bitter truth is that at the end of it all, he was just like all the others.
