Arsenal are a tad naive, I can imagine. We all thought he would sign, at some point in the last few weeks. Even the club thought so. But van Persie took all that trust away today with the way he treated us. I loved you, Robin. As @arseblog said in his blog: Emotional investment in footballers is a dangerous thing, you’re nearly always likely to end up disappointed and dismayed I am trying to get less attached to players but the way you played, captained and the nationality you carried made you an obvious candidate for being loved by me. How have you repaid all those Arsenal fans? By giving
Dear Robin.
This is coming to you from a man who has your name on his Arsenal jersey, and has adored you since your days playing for Feyenoord, where you were one of the most naturally talented footballers I ever saw, but a troubled little di*khead too. I loved you through the years for Arsenal and the Dutch national team, I loved how you took the team by the scruff of the neck at times and made us perform so much better than we had in a very long time. You scored Goals of the Month. You helped us defeat the greatest club-side of the last twenty years, and helped us upset the odds and finish third last season. Yet right now, I hate you very much. You have betrayed your own principles, your own upbringing, your enormous support here at Arsenal and those people who invested millions of pounds in your career.
In the Netherlands the name ‘man of glass’ was given to two people. Arjen Robben en Robin van Persie. Always injured, often unfit. He missed half a season on more than one occasion for Arsenal yet always managed to be fit for the national side when the tournaments came. Arsenal may only have paid about 2.75m to sign him but since about 2007 he was earning 80.000 per week or more. Those are big numbers for a man who didn’t show any real sign of being the same player he has been the last eighteen months but instead struggled to find a role, a position, and to adapt to the physical Premier League. A few good matches, a few good goals was not enough for him to claim that kind of money and that kind of status. Most Arsenal fans stood by him during this period and, with exceptions, not a lot of people were calling on Wenger to sell him. Wenger knew selling was not a good idea, anyway: van Persie always had the class, and class is permanent (and now, permanently tarnished).
In 2005 the troubled van Persie was arrested by Rotterdam police for the alleged rape of a Dutch beauty queen. Whilst the term rape was eventually disputed thanks to some clever lawyering from van Persie’s expensive lawyer, the fact of the matter is he probably initiated some form of consensual or non consensual intercourse, possibly in a group, with this woman, even though he was in a relationship with Bouchra. Bouchra forgave him, and the charges were dropped when the victim admitted (willingly or not remains disputed) she had made up the rape charges, although the intercourse had occurred. We all make fun of John Terry and Wayne Rooney for their escapades. Robin had them too. Not only that, but he was in prison for two weeks whilst preparing for pre-season. I can think of tonnes of managers who would have kicked your butt out on the curb, Robin. But Arsene didn’t. Instead he took you even closer to his side, tried to let you learn from the experience, and you admitted later that it changed your life. Arsene did that for you. And now you stabbed him in the back.
In interviews with Dutch television van Persie always said how he was so proud to be at Arsenal, a club that spent money in a frugal way, that built a new stadium from scratch, that invested heavily in youth and where he felt proud to be leading those youngsters to potential glory. His parents, artists in the Left Bank of the Seine type, instilled in him a very strong realisation of the worth of money and the worth of pride, of being your own man, of doing something worthwhile and not needing recognition. Look at the comments his father made about going to a different English club. Look at the reaction his mother had to the way the club treated his grandfather when it was his birthday. Robin van Persie, if he actually held himself to his own words, beliefs and upbringing, would never leave Arsenal, especially not in the way he has. He would not have let his head be turned by the power of money. It is despicable and disgraceful.
In these interviews he talked about the pride of being a captain. He talked about the realisation that trophies aren’t the most important thing. He felt at home, he felt loved, he was doing something that he could look back on and say ‘that was good’. He had great friends in Vermaelen, Arteta and Per, he had a father in Wenger. He kept saying that too, he kept telling us he loved his fans, he loved playing here, and that he was proud of what he managed in the last two seasons. For fu*k’s sake, he was player of the season this year! And say whatever you like, Arsenal made that happen for you. How many clubs would have sold an injury prone troublemaker who is not reaching his potential? Make a nice profit on the tiny amount you bought him for. Wenger didn’t do that, he believed in you. He gave you players, like Song, Arteta and Walcott, suited to making you score goals. Look at what happened this summer, at the Euro’s, where you were poo. The Dutch didn’t want to facilitate you, they didn’t make you the main man. As a result you are now being ridiculed at home and abroad. At any other club in the world that is bigger (or richer) than Arsenal, they will not build the team around you. Dream on. Are trophies worth more to you than being the pivotal player, the columns the team are built on, the leader, the captain? Not in your own words, your own beliefs. You betrayed them and you betrayed us.
