I'm pretty sure of that and I'll be the first to congratulate
him.
He will beat my total of 36 Premier League goals in a calendar
year — a record, by the way, I was unaware of until it was
mentioned to me on Match of the Day at the weekend.
I set that mark back in 1995, when I was with Blackburn.
But records are there to be broken and I can think of no better
striker than the Dutchman to write his name in the history
books.
He has answered a lot of questions over the last 12 months with
33 goals in 32 Premier League games — and not just as his team's
main striker but as Arsenal captain.
He has shouldered both of those responsibilities and replied to
his critics by doing the hardest job in football, putting the ball
in the net on a regular basis.
People have argued with me that strikers don't make good
captains because it is hard to influence the team when you are
leading the line.
I don't go along with that. I managed it OK.
There are different types of skipper and Van Persie is not the
roll-your-sleeves-up type who offers loud vocal encouragement.
He is someone who leads by example with the excellence of his
performances. Team-mates will always be inspired by that kind of
skipper.
We have always known he was a top player.
There have been nagging doubts in the past about his fitness and
his ability to play a long spell of games without interruption.
He has put that right over the last year and proved beyond doubt
he is up there with the world's best.
Van Persie can score goals any way you like. He puts away
headers, tap-ins and rockets.
The volley which won the game against Everton last Saturday was,
I suppose, a definitive strike by the in-form Arsenal man.
Now he has four games left this year to get the record — trips
to Manchester City and Aston Villa and home clashes with Wolves and
QPR.
What we have to remind ourselves is that he carries the burden
of getting most of his team's goals on his own shoulders.
No disrespect to his team-mates, and I know that football is a
team game, but he has won so many games and secured so many points
that it is hard to believe the Gunners' season would have turned
around so dramatically without him.
He plays a lone role most of the time and that makes a difficult
job even harder.
Arsenal tend to play with two wide men with Van Persie often
isolated up front on his own. That's why his achievement is extra
special.
I was fortunate enough to have strike partners like Chris Sutton
and Mike Newell at Blackburn and Les Ferdinand and Peter Beardsley
at Newcastle.
It didn't make scoring goals easy but it helped to have quality
players like those to share the load.
Van Persie thrives on going it alone and his overall movement
and knack of getting into the right place at the right time is a
vital part of his game.
I have to say also that he has been excellently managed by
Arsene Wenger.
The Arsenal boss has left Van Persie out of some games to give
him a rest and taken him off in quite a few others to ensure the
demands of a long season are not too great for him.
If you ask me what his valuation is in the current market,
that's a tough one. You have to remember that he has only 18 months
left on his contract at the Emirates and that will affect the price
Arsenal could ask for the Dutchman.
They would have to accept a lot less money if he were heading
for his final year without a new deal in place.
But if you were to put him in the same situation as Fernando
Torres and Andy Carroll, who left Liverpool and Newcastle
respectively in mid-contract, then you would have to put him in a
similar price range as those highly-priced strikers.
To Arsenal, he is simply invaluable because his goals have been
so productive in terms of games won.
For them to even consider selling Van Persie would be
unthinkable and I am sure Arsenal will be doing all they can to get
him to sign an extended contract.
There will be no shortage of takers if he does decide to leave
because his reputation has soared so much in the last 12
months.
A lot will depend on how Arsenal's season pans out.
If they continue to progress up the Premier League, qualify for
the Champions League again and go a long way in the European
competition this term, then that will provide boss Wenger with some
powerful ammunition to persuade his super striker to stay.
If you look over the history of the Premier League, there have
been some great strikers down the years — players like Andy Cole,
Thierry Henry, Dennis Bergkamp, Michael Owen, Wayne Rooney... the
list goes on.
I would put Robin van Persie right up with the best.
And by the end of the year, the record books will verify that
claim.
from the sun.
======
let's cheer RVP on. i hope he beats the record and avoid
injury all the way.