An excellent comment on the perverted state of affairs in football today.
At what point does an over-privileged football player feel entitled to dictate to a club what their philosophy should be?
After 8 years at the club... seemingly most of it with van Persie in the injury room, that same player decides he knows what's in Arsenal's best interests over everyone else at the Emirates.
Doesn't van Persie recognize that there's barely a club in world football that wouldn't have offloaded his sorry, brittle, self by now. Doesn't van Persie recognize he might just have a moral obligation to take the good ethos with the bad - if indeed that's what this is.
As for trophies. He's talking as if he were somehow detached from the process of attaining them. As if he were somehow not involved. All the near-misses and empty-handedness were clearly someone else's fault. And this is the reason he's decided to leave. And categorically not for the money.
When Cesc left, there was barely a supporter that didn't understand why. It was a gut-wrenching loss. But his was a comprehensible case. Van Persie's is quite different. In fact it might be fair to say that the situation with RVP condenses much of what's wrong with modern football.
Here's someone who's paid more than the average CEO of of a major city bank (yet crucially without the responsibility) feeling empowered to lay down how those actually responsible should run things. Really? He has time to do that job: manage the club, scout the world, sit on the board, and still go on holiday?
What Robin's side-stepped is that there's more to football than just trophies or money. There's a thing called legacy. Even without a single piece of silverware, history will view Arsenal's transition from Highbury to Ashburton Grove rather well I imagine. Especially during a global financial crisis that's far from over.
Robin's legacy, alas, will be viewed rather differently. One-and-a-half fulfilled seasons out of eight. And we thank him for that. But he'd better choose his next club very carefully, because there are no guarantees in football. And as he's evidenced - no (reasonable) room for loyalty.
RVP10 ... the man who in 2011-12 'scored when he wanted' ... is about to find out just how little influence an ex-icon actually has. And just how inept and luckless other managers ... most managers ... nearly all managers ... can be.
Robin van Persie is about to get a lesson in football.
