Was Robin Van Persie right?

[a_fourteen]

12 months ago RVP made the statement below. He was roundly criticized by the fans. We said he was arrogant, betrayed us and was a golddigger. Below is his exact statement. In the light of all that has happened in the last 12 months was he right in his assessment of the club and his future away from it?

"This is an update for the fans about my current situation. I have kept quiet all this time out of respect and loyalty for the club and as agreed with Mr. Gazidis and Mr. Wenger, but since there is so much speculation in the media, I think it is fair for you guys to know what’s really going on at the moment.

As announced earlier this year I had a meeting with the Boss and Mr. Gazidis after the season. This was a meeting about the club’s future strategy and their policy. Financial terms or a contract have not been discussed, since that is not my priority at all.

I personally have had a great season but my goal has been to win trophies with the team and to bring the club back to its glory days.

Out of my huge respect for Mr. Wenger, the players and the fans I don’t want to go into any details, but unfortunately in this meeting it has again become clear to me that we in many aspects disagree on the way Arsenal FC should move forward.

I’ve thought long and hard about it, but I have decided not to extend my contract. You guys, the fans, have of course the right to disagree with my view and decision and I will always respect your opinions.

I love the club and the fans, no matter what happens. I have grown up and became a man during my time with Arsenal FC. Everybody at the club and the fans have always supported me over the years and I have always given my all (and more) on and off the pitch.

I am very proud of being part of this fantastic club for the last 8 years. As soon as Mr. Gazidis is back from his 2-week holiday in America further meetings will follow and I will update you if and when there are more developments."

 

[Webdesignlab]

I think you will see bitter responses on the whole about Robbin' Van Purse Strings.

However of course he was right in his own situation. WC player sees no ambition above 4th from AW and the club.

 

[Sydney Gooner]

Yes he was right but he still should've left the country if he had as much respect for the fans as he claimed.

 

[Anzac]

I know I'm probably looking for clues etc, however in hindsight the wording of the sentence partially bolded now reads a if the disagreement was with AW rather than Gazidis, as he made no mention of the latter at all & it would have been very easy to point the blame if the issue was with the CEO rather than the manager.

 

[outlaw_member]

He's a ****, but of course, he was right. You can talk all you want amount money and trophies, but the reality is that all of our departees in recent years, simply did not view Arsenal as the place to achieve their career targets. That should tell you everything. If the very people who are the forefront of our team could not trust Wenger and the board, why the **** should we?

 

[TheLoneFalcon]

The question is not whether he was right because what people, and especially those in the football business, say and what the reality is differs more often than not. The question is if his 'official' reason for leaving justifies his actions. It's hard to disagree.

 

[Lady_Gooner]

I don't give a **** if he was right, that statement was disgraceful.
This thread is beyond depressing

 

[Cruisio]

Said it at the time and i'll say it again now

Of course he was right. He's gone to Utd and won just as many trophies there in 1 season as he did in 7 years with us (that is if you're not including the Community Shield)

He's a guy who actually got to see things from the inside and he didn't see Arsenal as a club then or in the near future that would be challenging for trophies. That's pretty damning

The only thing I could add is that he's still a c**t for going to Utd because he could quite easily have gone abroad and still been successful but then again we're the ones that give the green light for that to happen

 

[a_fourteen]

I don't give a **** if he was right, that statement was disgraceful.
This thread is beyond depressing

sorry nina

 

[Hunta]

At first the statement pissed me off, but it was when he said 'the little boy inside him told him to join United' that really pissed me off, there's pictures of him in an Arsenal kit as a lad ffs, he'd said for years he was a true Arsenal fan, he lied. He's a liar and a **** and I wouldn't believe the **** about that meeting in the first place.

 

[Anzac]

He'd probably have gone to Juve if he was younger,
but ManU represents his best hope at winning a CL as none of the other CL favourites showed any interest.

 

[law90026]

Yes he was.

 

[TheGlitch]

Who is responsible for these lame conversation thread? "Was rvp right" cone on really? Who give a rats ass what he has to say anymore, its alk in the open for every one to see that leaving this club bodes well for you. This don't need another thread tbh all we gonna do is discuss probabilities which does not aid our cause.
We discuss things till death as if thats all we have, we as fans needs to force action. The pressure that is building now is alnost too late because if eanker walks in two weeks we in big trouble, this squad isn't suited to no other manager.
The players he may or may not bring in is (I bet ) not better than what we have atm.

 

[truth_hurts]

He was right in his assessment of the club but he was wrong to join United. Like has been said he isn't our only recent top player and captain who's had to move to mee his career ambitions.

Last year was a double whammy of RVP and Song leaving which often gets ignored as we actually replaced RVPs goals.

