Van Persie needs a rest – but is now really the right time?
Arsène Wenger has conceded that he will have to give free-scoring Robin Van Persie a break at some stage before the end of the year, the striker having played 16 games so far this campaign.
Of course, burnout like that seen with Jack Wilshere last season is the last thing that Wenger wants, with the Dutchman having contributed a colossal 27 goals in his last 33 games. However, with this fine run not looking like ending any time soon, can he not just rest between games?
After Sunday’s battle with Stoke, there are five days in which no match takes place. Resting him today in that sort of form would surely only dampen his fiery form and the fact that he is still uninjured needs to be taken advantage of. Despite their labelling of being a ‘rough’ team, Stoke are eighth in the disciplinary table and the Gunners are bottom. If anything, the Potters should be afraid of their well-being during the game.
It is difficult to say when Wenger could have rested him before. The home game against Bolton seems feasible but the fact that Van Persie grabbed two of the three goals that day – and reached a century of goals for the club – suggest that we might have struggled without him, although the rest of the team played arguably played well enough to set up goals for other strikers too. The Swansea game – again at the Emirates – is another match in which Wenger could have rested him but once more, it is difficult to tell whether they could have dealt with his absence.
Stoke may be juggling European games with league fixtures but the 3-0 win over Tel Aviv on Thursday was comfortable and have suffered just two defeats in sixteen games, the Gunners will be in for a tougher test than usual against Stoke at home.
Can we still get a result without Van Persie? Who would we replace him with if he doesn’t play?
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I think that it is time to let another player shine like Park or Chamakh and rest RVP for Chelsea as the more physical games are the matches where he gets injured.
Top Gooner!. Agree or not?:
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keep rvp n walcot on the bench. And let chamakh n the ox a chance n experience. Chamakh n ox hav something to prove to the fan beside they are more psyhical n body contact. Chamakh can help defend corner or long throw by stoke. The ox hav great tough body n fast too.. After 60 minuter rvp n walcot can come in n tear the stoke defend if they really need it.
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He should defo try putting in the likes of chamakh and park when we play in the champions league. We are comfortably on top and we should win the next 3 games in the CL regardless of who plays as a striker for us.
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i would prefer park 2 replace vanpersie
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early goals = more rest for our certain starts. Slot 2 past stoke in the first 50-60min and pull RVP, give Chamakh/Park a bit of a run.
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i think it would be wise to rest rvp coz stoke are a very physical team and the would be a good chance rvp would get injurd plus it would be good to play park to see what types of skills he got
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agree with shaun, technically RvP should be rested n lets unvail the beast in Park9 n also experiencing the free flowing ox.
slot 2 early goals n then bring in RvP n Walcot in the 70th minute 2 take up the remaining spoils so as 2 boost their confidence ahead of d next fixture at the bridge.
gunner 4 life………
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He does need a rest but cant afford to do it now. We need another world class striker, who can play upfront by himself because AW wont change the formation. Need to go all out for Tevez
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Don’t mean to be negative here but does this not prove that he’s all weve got up front? Wenger clearly seems to think so, Park is yet to be tested none of us know the impact he would have. Chamakh.. nothing against him but not and will never be good enough for arsenal, and gervinho can play there apparently but i don’t see him leading the line in a 4-3-3 and is doing a good job where he is. Leaving us relying heavily on RVP, if he gets injured what then???
So we need a new quality striker to share the load with Robin end of
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This is what happens when we call for another world class striker to be bought to take the burden off RVP and then we end up with Park, who has yet to feature in a league game. What is he saving him for? Why has 99% of the Arsenal fan base never seen him play for The Arsenal? When you’ve been linked with players like Moussa Sow and Doumbia who are scoring in their league and CL against respectable opponents and then end up with essentially nobody then you have to ask how short sighted Arsene is at times. He seems to be the last person to see the problems the average Joe Blow sees. For all the praise that he’s an intelligent human being and astute manager he was the last person to see that he needed a stronger, more experienced defense, replacements for Cesc and Nasri and now another striker close to RVP caliber.
Maybe Wenger isn’t as smart as people give him credit for.
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this guy get injured every 2 days for once he is feat i think we should let him play….he can even get injured in training lol
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Rvp should nt b rested cnc we r @ the bottom b hind them if this hpnd den w’ll b bck 2 top twnty do it 2hlf
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Let RVP rest and let Walcott prove to us he can play up top.
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i think park should b given time.
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Against Stoke,RVP is a necessity for me but shld be played wt anoda striker preferably Ox,bcos of his ruggedness & tenacity.Stoke’s a must win game if we hv to stay in contention of a 4th place finish! [GFL]
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The reality is that apart from RVP, we don’t have any proven strikers. Chamahk is a lemon (2 goals in 33 games is all the proof you need), Park is yet to prove anything, and Bendtner is not our player this season. That leaves Walcott as the only real option – and he is also not mr. Consistency. Tough call. But it is true – don’t give RVP a break, and soon or later we will lose him again for months to an injury that could have been avoided. At the end of the day – we need another striker in our team. Hopefully he comes in the next transfer window in Jan. Rumours are that maybe Drogba? I would take him any day of the week, and twice on Sunday if he was available. A proven solid player like him – even if he is a little older.
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Ramsey should replace him
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