Arsenal: Robin Van Persie's 5 Greatest Qualities as a Footballer

The Dutchman's goal-scoring record since January 2011 is beginning to enter the realm of the absurd.

Will he ever come back to earth? Hopefully not. Where his profligacy is concerned, I'm all for it continuing, as Willy Wonka (Gene Wilder version) once said about something or other in his famous factory "It keeps on going."

Maybe he didn't say exactly that—I haven't seen that movie in ages, but it went something along those lines.

Basically, I just don't want Van Persie to stop this streak he's been enjoying for a long, long time now. Good? Good. We're back on the same page.

He was at it again on Sunday against Tottenham Hotspur—a team he's always enjoyed success against in the past. After narrowly missing opening his scoring account on two occasions in the first half, he finally got his goal in the 43rd minute. And what a goal it was.

But (much) more on that later.

For many an Arsenal fan, a Robin van Persie goal has become a Pavlovian expectation when we tune in to watch the side. The match whistle is blown, immediately we begin salivating...er...expecting that first goal from our esteemed striker.

Perhaps, that's what made his two misses so dumbfounding. We don't often see the Dutchman waste chances in front of goal—remember his point-blank miss against Manchester United on Jan. 21, before he eventually opened his account?

I remember thinking for a fleeting instant how one could compare RVP and Fernando Torres because of that momentary lapse.

But then I realized that while Fernando Torres has yet to hit double digits for his return rate since joining Chelsea, Robin van Persie is nearing 30 goals (he has 28 in all competitions) for this season alone. And hey, Torres didn't have to deal with a keeper.

Given his run of form for well on 13 months now, any miss in and around the goalmouth area comes across as a shocker.

And even Van Persie's misses these days can be sublime. There have been at least two chipped efforts from audacious distances (over 20 yards) in 2012 alone, one of which came against Bolton Wanderers on Jan. 31. Here's another, this time against Sunderland, back in November.

Had either gone in, it would have been up there with Cantona's own in terms of ingenuity.

Those efforts offer but a glimpse of just how transcendent this 28-year-old player has become. After years of showing immaculate talent, which many feared would be scuttled by frequent injury woes, Van Persie has finally seen it all come together, helping him become one of the greatest strikers in the world.

His form has been called "unbelievable" by teammate Alex Song. You'd be hard-pressed to find a teammate, or any player in the world right now for that matter, who might disagree with that assessment.

Like so many top Arsenal players both now and in the past, Van Persie credits his immeasurable growth as a footballer to Arsene Wenger, his manager since moving to north London from Feyenoord in 2004.

"I'm so thankful I met him," Van Persie said in a ESPN Soccernet article last November. "When I was 20 he asked me, 'Why are you not a top player yet?' I said, 'Because of this, this and this.' He told me to think about the reasons why and a couple of years later asked me again, 'Are you a top player?'

"I again said, 'No, I don't think so.' And he said, 'Why not? Think about it.' It was then I started to realise. He gave me a little bit of advice on certain things I was doing.

"He told me to think more about my actions. It was a conversation which lasted a year. Every couple of weeks he would refer to that conversation we had. He was giving me proof as well so I could go on and find my answer and I was finding answers all the time. He helped me big time."

A masterclass in coaching by the Frenchman, who has shown an uncanny knack for getting the best out of so many players over the years. Add Van Persie to the list. Would he have developed the same way had he not been pushed by Wenger?

In Van Persie we have seen the transformation of a talented winger with a sumptuous left foot into perhaps the most complete attacking force in the Premier League.

The man almost defies explication when he's at his best, but it is fun to point out his best qualities as a footballer—the ones that enable him to embark upon such wonderful runs of form.

Here are five of Van Persie's best qualities.

Ability to Let the Ball Run Across Him

No matter where he finds himself on the field, Van Persie can find a way to employ that dizzying turn where he allows a pass to run across him until he wrongfoots the defender at his back.

Once the ball has passed his outside foot, he utilizes his deceptive pace and blows by the hapless marker.

It is a masterclass of timing and ingenuity, and we see it almost every match.

When used in the penalty area, it has led to a number of his best goals.

Against Tottenham, he used it against Scott Parker following a throw in.

Now, any casual observer of the Premier League for, say, the past year knows that Parker is one of the best central defensive midfielders in the game.

