To be fair mate, calls for RvP to be dropped in recent weeks have hardky been knee jerk or unwarranted.
Yea he's had a good match tonight, but that doesn't undo what's gone before.
Let's just hope it's the turning of a corner for him.
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Yea he's had a good match tonight, but that doesn't undo what's gone before.
Let's just hope it's the turning of a corner for him.
His best game of the season, he actually went past opponents on more than one occasion and looked more mobile than he has in months.
Yep, he has been quite poor at times and I've mentioned several times in this thread that he's more or less finished as a top player. I'd still have his experience and skills over any youth player and today proved exactly why. We shouldn't have scored either goal if not for his ridiculous finishes, which no other player we have could've produced.
Raoul no offense but this is a forum and people have a right to give opinions. We won the game. Be happy not childish. The fact is, Wilson is our forth striker this season and therefore a valid option. The main thing is we saw a great performance from RVP but it's one game. Now we pick on Rooney till he starts scoring again 
That's why he should start ahead of Wilson or any other youth player for that matter. Excellent hold up play, especially in the second half, 2 goals that not many in the squad are capable of scoring. Has arguably had his best game of the season.
He's got his strength back, his fight. Reminded me of the man that won us a title. He'll score again vs Liverpool, just watch.
Didn't see the game, but judging by this thread he had a good game. Sounds like his goal last match may have given him a bit of confidence back, and allowed him to get back to doing what he is good at.
Good to see him get the two goals, and hopefully this good performance leads to a run of form and isn't just a one of.
Good to see him get the two goals, and hopefully this good performance leads to a run of form and isn't just a one of.
just proved it once again, form is temporal and class is permanent.
the best thing to see was how rooney celebrated his goals with him. earlier of the season rooney even deliberately chose not to pass to him. i think rooney has finally realized they are no longer rivals. they are now being on the same boat and robin goals can only do all good for rooney captaincy in united
the best thing to see was how rooney celebrated his goals with him. earlier of the season rooney even deliberately chose not to pass to him. i think rooney has finally realized they are no longer rivals. they are now being on the same boat and robin goals can only do all good for rooney captaincy in united
thought van Persie looked pretty sharp again...his running and positioning were also like the van Persie of old.
He must start with Rooney again. We should be able to beat the scousers. Pity about Smalling though.
He must start with Rooney again. We should be able to beat the scousers. Pity about Smalling though.
I've heard that also, but I've also definitely heard a ton of him missing "easy" chances that were in no way easy and unfair to say a 12/13 Van Persie would have scored them. Hopefully the hate will go away now, or at least start to dissipate.
Of the things about which there is no doubt, however, this is one of them.
Even without the goals, he had a very good match. Good strength, good protection, good movement and good linking up.
In my opinion those calls were unwarranted. Form is temporary, class is permanenet. Those who thought RVP was "past it" conveniently seem to forget his form during the World Cup, which was only 6 months ago. A player doesn't suddenly combust like that short of an injury or catastrophic life altering event. He had a dip in form, with the full possibility of getting back to his 2014 World Cup form, which would make him one of the top 3 strikers in the league.
I think the broader picture with RvP is he is 31 and not getting any younger, and given his sporadic lapses in form and injury history, we are not likely to see the same player we saw during his final years at Arsenal and first year at OT. He can still produce moments of brilliance, but whether or not he can produce them with any degree of consistency is clearly up for debate.
Maybe. He had little rest due to the WC and looked heavy-legged and jaded in the early part of the season .
Like you say, hope he has turned a corner. He looked fired up tonight and now Rooney has slid back into wretched form, we need him more than ever. Just a shame we can't get 6-7 players hitting form at once.
Credit to LVG for persisting with him, and playing him back to form.
I loved how he says that in the post match interview that he found lasting 90 mins easy. He was inspirational.
My concern remains. Van Persie is just not getting enough service. One can see that he has regained his confidence and the majority of fans are supportive of him again but his goals today were basically of his own making. Rooney's free kick was into a dangerous place but RVP made the run to get himself into that position to score. I hope other players will start to actively seek to give him the ball more, especially around the box.
A few have been saying it Raul and I'm echoing them. Service to his is dreadful and if we expect him to receive the ball in wide areas and run channels then we are going to be disappointed. But give the guy the ball around the 18 yard line or in the box and there a few in the world better.
He was pretty poor at the World Cup, Spain game aside. He scored against Australia but was rather anonymous other than that, in the knockouts he struggled (the whole Netherlands team only scored 2 goals, both late against Mexico between Last 16 and 3rd place game).
Brilliant yesterday. He will keep having these for many more years IMO, just not consistently.
Fantastic performance. Brilliant finishing, great hold-up play and he worked really hard. Flashback to 12-13. Rooney, Mata, Fellaini and Herrera were pretty much useless (I'm really not a huge fan of these two little spaniards), so it's really impressive how Robin really won us the game alone. We still need Di Maria and Blind back, but winning with these below average performances is a good sign.
Honestly I never saw the whole Rooney RVP rivalry. They've always seemed like good friends.
Absolutely sensational performance from Robin.
A lot of shite has been talked in this thread from people unable to differentiate between a player being in poor form and a player being finished.
A lot of shite has been talked in this thread from people unable to differentiate between a player being in poor form and a player being finished.
Lol. Herrera I felt changed the match for us. Our worst period subsided after he came on.
