Where Do Cesc And Robin Go From Here? (Part 2)

Robin van Persie has yet to have his moment in the sun. The only trophy he's won in his career since his move to Arsenal was an FA Cup in 2005. Many regard him as a player who shows brilliance whenever he gets his chance. The problem is that he doesn't get enough of a chance to show us what he can do over the course of a season. In his 6 years at Arsenal FC, he's never played a full season and it's all due to him picking up some serious injury somewhere along the line. He's always been on the brink of doing what he needs to do to prove to the world that he is a world class striker but misfortune always holds him back from accomplishing this. One thing he should be given credit for is that he knows this and he's frank enough to admit that he's not quite where he should be yet and he knows what's needed in order for him to accomplish this:

I can feel that the manager (Wenger) has faith in me, but I must remain lucid. I am clearly not in the same league as Leo (Messi). Moreover, I am injured too often. I'm dreaming about a season with 30 goals and 20 assists. Wenger knows that I can do it, but my body will have to hold on.

If he had won the World Cup, he would've added the grandest title of all to his resume and that would've helped him to establish himself in world football as a winner and someone who's performed on the biggest stage of them all and been successful. Sadly it wasn't to be and the anguish of coming so close but being still so far away from it was plain to see on his face after the match.

Most Arsenal fans (who aren't Dutch) probably first got excited that Cesc is now a World Cup winner but I on the other hand initially thought "poor Robin, he really deserved this and it's a shame he's gonna have to wait at least another 4 years". I wasn't the only one though. Cesc also admitted that he felt some remorse seeing a desolate figure in van Persie after the final on Sunday. He says:

The first thing I did was go to Robin. I had to go there instead of celebrating with my friends because he deserved it as well. He was injured for a long time and if it wasn't us that he was playing against I would be on his side. Even though I was really happy, I was sad for him.I really hope he has his chance again in two or four years. He is a great guy and a great leader.

Club football aside, Robin's best chance at a trophy is in 2 years time at the European Championship in Poland. You'd think the core of the Dutch team will remain the same and he'll still be their preferred starting target man. It represents his best chance at international glory because I think it would be a stretch to think Holland will win the 2014 World Cup. Apart from that, his role in the team might not be a certainty at that time. He'll be 30 years old in 2014 and he'll face competition from younger strikers coming through the Dutch set up so that makes it much more difficult for him to not only get into the 2014 squad, (if they qualify for Brazil, which is a whole other matter) but to start consistently enough to influence any success they could have there. In order to prove himself as still able to compete at this level for Holland, he'll need to be consistently good for Arsenal over the next 4 years.

Consistency is not something you have to worry about when it comes to Robin van Persie, provided he stays away from injuries. He's one of the most driven players in our team. You could even say he's fixated on winning a major trophy, as it's been 8 years since his UEFA Cup win with Feyenoord and 5 since his FA Cup win with Arsenal. His quotes in an interview with The Guardian last year backs that up:

My ambitions are very, very high and, I think, realistic. I want to be at a level where, as a club, we are winning things, not just every four or five years, but one or two trophies each year. That's what I think this club has in its pocket. I have won the Uefa Cup with Feyenoord and the FA Cup with ­Arsenal. I saw what it did to people in our big family – the fans and the whole club – and it makes life a lot easier. Some people might think my view is extreme, but that is what I want, and I want to do it here. I am not a guy who gives up. ­Otherwise I wouldn't be here.

It's quotes like those why I'm sure he'll be itching to get back on the pitch as soon as possible for Arsenal and right the wrongs of him not achieving major football success in many years. Finishing as a runner up in the World Cup will only spur him on to push harder for success with Arsenal in the forth coming season. While it's sad that he didn't taste victory on Sunday, for Arsenal it's gonna prove to be a good thing as we have a player who'll be hell bent on proving a point to himself and his critics next season.