The fact that he's up for the England captaincy is testament to his quality and assured nature both on the ball and when engaging in tackles.

For the first third of Sunday's match against Arsenal, he was superb.

Which makes Van Persie's shrugging off the England midfielder as if he were a cricket that had flown onto his shoulder, all the more amazing.

Parker was left totally flummoxed by Van Persie's turn of pace as he ran onto the just-past ball; unable to catch up once the deed had been done.

The Dutchman then fired an arrowing shot that deflected just wide of Brad Friedel's goal.

It didn't go in, but perhaps that wasn't the point. He had toyed with Parker, a world-class defender, as if he were a rag doll.

Dribbling, Navigating Tight Areas

We saw it in the moments preceding his goal against Tottenham, where Van Persie collected the ball at the edge of the penalty area's half-circle and, as analyst Stuart Robson put it so perfectly, "manipulated the ball onto his left foot."

Robson must have felt quite pleased himself with that bit of commentating, as he used that phrase at least two more times during the match, but it was the perfect way to describe the Dutchman's uncanny ability to get the ball onto his preferred left foot, even amidst two or three defenders.

Like Michael Jordan's fadeaway jumper, they know it's coming, but they still can't do anything to stop it.

Besides that scoring effort, Van Persie nearly wended his way past a cluster of four Spurs defenders after Theo Walcott had played him an early ball on the break.

After dispatching Parker once more with a deft one-two flick through his legs, he almost fired his way past the remaining defenders before being snuffed out.

One imagines that Arsenal players hope that Van Persie is on their team for 5-a-side during training, where the Dutchman's control and ingenuity are in a class all their own.

Technical Ability, Right or Left Foot

His strike against Tottenham, a left-footed curling effort that wound past an outstretched Brad Friedel, was phenomenal.

But even that pales in scope and grandeur to this iconic goal against Charlton.

Van Persie's tactical wizardry was on full display back in 2006, when the then 22-year-old fired in an unstoppable volley with an audacious bit of spontaneous skill.

But perhaps the best testament to the No. 10's progress as an overall striker is his improved finishing with his right. We've seen him go crashing in on goal to poke home, as well as hitting shots with his laces. All end up close to the target if they don't find their way into the back of the net.

Remember these goals against Chelsea?

There's simply not enough one can say about either foot, although I've tried my best to do each justice with this slide show. Whether it be goals or assists, the Dutchman delivers with ambidextrous panache.

While Wenger is always quick to dismiss assessments that Arsenal are a one-man RVP show, there's no denying that without the Dutchman's consistent ability to find the back of the net, Arsenal would be in dour shape.

Ability to Link Up Play

The goals are great, but Van Persie is counted upon to do far more for Arsenal than find the back of the net.

Operating as the lone striker in Wenger's 4-2-3-1 system implemented before the 2009-10 season, Van Persie is in constant movement throughout the attacking third, often dropping deep to link up play and involve his teammates.

It is a vital ability, and one that allows the Dutchman to pick apart defenses with his vision, sending wingers in behind the defense with his slide-rule passes or bringing midfielders into the action with passes back into space.

Once he's passed off the ball, Van Persie is always a threat to make a well-timed run into the penalty area—another aspect of his game that's vastly underrated.

Embracing His Duty as Captain

Once Cesc Fabregas had traded his Arsenal red for the Barcelona blaugrana, there was little debate as to whom should succeed the Catalan as club captain. At 28, it was time for RVP to assume that mantle.

Van Persie has embraced the leadership role with aplomb, showing a sense of calm even amidst the most pressing rumors concerning his potential departure this summer, given Arsenal's poor form (for their lofty standards) and his contract terminating in 2013.

But he has never let that affect his play. He has exhorted his team during their most trying times this season—and there have been quite a few—not once seen pouting on the field, or making it appear that he wished to be anywhere else.

This Arsenal team is growing, but it still has a healthy collection of young players. Thus, having a player of Van Persie's world-class stature showing patience, not exasperation toward them, can only be beneficial.

It's awe-inspiring to think just how many times he has answered the call when his side needed him this season.

His evolution as a footballer has been tremendous—he can be counted upon to score in any number of ways these days, whether that entail a bit of technical wizardry or a rugged poached effort in front of goal matters little in the end, but that ability to lead may yet prove to be the most important for Arsenal's 2011-12 season.