RVP Arsenal: An ending it did not deserve

Disappointing end

Yesterday night, news filtered in that Robin van Persie had on his official site, announced that he would not be signing a new contract with Arsenal. My first thought when I read this was of shock. I for one, never expected RVP to leave Arsenal. A club that had stood by him during all his injury troubles and even after RVP was in jail for two weeks during pre-season, Arsene Wenger helped him learn from this experience and become a better man. It was later acknowledged by RVP that it had changed his life. Even renewing his contract when others could have easily ended it, and let him leave. I’m shocked also because Arsene Wenger had put in him, so much faith. I’m shocked because Arsene Wenger – the man who bought him when his own club manager didn’t want anything to do with him, and saw the talent that he had and took it upon himself to bring him to the level where he is considered such a massive force. And now, Wenger is being given no support from the same guy, more so now his Captain. When a manager makes a player his Captain, he entrusts him with a lot of responsibility and a lot of faith and trust. Throughout his career at Arsenal, Arsene Wenger kept faith in him. This, as far as I know, is not the way to repay someone’s faith in you.

Now, that was my initial reaction. After a day of processing what RVP has said, I certainly accept the fact that he MAY want to leave Arsenal for trophies. He is 30, and if he does end up at, say Man City, there are more chances of him winning a trophy there than at the Emirates. He is 29 and has only 1 trophy to show for it – The F.A. Cup.

See, what I have a problem with, is how RVP decided to make this announcement and what he further said. In the statement that he provided on his site, he did the following:

1. Point out all the great work that he did for Arsenal in his season as Captain,2. Then he stated he loved the club and its fans,3. Believes that he should have an important say in the transfer market.

The above three points, when read together, will give you an idea of why I have lost respect for RVP. In this current world, fans of their respective clubs should really not pin their hopes on loyalty, especially from the players bought from overseas. They just do not make them like the Giggsy, Scholes, Neville and Gerrard any more. Loyalty now has a price. In this world, everything does. But what I did not like was RVP actually trying to play with the intelligence of the fans – the Arsenal fans. How does he expect an Arsenal fan to actually believe that he loves the club when in the same statement he states his decision to not renew his contract because he wants to win Trophies, and does not believe Arsenal can deliver him that. The emotions that he has tried to portray in his statement, ended up coming out as very, very hollow. Also bringing into question the manager’s ambition publicly was also something that should have been avoided. If I were a footballer, I would stay far away from whoever advises RVP.

Also, I feel for Arsene Wenger, I really do. I have, at times, criticized him for his tactics, selections,etc, but this time around, I feel sorry for him. Last season he lost Nasri and Fabregas, and now RVP . When you invest so much of your time and fight of all the media criticism for your players, and then they leave you at the first sight of greener pastures, leaving you back to where you started with them, does hurt you a lot. Last season, RVP was there to lift the blues away from Arsene Wenger. Now that he has left him, he would be left badly hurt.

Arsenal have to sell him, in my honest opinion. There is no point in keeping a player who does not believe that the club he is at, has the opportunity to win trophies and he needs to move elsewhere. He might even be right, and end up winning a UCL+2-3 EPL trophies or whatever league he ends up in, but AFC cannot let RVP finish the last year of his contract. They might even now have to accept a cut-price deal for him, but they should let him go. Arsene Wenger learnt from his mistakes last season and signed Podolski and Oliver Giroud early this year. Both are able replacements for RVP. There was no such replacement when Fabregas and Nasri left, which then led to the panic buy during the last days. Arsenal then need to sort out other issues and ensure that almost all their important transfer business is done and dusted with before the end of the months. Also, the faster the RVP issue is solved, the better it would be.

RVP may end up winning trophies wherever he goes, may play fantastically well, but the way in which he engineered this whole process of his departure, has left a lot of Arsenal fans with a bad taste. There were many ways the relationship between RVP and AFC could have ended. This was a way that could have, and should have been avoided. An 8 year relationship between the club, manager and RVP did not deserve to end like this. At least Arsene Wenger did not deserve it.