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How do Arsenal get the most out of their most important player?

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Robin Van Persie's second yellow card for "kicking the ball out of play" changed the tide of the gameThere’s been a lot of analysis and consideration regarding the shape and structure of this Arsenal team. Of course, conversely, there hasn’t been enough consideration of the fact that some of the players within this Arsenal team may not be good enough. Blame has been placed on the way the manager has set up and ran this team but in many cases the players themselves just haven’t looked up to it.

One Gunner who can’t be accused of ‘not being good enough’ is Dutch star Robin Van Persie who recently notched his 100th Arsenal goal. His quality is unquestionable, even if there remains a question as to whether Arsene is getting the most out of him.

In recent seasons Van Persie has been deployed as the Gunner’s sole striker. To some extent this has worked pretty well, with Van Persie scoring time and time again and looking like one of the best strikers in the world. The trouble with this formation is that Arsenal have begun to look much too reliant on Robin for his goals. At the moment the goals simply aren’t being spread out throughout the team.

When he doesn’t score, Arsenal often find themselves in trouble.

It’s my belief that the absence of Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri from the squad necessitates a change in formation. Fabregas provided almost all the creativity from midfield and provided Robin Van Persie with a plethora of chances. Mikel Arteta, as of yet, doesn’t appear capable of providing such service.

Whilst Ramsey and Arteta can play through lacklustre defences like Bolton’s they’ve really struggled against teams that know how to defend like Tottenham, Dortmund and Manchester United. As such Robin has been cut off and hasn’t had the chance to score goals. I’ve seen him criticised for his performance against Spurs at the weekend, but I feel that misses the point. Why didn’t Arsenal get the ball to him more when he was in a dangerous position?

At one moment in the game Robin managed to dribble past Kaboul and set-up Gervinho for a sure-fire goal (which he proceeded to miss). Surely moments such as these support the thesis that Van Persie needs a strike partner. I’d much sooner see him play as a second striker. He’s good enough to drop back and dictate play a little more.

What’s more I’m sure he’d be more than happy to share the goal scoring burden. Once the International break is over I’d really like to see Wenger try Chamakh, Park or Walcott as a striker playing high up the pitch with RVP playing slightly behind him. This should provide the Gunners with further threat upfront. At the moment Arsenal can’t get much worse and such tinkering can only better the team.

Does RVP need a strike partner? Let us know what you think!

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0 comments

  • John says:

    What a load of claptrap. For starters: ‘Of course, conversely, there hasn’t been enough consideration of the fact that some of the players within this Arsenal team may not be good enough’. Total fail, please do your research before you write anything. I won’t even go into your ‘analysis’ (hohum) of tactics.

  • segunner says:

    I agree that we need to switch back to 4 4 2. RVP is a great player but he is not an out and out striker. He likes to pick the ball up deep which has meant we have had no one really pressing the last man. I have mixed views about Chamakh but think he deserves a few games playing alongside RVP to see whether they can establish some sort of partnership.

    4 5 1 has not worked for some time now yet Wenger still continues to play it.

  • Rufas says:

    VP obviously plays best behind a striker for he likes being involved in build up play but at the moment Arsenal lacks a world class striker: goal poacher like chicharito, benzema, falcao, gomez. Wenger need 2 drop gervinho & sign benzema to partner VP.

    • ogban says:

      Is Benzema looking for a club? Why can’t we ever support what we have rather than covet someone else’s?

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