Robin van Persie impressed supporters with his debut season, and became a hero immediately after playing a monumental role in the clinching of the league title – his hattrick against Aston Villa the pivotal matchday for van Persie to impress and be remembered.
I am a massive fan of the Dutchman and always have been. His attitude, personality and his consistent desire to win make him one of my favourite players, but without doubt he has fallen off the pace since his phenomenal debut season, so does he still have the requisite quality to play for Manchester United, or is he simply surplus to requirements at Old Trafford?
Van Persie’s time under David Moyes was a strange one. He had his moments, notably his brace against Swansea on opening day and his Champions League hat-trick against Olympiacos were glimmers of quality in a largely injury-ridden season, where he was rumoured to be unimpressed by David Moyes’ managerial style and greatly let down by Sir Alex Ferguson who apparently promised to stay for longer when van Persie first joined. He was already showing signs that he had lost a yard of pace and wasn’t as sharp as he used to be.
It was clear van Persie needed to re-energise after his injuries and the World Cup provided him with the basis to do just that. What’s more, the announcement that Louis van Gaal was to become manager and how highly van Persie thought of him led to many people believing that he would return Van Persie back to his very best. So came the start of the 2014/15 season, where fans believed the combination of Angel Di Maria, Juan Mata, Wayne Rooney, van Persie and Radamel Falcao would have United as a dominant attacking force, with Van Persie being the centre-piece of it all, due to his past relationship with van Gaal.
Yet, with all the hype around their relationship and with all the hope put on van Persie to rekindle the form he had in his first season, he endured his most disappointing spell in a United shirt, notching only 10 goals, joint second with Mata. A spark had left van Persie, it was evident to all, he publicly claimed that the World Cup had hit him harder than he thought and it was apparent in the games he played. He no longer made consistent piercing runs and dwindled on the ball too much, often slowing down United’s build up play in comparisons to Rooney and Falcao, he wasn’t as sharp as a trademark van Persie should be.
Watching all his goals back, I also picked up on the lack of delivery he is also getting from his teammates. In his first season, he was consistently receiving passes from Michael Carrick and Ryan Giggs, with them almost knowing that he’s going to score or create a goal. Whilst this season, I have seen countless times van Persie, with his arms outstretched in front of him demanding the ball, yet never receiving. Most notably, when United visited the Etihad this season, he made a darting run around the City defence and Marouane Fellaini, instead of slipping him through with a seemingly simple ball, passed it sideways. I should clarify, that I am not making excuses for van Persie, he isn’t the consistent performer and finisher he used to be, but there is also a suggestion that his teammates appear less willing to give him the ball.
His performances this season have sparked a lot of fans wanting him sold, for a faster and more direct striker, on the lines of Alexandre Lacazzette or Robert Lewandowski. However, wouldn’t it be invaluable to keep him around the team? He is a senior, respected figure and can provide vast amounts of help to any younger players such as James Wilson and the incoming Memphis Depay.
The biggest problem for van Persie is that he simply isn’t good enough to be starting big games for Manchester United anymore. Sure he could take on a more senior role and play less, like Giggs did under David Moyes, however, in a recent interview van Persie stated: “Take note of my words. I feel 100% fit and have ambitions to play every week.” His ambitions make it clear that he doesn’t want to sit around and seeing as in he isn’t as good as Rooney upfront or if some of the rumoured names of Karim Benzema or Gonzalo Higuain are brought in, Manchester United cannot guarantee van Persie to start the majority of games, he simply isn’t at the quality Manchester United are looking for in their starting striker anymore.
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