And while you think about RVP and how we can build a team around him, whether he leads the line as he did last year or if he supports another striker as his idol Bergkamp did with such distinction, just dwell on a few statistics and achievement from the great man in his last great season.
Robin netted 18 league goals in just 25 appearances – only 3 short of Berbatov and Tevez, who played 5 and 6 more games respectively.
He scored 22 in just 33 outings in total, and became the first player in Premier League history to score in 8 successive away matches. Yet he seemed unsatisfied with such a feat, so he bagged a goal on the last day of the season to make it 9 instead.
RVP scored 10 goals in January and February alone, the most ever scored in the 2 months after Christmas in Premier League history. In addition to his amazing goal scoring form, van Persie also found time to provide 8 league assists for his team-mates and of course his equalizer against Barcelona was voted our goal of the season. Last, and by no means least, the Dutchman is only the third player to score 18 goals from January 1st to the end of the season – only our own Thierry Henry and Ronaldo have done this previously.
Before I conclude with a challenge to the great man, let’s just consider where he already fits in amongst the Arsenal greats.
RVP has 95 goals for Arsenal, only 4 behind Magic Man Merson and 18th on our all time list. He is 28 and has perhaps 3 to 5 more years at Arsenal – so 150 plus is easily achievable, which would pace him 4th behind Henry, Wright and Bastin, and I believe we should think of RVP in these terms.
Is it inconceivable that he could potentially overtake Ian Wright on 185. So, here is my challenge for RVP – to cement his place alongside our other Dutch legend, Dennis Bergkamp, in the Arsenal strikers Hall of Fame.
The previous holder of the No. 10 shirt finished his career 10th on the list with 121 career Arsenal goals, and I hope that if RVP can stay fit in this season, then he can hit the 27 goals required to overtake the ‘Ice Man’.
So go on RVP join the centurions by the end of August, finish the season off with a medal in hand, and 10th on the all-time list ahead of Dennis Bergkamp!
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mademe feel good about arsenal again 🙂