Arsenal 4-0 Fulham: Third place secured, frustrating season put to bed

by Rachid

The performance we've been looking for since losing the Barcelona game in March finally came yesterday. You could say we went up against a makeshift Fulham side that couldn't care less about playing yesterday because their focus was squarely on Wednesday's Europa League final but it's the result that's important. A win was needed to secure third place and a solid 4-0 win is what we got. It was a game where we still missed important faces but managed to put on a performance that you'd expect from us at full strength.

We started the match pretty gung ho and apart from an error on Fabianski's part early on where he came out to claim a loose ball and dropped it in the area, the first half was all about Arsenal attacking the Fulham goal. The opener came in the 21st minute when Mark Schwarzer uncharacteristically left his goal to collect a backpass but was beaten to it by Andrey Arshavin. The Russian skipped over him, went down by the byline and saw van Persie begging for the ball just in front of the goal mouth. He decided to ignore him and continued from the tight angle and slammed the ball into the net after a deflection off John Pantsil. If he'd missed that chance van Persie would've had every right to be pissed off but it just goes to show how sure Arshavin is of his ability. You could even argue that that was perhaps an intent to silence his critics who have labeled him as lazy lately. There was certainly no laziness about that goal and the effort he put into keeping the ball in play as it almost crossed over the byline, and all the power he put into the shot to ensure that it would hit the back of the net even if a defender had gotten a touch - as Panstil did.

We doubled our lead not long after as in the 26th minute Sagna played Walcott through into space. Theo looked up and saw van Persie waiting in the box and played the ball square to him. It took him two bites of the cherry to score as the first shot was tipped by Schwarzer unto the underside of the bar but the Dutchman made no mistake in converting the rebound.

Eleven minutes later we were three up. Walcott played the ball in from the right and it went to Eboue. He flicked it on but it bobbled between Pantsil's legs and Chris Baird's unfortunate touch took the ball into his own net.

In the 39th minute van Persie, playing deep, found Eboue. The Ivorian made a simply sublime flick off the back of his heel to find Walcott on the edge of the area. Theo left his marker standing and went through on goal from an angle but only had Schwarzer to beat and put the ball wide of the far post. It would've been an absolutely breath taking goal had he finished it. He won't receive a more perfect pass in his whole career. That would've definitely been one of the Arsenal goals of the season, a definite highlight reel moment missed.

The second half saw Arsenal attacking much like they did in the first half. The final goal came in the 84 minute when Carlos Vela made his way into the box and produced a sublime chip over Schwarzer for his second goal of the season. While watching him celebrate I had mixed emotions. I was happy he scored such an awesome goal but at the same time I was a bit frustrated. Vela has so much technical ability but to be honest, he's failed to take his chances when they've been granted to him this season. I've argued in the past that it's partly due to him not settling in England but after the uninterested performance he gave at Blackburn last week I'm beginning to think the amount of passion needed for him to make it in this team just isn't there. I also wondered if that was to be his last goal in an Arsenal shirt.

The victory meant we secured 3rd place as Tottenham stubbed their toes at Turf Moor against Burnley, losing 4-2. You have to say though that it shouldn't have come down to this. It would've been unthinkable for Spurs to finish ahead of us and the fact that we found ourselves in a situation where we were in a battle with them for who'd finish higher on the final day makes me a bit disappointed, even though the danger was averted.

The players went on their lap of appreciation but unlike in previous seasons many fans left before it took place and it sends a message to show how displeased Arsenal fans are in general with the way the season ended. It also went a long way in showing the growing skepticism surrounding Arsene Wenger and his ability to lead this team to victory. He'll no doubt have noticed the scantiness of the crowd and realised that he'll be under intense scrutiny this summer to improve the team in all the areas needed.

It means there'll be countless transfer rumours for us to wade through as the summer rolls along and I'll be back on here blogging about the rumours that have some ounce of credibility in them. Also, expect an in depth rundown of the season that was in the coming days.

Oh, one more thing: for all you cunts hoping for Spurs to finish above us...put that in your pipe and smoke it!

Until next time, fellow Gooners, have a good one!