Style of Play
Van Persie started his senior club career as a left winger and possessed exceptional dribbling skills and was also a talented striker of the ball. He was bought by Arsenal as a long term replacement for Dennis Bergkamp. Manager Arsène Wenger planned to convert Van Persie from a left winger to a centre forward as he had successfully done with star player Thierry Henry. He was at first mostly deployed as a second striker in League Cup and FA Cup matches. Due to the retirement of Bergkamp and departure of Fredrik Ljungberg, Van Persie was given a starting role to play alongside Henry as a second striker. Van Persie impressed in this position, having many assists and goals to his name. Van Persie is described by Wenger as Bergkamp with goals. Van Persie is highly regarded for his dribbling and shooting technique, but has become prone to injury. Van Persie has become a pivotal figure for club and country and this was recognized when he was named Arsenal Player of The Season for the 2008–09 season. Van Persie's 50th Premier League strike made him only the fourth Dutchman to reach 50 goals in England's top division, along with Dennis Bergkamp, Ruud van Nistelrooy and Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink.
The departure of Emmanuel Adebayor and Henry meant the Dutchman was now the main striker in Wenger's 4–3–3 system, though Van Persie often dropped in the midfield to use his vision and passing skills to create chances for other attacking players in the midfield such as Aaron Ramsey and Theo Walcott. Van Persie topped the goal assists leader board with 11 assists in the 2008–09 Premier League season. Van Persie is also a set piece specialist and a vast number of his assists come from both corners and freekicks. He is also a proven direct freekick taker scoring regularly for his club and country.
Read more about this topic: Robin Van Persie
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