Over the last few weeks, my mood has changed from day to day. Sometimes I was convinced we would re-sign you. The next day I wasn’t. What always helped me was that I knew you were a conscientious person, someone with values, who loved his fans. Your values would stop you from playing for oilbarons or oligarchs, and would keep you at the club forever. The players we were signing convinced me too. Remember the strop Robin threw when we didn’t sign vd Vaart a few years ago? He wanted a proven, international player with a big name. This season, we signed Podolski, before you even decided to fu*k off to richer pastures. Exactly the type of player you wanted, in fact, probably not someone Wenger would have targeted if it wasn’t to appease you. And the sort of quality we have been linked with this summer on other fronts has been much higher than in the past too. Did you want Hazard? Is that realistic? Telling the media that you want talks about the future direction of the club, and then telling us you don’t agree, is rubbish. We all know Wenger and Gazidis are intent on improving the first team squad with the money slowly trickling in from the stadium and real estate deals, as well as the CL we reach every season. Unless you want us to rival Man City, we can make all other things happen. We beat Chelsea, Malaga and Bayern to Giroud. We might still be doing a deal on M’Vila, one of the most amazing talents in Europe and already a mainstay in the France squad. Wenger seems to have learned from last summer but then again, so have you, right, Robin? After all, you looked closely at that rat Na$ri and realised ‘hey, I can do that too’.
The statement you issued was pathetic. By telling us fans that we may disagree, you patronise us, you hurt us, you insult us, you distance yourself from us. You always said you were one of us, an Arsenal man through and through. Clearly you were lying. By putting out this statement, you let the world know you want to leave, and rob us of a realisti
c price. You also force us to sell you because of the strong words you use to voice your displeasure. Cesc leaving we sort of understood, even though how he handled it was totally unprofessional. Nasri left for money, which we did not understand, but at least he played his heart out vs Liverpool before leaving. Would you do that? Judging from your statement, no. You are a selfish fu*king pri*k, Robin van Persie.
Arsenal are a tad naive, I can imagine. We all thought he would sign, at some point in the last few weeks. Even the club thought so. But van Persie took all that trust away today with the way he treated us. I loved you, Robin. As @arseblog said in his blog: Emotional investment in footballers is a dangerous thing, you’re nearly always likely to end up disappointed and dismayed I am trying to get less attached to players but the way you played, captained and the nationality you carried made you an obvious candidate for being loved by me. How have you repaid all those Arsenal fans? By giving us a little statement on your personal website, not even on Arse.com or in some form of press conference. That was just despicable and very backhanded of you. You have lost a lot of respect with that move.
I don’t know where you are going. Maybe we keep you for another season, trying to embed new players into the system. Maybe we sell you for a low price to a direct opponent where you can collect a big fat pay check and warm the bench (and you actually will). Maybe we let you rot in the Reserves because you have a contract. Whatever the case, you have lost our love, you have shown the world that money is infinitely stronger than loyalty or love, you have lost our respect. You will now join that list of people who think the grass is greener on the other side. Vieria, Flamini, Hleb, Nasri and Adebayor. You are also leaving us with nothing, in a difficult situation, for your own (perceived benefit). You betrayed your own beliefs and the calls of your parents urging you to stay. Bye bye Robin van Persie. Your years of injury prone problem making seem forgotten, and you are only the player of the last eighteen months. You believed in your own hype. Arsenal fans know better. You are disrespecting us and betraying us in a very big way. Wherever you end up, prepare to be booed. At least by me. Others may disagree, may understand your reasons for leaving. I was closer to you than most. I heard and read all your Dutch interviews. I know what philosophy you espoused. You betrayed it. You betrayed me. You betrayed Arsenal. And you betrayed yourself. Live with that. And we have to live with the fact that we lose a captain, again, and that money and the incredibly crooked playing field it has created, has beaten us again.
ED: The title has been altered to fit the newsfeed.
EXAMPLE OF AD POSITION