 

[goonerwarsh]

The little boy screaming inside him was the line for me that made him a ****.

As for the statement, I actually agreed with it and felt he was within his rights to do that.

Look, you've just got to look at the cold hard facts and what was happening out on the pitch. We kept selling our best players, in one of the threads today someone's put a post up of a game from the invincibles side. It's like watching a completely different club to the one we live with now. The only thing that is the same is the manager and he is now a completely different beast to what he was then.

Van Persie was a part of that squad and watched, albeit a lot of the time he was on the injury table but the club he joined was not the one he left. I believe that if we'd at least tried to stay competitive then he wouldn't have gone. If we'd sold Cesc or Nasri or any of the other stars that we've sold over the years but reinvested that money then at least we would have been trying, at least we would have been using all of our resources and doing everything in power to win. I do think that he had genuine affection for the club but United was the best option for him and his career. The Van Persie situation was our own goddamn fault.

 

[Kroket]

He was right in the sense that he would never see his personal ambitions fulfilled at Arsenal, which is fair enough. If you want to win stuff and wish to play with the world's best, you've no business staying at Arsenal these days.

Other than that he's a backstabbing, lying ****. The way he celebrated with and constantly talks up Fergie makes me feel genuinely sorry for Wenger, who stood by him in the darkest of times only for him to bugger off and team up with Arsène's arch-nemesis first chance he gets. Wouldn't have been so bad if he'd gone to Juventus I think, but I still don't like the way he went about his business.

 

[TheGlitch]

He was right in his assessment of the club but he was wrong to join United. Like has been said he isn't our only recent top player and captain who's had to move to mee his career ambitions.

Last year was a double whammy of RVP and Song leaving which often gets ignored as we actually replaced RVPs goals.

We did replace his goals, rvp goals get u out your seats. We were always going to score goals. Evry year its a doubke whammy. The year before that was nasty and fibreglass. Before that it was our 30 goal striker and mr I wont jump toure the whole thing is a cliche lol
This years, we sell sel and sell and just plain refuse to buy. Not a reluctant, refusal. Now the season start we are injury hit amd suffered a loss, plus all the hard work we did end of last season could all go up in flames come this Wednesdays. Double whammy. Its an arsenal thing.

 

[truth_hurts]

He was right in his assessment of the club but he was wrong to join United. Like has been said he isn't our only recent top player and captain who's had to move to mee his career ambitions.

Last year was a double whammy of RVP and Song leaving which often gets ignored as we actually replaced RVPs goals.

We did replace his goals, rvp goals get u out your seats. We were always going to score goals. Evry year its a doubke whammy. The year before that was nasty and fibreglass. Before that it was our 30 goal striker and mr I wont jump toure the whole thing is a cliche lol
This years, we sell sel and sell and just plain refuse to buy. Not a reluctant, refusal. Now the season start we are injury hit amd suffered a loss, plus all the hard work we did end of last season could all go up in flames come this Wednesdays. Double whammy. Its an arsenal thing.

What I mean by double whammy is that people almost forget that we lost Song, RVP was actually replaced to a degree. IF we had of kept Song, united would have still won the league but we would have been much stronger last year. Instead we risked our season on Diaby staying fit :shock: this year we are doing similar with Wilshere nd Rosicky :evil:

An almost equal question would be - was Song missed? but that is another question for another topic.

 

[TheGlitch]

He was right in the sense that he would never see his personal ambitions fulfilled at Arsenal, which is fair enough. If you want to win stuff and wish to play with the world's best, you've no business staying at Arsenal these days.

Other than that he's a backstabbing, lying ****. The way he celebrated with and constantly talks up Fergie makes me feel genuinely sorry for Wenger, who stood by him in the darkest of times only for him to bugger off and team up with Arsène's arch-nemesis first chance he gets. Wouldn't have been so bad if he'd gone to Juventus I think, but I still don't like the way he went about his business.

Serve wenger right for putting his pets infront of club Interest. I rather be here saying we should have been patient instead of watching him go I his prime for United. Its not rvp fc or wenger fc. Its arsenal fc and we shouldn't be putting obviously cracked player for years waiting on this clown and now what he doesnt play for us but a superior rival? Lol what do expect loyalty doesn't a players ambition trumps that any day of the years especially when time is running out for him? Its romantic and stupid to think differently.

 

[redwhiteAustrian]

At first the statement pissed me off, but it was when he said 'the little boy inside him told him to join United' that really pissed me off, there's pictures of him in an Arsenal kit as a lad ffs, he'd said for years he was a true Arsenal fan, he lied. He's a liar and a **** and I wouldn't believe the **** about that meeting in the first place.

I can't agree more.

He's a **** of the highest order, and I couldn't give a **** about what he says and thinks.