Robin van Persie: Manchester United's 'Third King'

Robin van Persie: Manchester United’s talisman last season

The whole world stood up and murmured under their breath. van Persie and Wayne Rooney. Then they watched. van Persie and Ferguson. van Persie spoke. The world listened. The red half celebrated. The blue half ranted. And then he ended. His final words: “Let’s do this”. That was it.

Fast forward. van Persie is making love to a 40-yarder from Wayne Rooney. van Persie is carrying an overjoyed Rafael da Silva on his back. van Persie is celebrating with an over-the-moon David de Gea. Rio Ferdinand is pulling van Persie around to show the world his shirt number. van Persie is laughing. He is dancing.

Is he drunk? He looks like it. He seems to be at peace. He looks up to the immense crowd around. He acknowledges them, thanks them. They thank him back, sing his name. He hugs his manager. The one who moved the world against all odds and served him his dream on a red plate. Ferguson seems pleased.

He has replied to the questions from a year before. Like he has always done. He hugs van Persie back. Ferguson and van Persie. Together again. The whole world watched again. Nobody could rant this time. 11 points ahead and with four games left. Number 20 was a cakewalk. No blue moons, no blue flags. Just deep devilish red. Everywhere.

From that checkmate to digging the grave of yet another manager, Ferguson played an adventurous game. And that was a game that is still going strong. The chief participants of that game are, expectedly, the talented youth at United, just how Ferguson would want it to be and yet, even though that in itself is enough, that still isn’t all.

In his absence, with a relatively inexperienced manager at the helm and with the might of their nearest rivals ever rising, he knew his young wards would need the guiding light to show them the way. Michael Carrick, Paul Scholes, Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidic, Patrice Evra, Ryan Giggs – they were all there. But most of them wouldn’t be around for as long as Ferguson would want them to be.

He knew he would need to make sure of two things before he could call it a day and still be at peace. To give the young devils their first taste of that glorious blood, and a talisman. A leader. Someone who would be around for a while. To give the team that feeling of invincibility. That anything is possible. That wildcard. And who better than Robin van Persie? Well, he isn’t the greatest manager in the history of football for his taste in wine, though it certainly helps. So off he goes and leaves the new manager with a hungry team and an even hungrier talisman.

The two incredibly successful eras in the history of Manchester United each had a king. They never needed a throne or a crown to tell the world who they were. When they entered the football pitch, it showed. The world moved from the seat. They looked more closely. In anticipation.

Some would even hold their breath. There were no drum rolls or thundering gunshots but when they moved, the world moved. When they scored, the world was star-struck. But they weren’t just stars, they weren’t just celebrities, they weren’t just game-changers. They were the beast that roars at the top of the food chain.

Without a care for anyone that lies anywhere else. Nothing bothered them. Nobody dared to bother them. Nothing could bother them. And when something did, they just kept coming back with greater vengeance.

They were the sacred thread that galvanised the whole team against anyone and anything. They were both the spear and the shield. A marauding Denis Law running wild and free from his markers, chasing after a dream ball from George Best, a fearless Eric Cantona turning around from nowhere and chipping into the magically carved open net and a menacing Robin van Persie thundering into the opponent’s defence in pursuit of a sensuous ball from Michael Carrick – those aren’t just moves, those are sights.

Boundaries. Between reality and fiction. Poetry in motion. They aren’t players, they are hunters. Hunters with a specific skill-set, ambition and a target. And with an army behind them that stretches as far as the eye can see, for as long as the eye can see.

After the two glorious eras, it is now time for Manchester United to set their sights on forging yet another empire. They have the shepherd, they have the youthful recruits and they have their subjects behind them, arms aloft in support. And above everything else, they have found their messiah. Their Third King. And he is ready.

Take a lesson, come and see Mass destruction by van Persie