Manchester United striker Robin van Persie reminds Arsenal and their supporters how far they have fallen
The Old Trafford DJ was clearly in mischievous mood as Robin van Persie ran out to warm up before Saturday’s meeting with his former club. As Arsenal fans heckled an old flame, the DJ put on Ever Fallen in Love (With Someone You Shouldn’t’ve).
Ignoring the hymns of hate, Van Persie simply responded by showing his class on and off the pitch.
The playlist was supposed to be exclusively Manchester bands, rather overlooking the Buzzcocks’ Bolton roots (let alone The Verve’s Wigan associations) but the point was made.
If the DJ had really wanted to rub it in, he could have followed up with another Buzzcocks’ number – Promises.
Rancour lingers in Arsenal hearts over a belief that Van Persie was committed to them, that he was going to see out his career with them.
Fans understand that players are professionals, coming and going, but there was a feeling that Van Persie was embedded deeply in the club.
Arsenal had been loyal to the Dutchman down the years, during his frequent injuries and brief off-field travails, a point the visiting fans reminded him of in the crudest terms.
This chastening experience for Arsenal at Old Trafford highlighted why Van Persie was right to leave the Emirates.
The unarguable truth is that the 29-year-old will challenge for honours at United after one major trophy (the 2005 FA Cup) in eight years at Arsenal.
The closeness of the scoreline here was a travesty in neon. The gap between United and Arsenal continues to grow.
By the end, Arsenal fans had broken off from jeering Van Persie and turned on the club’s chief executive, Ivan Gazidis, whom they accuse of being more focused on developing the club off the pitch than on it.
When it comes to questioning Arsenal’s ambition, the fans probably share common ground with the man they vilified yesterday.
Van Persie had to move on up. Those recruited by Arsène Wenger to provide the goals following his exit, Lukas Podolski and Olivier Giroud, did little yesterday, although Santi Cazorla struck the most scant of late consolations.
Nobody could replace Van Persie, particularly at the level of the transfer market Arsenal now shop at.
The sight of Van Persie in a different red shirt must have made painful viewing for the visitors. There was an inevitability that he would score, seizing on a mistake by Thomas Vermaelen after three minutes for his 10th goal in 13 appearances since his £24 million move.
Van Persie has hit the ground running, creating and scoring at Old Trafford. Against those wearing Arsenal’s new away shirt, Van Persie was the one enjoying the more impressive purple patch.
Van Persie refused to celebrate his goal at the old Scoreboard End where Denis Law had looked so crestfallen when scoring against his erstwhile Manchester United team-mates for City back in 1974.
Van Persie’s dignity was also evident afterwards when he spoke of the “fantastic” time he had at Arsenal, also voicing his “respect for the fans, players, manager and the whole club”.
On the pitch, Van Persie kept reminding Arsenal of what they were missing. There was an inevitability that the Dutchman would move dangerously, peeling away from Vermaelen, sweetly timing his runs behind Arsenal’s defence, often in pursuit of passes from Wayne Rooney.
An instinctive understanding between two intelligent footballers has been enhanced by a discussion they held last week.
Van Persie joked afterwards that he and Rooney were “both No 9 ½s”, capable of playing up top or scheming in the hole. It is this ability to interchange that accentuates their individual threat.
Flexibility lurks amongst the many qualities paraded when Van Persie steps on a pitch. He is the man for all reasons, the man for all partnerships; his creative strengths, the slide-rule pass or cross, could find Danny Welbeck or Javier Hernandez if Rooney were unavailable. He could dovetail with Shinji Kagawa.
Value could be found in many of Van Persie’s contributions against his old foe, starting with that goal, a poacher’s strike with his “weaker” foot.
He could easily have had three more goals, seeing a header held by Vito Mannone, who also made two saves from Van Persie shots. He assisted defensively, tracking back to close down Giroud and heading clear a Theo Walcott free-kick.
Yet he was fortunate that a reckless scything challenge on Bacary Sagna after an hour was deemed worthy only of a yellow. Arsenal fans, already fulminating, went into total meltdown.
Arsenal players showed their respect for their former colleague in different ways. Jack Wilshere, who has inherited the No 10 shirt, clattered him.
André Santos was in such a friendly mood towards Van Persie that he sought him out at the break to ensure the acquisition of the striker’s shirt.
Arsenal sold a hungry player. To the final whistle, Van Persie competed, calling for a handball by Mikel Arteta and then contesting an aerial ball with the Spaniard and taking an arm accidentally in the face.
At the end, Van Persie applauded all corners of the ground, shook hands with Sagna and headed towards the tunnel, being serenaded by a new group of fans who have fallen in love with him.
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