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Robin van Persie not done yet at Arsenal

July 9th, 2009 | By: Jan | 26 Comments »

Arsenal wasn’t deaf to the unprecedented interest in the man who came five seasons ago to London for a fee from Feyenoord. Chelsea, Man City, Man United, Inter Milan and Juventus all showed interest in Robin van Persie. But it wasn’t fear to lose him, that drove the Gunners to offer the creative attacker a multi-million euros deal. Months before the interest, Arsene Wenger already stated that Robin van Persie would be the main man at the club. Van Persie is Wenger’s figure-head for Arsenal’s “total football”.

With all that interest, the love for Arsenal must be really big inside you?

Van Persie: “I let my heart do the talking. I can’t see myself play anywhere else for now. It’s my dream to win silverware with Arsenal. That’s the main feeling I have. I may have been able to make even more money elsewhere, but money isn’t my biggest motivator. I make enough. Acknowledgement as a player is what I’m after. That’s why I play. For the love of the game and to be appreciated. And I am appreciated here. Arsenal has dug really deep to show me that and this club is the top. And they haven’t stopped looking upwards. We want more, I want more, but not more money. I want more success. So, I made list. What do I have here and what is it that I want. My coach appreciates me. My colleagues appreciate me. I have a tremendous connection with the fans. My family loves living here. My gut tells me I’m at the right place and I want to achieve more with Arsenal.”

Did you have lots of talks with Wenger about the future?

“I did but I didn’t need to. I know how he thinks. I did wanted to know the official strategy and vision of the club and I needed to know whether Wenger and myself were on the same page as the Arsenal management. I yearn for the world top and so does Arsenal. I’ve had good talks with the new general manager and they support Wenger totally. So I trust the board, the management. We still need some time of course. Buying great players is one thing, but you need time to make that final step. It took Sir Alex Ferguson years to get to here and Barcelona’s success is not just Guardiola’s. He’s successful now on the back of Van Gaal and Rijkaard’s foundation work.”

Wenger speaks highly of your leadership on the pitch and in the dressing room.

“I don’t think I’m too young to be a leader. When you’re 26 years old, it’s supposed to come to the surface. Or not. Cesc is a leader too and he’s much younger still. I’ve played 200 games for Arsenal by now, so…”

Was this your best season in your career?

“In the years before, I was more the man of the assist. My goal for last season was: stay fit, keeping on giving the crucial final pass and score more goals. And I did all that. I scored important goals against Tottenham, Man City, Chelsea and Liverpool. The bigger the game, the better I get. I’ve achieved my personal goals, I played 52 games in total, 44 for Arsenal. I may not have won anything but I am satisfied about the season. Our team offers a lot of quality and experience. Rosicky is recovered now and he played 70 internationals. Adabayor scored 20 goals in 50 internationals. Arshavin is a big star even. Clichy is France full back, Cesc has 40 internationals and he won the EC. I have 37 internationals to my name. We have a tremendous team. We might need two more players to complete it all and then we can for the title.”

But the Champions League finals seemed far away.

“Yeah, I never felt we had a chance… Maybe in the first ten minutes of the second leg, but one little slip up by Gibbs meant we played a lost game after those first minutes. The 80 minutes after that were the hardest in my career. But that game convinced me to stay. I’m not a quitter. These games stimulate me to do exactly what most people wouldn’t. Some players would say: we didn’t stand a chance so I’ll leave. I say: we didn’t stand a chance, but I want to learn from this and come back with a vengeance. I want to win the next semi finals. Hopefully against Man United.”

How important is the role your family plays in your decision to stay?

“A big role and a simple one. They wanted to stay. My son is a typical English lad. My wife said I’ll follow you wherever you go, but if you ask me, I’d like to stay in London.”

What’s your connection with Arsene Wenger?