Apart from the goals, he had an excellent all round game. He was available for a pass and was able to hold onto the ball and get other players involved. Hopefully he can avoid injuries and keeps this up.
Tbh it has looked like he's been on a steady decline for over a year now, not just poor form. Which is natural when you think of his age and all the injury problems he has had over the years. On song he's the perfect striker in every formation, even as a lone striker in a 4-5-1. He's still a classy player but you can easily see that he has lost a bit since his glory days. He didn't show that yesterday though. He was absolutely sensational, even without the goals. It's impossible to steal the ball from him when he's in that mood.
In my opinion, talk of long term decline is premature. We'll see how his season goes, but yesterday's performance was as good as anything he's ever produced for United.
It is, but he's been looking like a shadow of his former self for a while now though. Add to that his age and it's natural to see his lack of form as a sign that he's on a steady decline. I would love to be proven wrong though as he's just one of them players that you pay just to see him train. Agree with the assessment of his performance; that was vintage van Persie. He's such a good target man which is a bit funny when you consider he arrived in England as a frail winger.
Played well, got two goals. Delighted for him.
People demanding he be replacd with Falcao must be feeling very silly now.
People demanding he be replacd with Falcao must be feeling very silly now.
Agree. He's deceptively strong and when he's on form, he shields the ball by backing in to the defender superbly. Particularly in the second half yesterday, he was absolutely brilliant - held it up and provided a platform for us to attack every time.
If he can maintain that level for the rest of the season, we have a striker capable of matching Aguero's impact, albeit in a different style.
On his general form over the last year and a bit, I wouldn't read too much into his performances under Moyes - it's clear that a number of the players became really demotivated. I also think he was rushed back for the World Cup and is only just physically getting back to his best.
He's the best target man in the league imo which is one of the reasons I prefer to see him up top than Rooney.
Proved you haters wrong. Let's hope this continues. For those who demanded he'd be dropped for Wilson, no clue. World class player who was off form. Now his clinical boots are back on he will be banging them in.
He did say in the post match interview that he hasn't been too well fitness wise, but he's felt better the last few weeks. It'll be interesting to see whether he is back to his best or not.
I respectfully disagree. He scored 4 goals this World Cup, coming out of the "group of death", made an absolute mockery of one of the strongest Spanish sides in history, all while playing for a very mediocore side. Compare his World Cup goal scoring record to Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi, if you want to have a good laugh. It's interesting that people are willing to forgive Ronaldo's performances at the international stage, e.g., "he's out of form" or "coming back from injury", yet just a few short months after RVP manages to score MORE than Ronaldo and the same as Messi, who was playing with far better teammates, people are writing RVP off. Don't forget, RVP also scored against and defeated a very talented Brazil team to lead his team to 3rd place in the World Cup, coming from a team that is carried completely by RVP and Robben. Hardly a "poor" performance.
This excerpt really says it all (that RVP is continuing to perform at the highest level):
Van Persie ended the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification campaign as top scorer in the UEFA section with 11 goals. In June 2013, he was appointed captain of the Dutch national team by manager Louis van Gaal. On 11 October 2013, he became the Netherlands' top goalscorer of all-time in an 8–1 defeat of Hungary, the Dutch's penultimate Group D match, where he scored a hat-trick. This put him on 41 goals in 80 internationals, surpassing the record previously held by Patrick Kluivert.
In the team's opening match of the 2014 FIFA World Cup, Van Persie captained the Netherlands to a 5–1 win over champions Spain in Salvador. He scored twice in the match, one of which was a flying header which was later nominated for FIFA Puskás Award for the most beautiful goal of the year. He was also named man of the match by FIFA. On 18 June, he scored his third goal of the tournament in a 3–2 defeat of Australia, a result that qualified the Netherlands to the knockout stage with one group match remaining.
In the quarter-final, Van Persie scored the Netherlands' first kick in a 4–3 penalty shootout defeat of Costa Rica. He scored his fourth goal of the tournament from a penalty kick in a 3–0 win against Brazil in the third-place play-off.
And the age thing really is overblown. RVP never relied on his pace, but more on his clinical finishing and vision and movement. Look at Drogba - he is very old now, but he still has that killer instinct to score goals.
It seems that many of us, including me, have written him off too early. Maybe LVG has been right to insist to play with him up front.
Yea especially when put up against big shithouse central defenders.
You could see over the last 2 or 3 games that his performances were improving and played well last night, playing only one game a week has given him the time to recover from the tiredness due to the WC- he also has the added incentive to keep his place with Falcao coming back into the picture
When his on form, there isn't a proper number 9 I'd have over him. Question is whether this is a sign of a proper return to top class performances or just a fleeting reminder of what he can do. Some of his play with back to goal was just sublime.
I don't think anyone hates him, he's pretty much liked by all United fans from what I've seen. Nothing to dislike about him, his form this season has just not been that good. Everyone would like to see him from yesterday's game more.
He can be our Bergkamp if we use him correctly. I don't think he should be playing every game though but with Falcao lacking fitness and Wilson lacking experience it could happen.
He's looked a lot fitter and sharper the last few weeks, before then his movement looked very stiff and he looked a bit like he was scared to sprint or strike the ball with any real power but in the past few games he's done it on a few occasions. I wonder if he's been carrying some sort of injury that wasn't serious enough to stop him playing but was affecting his explosiveness to a degree.
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