"Come'th The Hour, Come'th The Van"

The name in itself makes one reminiscent the days of yore, or rather recent past, when Thierry ‘King’ Henry and Dennis ‘Non-Flying’ Bergkamp, lit up the stage time after the other. ‘Legend’s‘ is an apt term for gallic pair, who in tandem, led Arsenal’s attack to many a glory. They were the ‘Invincibles‘ no less. One certain Robin Van Persie has been bracketed in the same league as the likes of Titi and Dennis by none other than Arsene ‘Lord’ Wenger himself. Surely an achievement of sorts given the fact that no one knows those two better than the Professor.

11Gunners celebrates the ‘Making of Another Legend‘ right now..

Robin arrived to Arsenal from Holland as a young prodigy, and like any other from the ‘Orange County‘, expectations were high from Day 1. Talent was bestowed with him in abundance, what he lacked was a temperament to do full justice to his potential. His being overtly aggressive was well documented before he came to England. All that till he met Arsene. Cut to today. Robin is our ace marksman and after his 20 goal showing last term, looks all set to breach that mark this time around. Not long back, Wenger compared him to Marco Van Basten and after his heroics at the weekend against Tottenham, he confirms why Van Persie is indeed more than just talent:

“He is the kind of player, with the type of game we play, who is vital because when you play the ball to his feet his first touch is always perfect and that allows others to join in. It makes everybody dangerous. In the box he is clever and intelligent. He is a mixture. He is less of a runner than Thierry Henry and he is not completely Dennis Bergkamp because he plays higher up the pitch.”

“He understands his body more and we know what he needs. He is one of our leaders in the dressing-room. He speaks his mind, you know, the Dutch way. But he has humility too.”

"Va Va Voom" And "Va Va Van"!

"Dutch Master" And "Dutch Apprentice"

25 goals this term, is what the manager expects him score:

“I don’t want to set targets but why not? If you look at the chances he has had since the start of the season you cannot say he won’t reach 25 goals.  Robin has taken much more responsibility because he is up front. He has committed himself to the club for a long period and he is at an age, 26, where a footballer becomes really efficient, mature and wants to win things.  That is why I believe he can be the best passer in the league and the best goalscorer in the league.”

“When you look at the goals he scores they are always impressive. You don’t see him at the start as a target man but when you play him there you see he has everything of a target man. He has a short backlift, he is an intelligent player and turns very quickly. What he has around the box is very difficult to give to a striker. He moves away from the defenders around the box in a very perfect way. The timing of his runs are fantastic and that is why I thought he could play there.”

Controlled Aggression

Robin, when questioned the reason for his recent vein of rich form, attributed his ‘Family‘ as the sole factor influencing his career. This is what he said:

“My family life is fantastic. The main things in my life are my two kids and my wife. It makes you stable and gives you a good basis to perform.”

“Two weeks ago it was really hard and I was struggling physically but it’s better now. When you play at this level, you need to recover and get your rest here and there and that is what I am doing.”

A family man to core, it is rather surprising that barely weeks after the birth of his second child and going through sleepless nights, this one-time aggressor has calmed down so much and is letting his boots do all the talking. One can easily imagine Robin lurking somewhere in the training facility at London Coleny, or perhaps before a game, taking short naps, finding energy from within, and unleashing it all once the whistle is blown. Bare testimony to the amazing ‘Talent‘, ‘Footballer‘ and the ‘Man‘ that he is.

He Is Coming: 'Watch Out'..

If that was not all, after being broken the news that we face ‘Man-S0-Shitty‘ in the Carling Cup, his reply was something very very personal and professional at the same time.

“What’s the draw? Manchester City away? Nice. I want to play that one. If the boss decides to let me play, I’m happy. I’d love to play.”

In those few words, he made his intentions very clear, and also the fact that he has not forgotten one bit of what ‘Mad-e-Bye-Whore‘ did to him during the game. Retribution and not Revenge, is what he has on his mind and being the gentleman that he has become, once again, he would let his boots do the talking in that one, if given a chance that is. Well against that ‘Shit-Loaded-Whore, Adebayor‘, we do want his boots do the talking. Just give him two on his head dammit.

Call him Van Basten, call him Henry or call him Bergkamp, the man has for sure arrived and his Legend is very much in the making@The Emirates. We call him Robin Van Persie for now. A ‘Legend-in-the Making‘. Ahoy..