“As off day 1 here I trusted him and he trusts me. His vision is fascinating, the way he looks at the game and how he wants to play. He is so different. He’s adored all over the world and he will never budge. It’s a big big coach and a tremendous human being. We share the exact football vision. He wants to attack, let the ball do the work, pass-and-move… You can win prizes with this football and entertain the masses. I know what he thinks, he never really needs to tell me anything…. I can tell by his behaviour, his looks, his body language…I know what he wants and how he feels about me. We communicate without words.”

IS that why Bergkamp stayed at Arsenal so long?

“I don’t think you can compare my situation with Dennis’ situation. He was pretty well developed at Ajax when he came here. He was Mr Bergkamp when he arrived. People were silent whenever he said something. When I came, I was a misfit from Feyenoord who was seen to be given a last chance. When Dennis played here, it was still boring Arsenal and he was key in changing that, with Wenger and later Pires and Henry. I really was a nobody in England when I arrived. I only won 1 prize here and have lots to play for. Dennis was champion of Holland with Ajax, played tremendous games for Oranje, won two European cups (Ajax and Inter)… The only thing that you can compare is our position on the pitch. I am proud and very happy to have played with him. Dennis was the Master on the pitch but also off the pitch. I highly respect him as a player and as a person.”

Did Dennis teach you the love for Arsenal?

“No he didn’t need to. I was 21 years old, Dennis was 34. I only had to look at him, Pires, Henry and Vieira to see how good it was to play here. Those lads were tremendously passionate about the game and they radiated that passion with everything they did. What they ate, their warming up, the love for the ball, taking care of their boots, what they did with fans and all that. It gave me a kick to witness that. I want that too, I thought… I wanted to prove myself to them and respected them to the max. In the old days, on the streets, I was arrogant and even at Feyenoord I challenged the big players. That’s how I was… I really thought guys like Van Hooijdonk, Bosvelt and Van Wonderen couldn’t teach me anything anymore. When I saw the guys here at Arsenal, I though…”okay…”. Maybe I should shut up and learn now. I learned by watching, by observing… I loved every minute on the pitch with them. And they gave me the strength to do everything to succeed here.”

Tags: Arsenal, Bergkamp, Group C, Persie, Pires, Wenger

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Comments

Displaying the most recent 25 comments from a total of 26 comments.

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By Tiju | July 9th, 2009 at 1:15 am

@alaa ha ha
@jan you could ALSO right the same post under the headline”VAN PERSIE THE DUTCH GLADIATOR”
Attitude of the players like znijder,vanpersie,bommel,schaars are highly appreciable.this gives me some hope for 2010WC.This attitude was absent in last generation except Edgar davids.
The difference between RVP and (znijder,roban)is RVP is a teamman and they are not.
—————Stekelen——————-
Vanderweil—–Bulahruz—Mathjenson—-Brapheid
——————–De jong—————–
——————Znijder———————
Vaart————Vanpersie (C)———Roban
—————-Hunter——————
but if we play with kuyt and elia it gives more balence and strength
Subs
Babel
Elia
A combination of Zuiverloon-Bula-Mathjenson-Braphied would be a nightmare for spain,brazil,arjentina teams.whenever we play aginst these teams i prefer these back line.

Posted from India

By alaa | July 9th, 2009 at 2:07 am

maybe it is gonna be like this after the news of dutchies staying in madrid:

————steklen———————
v.der wiel mathijsen boula braadfheid
————dejong——————-
gullit rijkaard cruyff v.persie
———-van basten———

just kidding:)

By finnster01 | July 9th, 2009 at 6:02 am

Just saw some footage of JC visiting some of the Dutch riders in Tour De France this morning in Barcelona. Maybe there will be a Dutch winner today?

By Alex | July 9th, 2009 at 6:46 am

In fact we have more than one player capable of winning the Ballon D’or, only, V.Persie is in a youth team right now, and Sneijder, Robben and co(meaning V.d.Vaart and Huntelaar are obviously only small outsiders) are being screwed by Madrid.

