Cantonaaa!
Full Member
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I can't sit here and tell you that for the last couple of years van persie hasen't been poor because quite simply he hasn't been anywhere near good enough and to some this combined with his age is enough to point to a decline that he will never recover from. I'm just not convinced this decline is as severe as people make out and may instead be down to other factors.
Firstly, under David Moyes two years ago we were very poor as a unit as we all know and so robins decline was not exclusive and it was instead a massive dip in the whole squad. Last year people expected a lot better but for the first half of the season Van Gaal tested new formations eg 3-5-2 and this lowered the output of all our strikers. I don't believe that RVP has been given the same amount of opportunities playing as a lone striker in a 4-3-3 as say Rooney has been given and I still believe that RVP can be the more effective striker for us. For this reason without feeling he's had the proper opportunity I just can't agree with this 'decline' message and I instead put it down to poor form, unfortunate circumstances and injures(which are still a problem I must admit).
Overall this just makes me question those that are so quick to right off van persie and turn so mid level, average strikers such as Benteke that have shown nothing compared to what RVP is capable of. He needs one more year played with Rooney and Wilson as strike options and providing we have a good window improving our defence and midfield I expect him to dramatically improve in his form and maybe even rediscover some of his very best play.
The striker market is a weak as I have seen it with very few strikers of the overall quality that RVP has. I will happily write of RVP with the rest of this forum if next year RVP is given chances to perform and doesn't provide the goods but until then he's still a top striker.
You should take into account that starting February 2013 he went 10 games without scoring before he scored a penalty, and then went on to injurying himself falling on a tv camera.
That's more or less 2,5 years with declining. It's sad if we let him go because he is a top drawer striker some days and a nice guy it seems, but at the end of the day he's on 250k and he's probably free to leave or stay as he wish so it's really his choice. I can't see Van Gaal chasing him out the gates of OT anytime soon.