Robin Good

Nothing much in the way of new insights can be gained from the Arsenal v Liverpool clash on Sunday. Liverpool won't win the league, and neither will Arsenal.

However, the game did produce two very good goals. Robbie Keane's first time strike following Agger's 'Hail Mary' was exceptional, especially given the fact that it was produced by a striker so short of confidence that his manager would rather bank on a pretty poor defensive midfielder finding the net than him (which is really just rubbing salt into a gaping wound). In most other games, Keane's goal would be easily the pick of the bunch. But not in this game.

Robin van Persie's goal was just riddled with class. Agger's punt required good movement from Keane, and a precise finish. However, Nasri's pinpoint pass required of van Persie exquisite close control, quick thinking, nimble footwork, and both his left and his right foot (the latter of which seems to have improved remarkebly, what with him scoring at least 3 very good goals with it this season...although maybe it has always been good, and I just never noticed[?]).

There really is no teaching what Van Persie did on Sunday. Many strikers could produce Keane's finish every once in a while, but very few could ever even think of doing what van Persie did, let alone do it. I don't want to sound like I'm going way over the top here, but this goal is honestly the greatest goal ever scored, and it was scored by the best player ever to grace a football field.

OK so neither of those stataments are even remotely true, but this is a special goal nonetheless, and van Persie is a special talent. He's not yet consistent enough to be considered one of the best around, but as I wrote before, he's getting there, and he's getting there quite quickly. Don't be surprised if he's snapped up by a club that actually plan on winning things come summer time*.


* Although given the latest rumours to surface regarding the transfer window, it seems as if Arsene Wenger may be dusting off the Arsenal FC wallet and going against every fibre of his being by making a big signing and thus aiming to win a trophy. Arshavin perhaps? Or Tevez? I'd be incredibly surprised if either of those go through, but it would certainly be a step in the right direction...although I'm not convinced they need Tevez. They do need a creative spark to fill the void left by Hleb though. As I've said in a previous post, he was the biggest loss during the summer, and his departure is the main reason for why Arsenal just aren't as aesthetically pleasing any more. Shooting and goalscoring and all that unimportant stuff may not have been his specialty, but by God he could dribble.

RVP

I've been wanting to write about the North London derby for a while now (well, two days to be precise), but I feel like most of what I have to say about has been said already on this blog. The bottom line is that nobody learned anything new about Arsenal last Wednesday. The same old problems reared their ugly head, and it shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone that an Arsenal team that was naive last season is even more naive this season now that they've lost three senior members (Flamini, Hleb and Gilberto) and failed to replace them. Arsenal cannot win the league this season. The Spurs result hasn't contributed to that fact as much as it has proved it.

Before I write about what I actually want to write about, I just have to say that all this talk regarding the "character" which the Spurs team showed is ridiculous. They had basically given up until Clichy's abysmal mistake, and once they got within in a goal, should it come as surprising that they tried to level things up? I don't know a team in the world who would throw in the towel if all they needed was a goal to rescue a point, so as far as I'm concerned there is absolutely no need to praise Spurs' "character". Such character should be a given, not a bonus. Also, I just looked at the Fantasy Football stats, and Bentley got 2 bonus points for the game. Granted his goal was exceptional, but it was basically the only contribution he made. Clichy was completely dominant for 89 minutes of that game, and in no way did Bentley deserve plaudits for anything else other than his 5 seconds of magic.

This brings me on to my subject of choice, which is Robin van Persie*. Adebayor actually got the 3 bonus points, but it was the graceful Dutchman who deserved them more than anyone else. He was absolutely brilliant against Spurs, assisting two goals with wonderful crosses, creating the third with a sublime pass to Nasri, and scoring the fourth with a thunderous right footed (yes, right footed) shot. And aside from being heavily involved in all four goals, his general play was assured and penetrating, with him rarely giving away the ball.

In my opinion, Robin van Persie is one of the most talented players in the world, and now thanks to a run of injury-freeness, he's proving himself to be one of the best performers in the world. He basically has everything you need to be a centre forward in the mold of Denis Bergkamp - vision, creativity, strength, skill, technique, and a deadly accurate shot. He's an incredibly unique player, in that his link up play and creativity are like that of a playmaker, but he's also a good finisher and can quite possibly notch up 20+ goals in a full season.

And then there's his set pieces. His corners are as good as I've seen, as are his crosses from dead balls. And once he's within about 30 yards of the goal, there are few players I'd rather have standing over the ball, with Cristiano Ronaldo certainly not being one of them. He strikes the ball so purely that it really is just a joy to watch him kick a piece of shaped leather.

If I was to hand out an Arsenal Player of the Year award based on this season so far, van Persie would most certainly pick it up. In 12 games he has scored 7 goals and assited 5. In this kind of form he is bound to pick up a lot of admirers, so while it's good for Arsenal that he does well, it's also bad in the sense that he may decide to leave in order to win things. Fabregas leaving Arsenal would undoubtedly be the biggest blow to the club, despite the fact that he's enjoyed an indifferent season so far. Van Persie leaving would be a close second, because players with his talent are few and far between.

* I wrote this before yesterday's game, in which van Persie came on and got himself sent off for a stupid challenge (which I don't actually think deserved a red card, but it was extremely silly nonetheless). Call it a "blogger's curse", or something.