Posted from Netherlands

By Alex | July 9th, 2009 at 6:54 am

@ Alaa, I’d rather have this

———V.d.Sar
V.d.Wiel-Stam-Mathijsen-Braafheid
Gullit—De Jong—-Cruyff
V.Persie-V.Nistelrooij-Bergkamp

Posted from Netherlands

By Mohamed | July 9th, 2009 at 8:43 am

i highly suggest to drop all players who warm the bench with their clubs out of the dutch squad
it will be a suitable ( punishment ) for them ,

van der vaart who knows he wont be in the starting eleven whatever he does , coz real madrid wont pay 65 million in a player to put him on the bench , and he still wants to stay in real madrid !

babel who has no hope to play at all and still wants to stay in Liverpool!

sneijder has a hope to play as a holding madrid , robben may has a good chance to play beside kaka and ronaldo in the midfield

no chance for huntelaar , ruud

they have to know there are other good players to replace them in the squad
afellay, de guzman , elia , castelen , amrabat ,bisseswar , sarpong ,…..
can replace them !

By Bart | July 9th, 2009 at 8:52 am

You can’t be serious Mohamed How can those players even come close to replacing our stars? Seriously? Castelen, De Guzman, Amrabat etc? Fuck that man, I’d rather have benchwarming Sneijder and van der Vaart. Our stars can’t possibly be replaced by those young/out form/shit players right now.

Posted from Canada

By OranjeRules | July 9th, 2009 at 9:01 am

Why no love for Koeman???? If Stam is playing in at CB then Koeman is a perfect libero! That man had a deadly right foot!

By Mohamed | July 9th, 2009 at 9:32 am

hey bert , well i agree with you , no doubt we have to go to the world cup with vdv and sneijder , but we have officially qualified to the world cup
so there is no problem to play with those (inexperienced ) players , they will get used to play important matches and – at the same time – our important players will think again about their future !
BTW , my favorite player in Netherlands is van der vaart , and i cant imagine Netherlands playing without him

By Bart | July 9th, 2009 at 10:04 am

It’s Bart :p With an A haha. But I’d actually prefer to keep the core the same. Nothing wrong with trying out a young lad once in a while but I want to win every single game in qualification. No use getting lazy because we are already qualified. I just don’t think any of those players are ready for the senior team except for maybe Affelay.

Posted from Canada

By Oranje_For_Life | July 9th, 2009 at 4:26 pm

The most reliable players in Oranje squad by far are Mathijsen and Van Persie. That’s what i’ve been noticing from your fantasy squads

Posted from United States

By alaa | July 9th, 2009 at 4:29 pm

latest news on “calciomercato.it” says huntelaar is very close to stuttgart, if these news are true that would suck so much. at 25 years of age and one of the best strikers in the world plays in germany!!!! why???? where are the spanish and english teams??

By ferenc | July 9th, 2009 at 5:15 pm

stuttgart is better than sitting on the bench. hopefully manu will contact him but they still wait. i don’t know why other english clubs are not interested in him but let’s wait until the end of august or at least july. spain: barca’s attacking line is complet,atletico has forlan and aguero,valencia maybe (if willa leaves),villareal has giuseppe rossi. sevilla: kanoute and fabiano (if fabiano leaves huntelaar might move there). too many if and stuttgart really wants him.

Posted from Hungary

By Peter vdL | July 9th, 2009 at 5:40 pm

alaa, many world-class strikers play in germany. gomez, klose, olic, dzeko, Ibisevic to name a few. infact the bundesliga is now considered a tougher league than the serie A.
I don’t think you’ve watched much bundesliga over the last couple of years.

Posted from New Zealand

By Jeff | July 9th, 2009 at 5:53 pm

I hope KJH goes to England. Better Tottenham than Stuttgart. Stuttgart has nothing on Ajax, and he may even do better by returning to Ajax. Regarding the others from Madrid, they must go, except perhaps Sneijder and Robben. After having read the interview with RVP, and finding out how much Wenger likes total football, I really wonder why he would not want to buy Sneijder, VD Vaart or Huntelaar.

Posted from United States

By Igor | July 9th, 2009 at 6:40 pm

@Jeff, Arsenal simply cannot afford to buy any of RM’s dutch players. Remember that Wenger rarely splurges on a big transfer for an established star. In fact, arshevin broke arsenal’s transfer record last winter and he probably went somewhat cheaper than market value because he really wanted out, was cup-tied, barca was no longer interested (if they ever were) etc. Hunter, van der Vaart or Sneijder are going to be much more expensive, plus arsenal already have playmakers and strikers and need to strengthen in defensive postions (not that they couldn’t use these players, its just not a priority and only RM buys more attacking players even when they really need to improve the defense first).

And as to why the English clubs haven’t started a bidding war over Huntelaar, I think its because of a couple of reasons:

1) they want to let Real Madrid sweat it out thinking they are not going to be able to offload their dutch players so that they will lower the asking price. I also think that RM is now savy to this which is why they’ve turned around and said that 4 of the dutchies were safe, so that they don’t appear as desparate to get rid of them.

2) the big english clubs that can afford huntelaar are already set at the striker position. Chelsea already has anelka and drogba, liverpool has torres and only play with one striker anyway and are probably more worried about hanging on to alonso and maschenaro at this time anyway. ManCity has a huge excess of strikers and have already bought santa cruz this summer and are rumored to be in for eto’o. Arsenal already have RVP and adebayor and can only afford to buy huntelaar if they sell adebayor (which in turn makes things complicated, depending on whether or not AC lands fabiano etc so that you wouldnt expect a deal to be worked out this early into the summer). ManU are rumored to be interested but would also probably be ok without huntelaar since they have rooney and berbatov (and owen provided he doesnt get injured). spurs spent so much money last year that i don’t know that they could buy huntelaar, unless they sell first, which again will take time. Aston villa and everton can’t afford to buy a RM player and really by this point huntelaar may as well go to stuttgart where at least he’ll play in the CL.

just my thoughts, i’d be interested to hear what people think.

Posted from Canada

By Caleb | July 10th, 2009 at 9:27 am

Stuttgart is certainly a better destination than Ajax. Klaas Jan has already scored so many goals in the Eresdivisie, it’s obviously not much of a challenge for him anymore. He needs tougher competition to hone his skills, and the Bundesliga will definitely give him tougher competition than in Holland, and he’ll also be playing CL which would be great. England/Spain would be the best, but Germany wouldn’t be too bad.

Posted from Canada

By Jan | July 10th, 2009 at 9:33 am

True. Let him score in Germany and Oranje will be safe.

By Carlos | July 10th, 2009 at 5:07 pm

Agree with Igor and others KJH should go to Germany. CL football and it’s not so easy to score there. Good stage for him

Posted from Singapore

By Alex | July 11th, 2009 at 6:36 am

Wherever he may play, Huntelaar will become a phenomenom like V.Nistelrooij, i have no doubts about that. Only I don’t see Stuttgart as a suitable club for Huntelaar. I’d rather see him at Man United then Stuttgart.

Posted from Netherlands

By Jan | July 11th, 2009 at 7:02 am

Ok, so now I read that Robben and Heinze are offered to Liverpool and Sneijder, Robben and cash to Bayern for Ribery!

Good God!

By Jan | July 11th, 2009 at 7:04 am

And AC Milan reportedly wants Sneijder, Robben and Vaart….

Jeez?

By sonneveld | July 11th, 2009 at 1:01 pm

i think it is good that elia has gone to hamburg
Vaart, de Jong, mathijsen and Boula all did well there and he should do well, they qualified for uefa right?

germany with elia mathijsen boula and braafheid is a place for most of our medium leveled players right now and I will be definetly keeping an eye on it.

I don’t get the games though does anywhen here get them?

By finnster01 | July 11th, 2009 at 2:02 pm

Rafa has said he plans no big signing and laughed off the rumours of ‘pool going after Ribery. Liverpool Echo still says he’ll offload Babel though.

By finnster01 | July 11th, 2009 at 2:03 pm

I should also add that he always have been very high on Henize for some very unexplainable reason (to me anyway)

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