Arsenal: Robin van Persie in Cesc Fabregas' Role to Accomodate Marouane Chamakh?

Robin van Persie made his first start in Arsenal colours since the month of August, after suffering an ankle injury in the game against Blackburn. He has made numerous substitute appearances this season but has made only two starts, one of which where he lasted only 35 minutes. Van Persie was understandably not at his best but showed why he still remains a quality player with some of his brilliant passes.

Robin van Persie is one of the most important players for Arsenal and his injury last season was the main reason why Arsenal failed to mount a successful title challenge.

The Gunners scored at the rate of almost three goals per game until his injury and it came down to well below two for the remainder of the season. Arsene Wenger let the unfortunate Eduardo da Silva leave the Emirates and brought in Marouane Chamakh on a free transfer from FC Bordeaux.

Chamakh has been an excellent player for the Gunners and his hard work has been extremely important for the club. He works relentlessly and his link-up play is superb, resulting in opening up spaces for his team mates.

He is currently the leading goal scorer of the season with 10 goals already to his name and for a striker who is not known to be prolific, it has been an impressive season for the Moroccan International.

As good as Chamakh has been, he is not a natural finisher with his feet like Van Persie and does not get too much power behind his shots. It has been frustrating, at times, to see that he tries to find a teammate when he is through on goal instead of trying to bust the net.

However, that can be the only criticism leveled at him because he has been one of the best players of the season and could turn out to be the leading goal scorer at the end of the season, considering that he is amongst the fittest players in the squad.

Van Persie has been unfortunate to miss a number of games this season due to injury, but three weeks after his recovery, he finds himself in contention to start his first Premier League game since sustaining the injury. The Dutch International has superb ball control and has a lethal left foot which he can use to score goals against any opposition.

He is one of the most creative players in the squad, as he showed against Wigan with a back-heel that should have resulted in the opener, but for Carlos Vela's wasteful finishing.

His crosses and delivery from set-pieces are also good and Marouane Chamakh is one player that Arsene Wenger would love to have during set-pieces because of his excellent physical strength and aerial ability. 

But the problem for Wenger is to implement a formation to fit these two excellent players in the same team. The Frenchman has preferred playing a single man upfront and both Robin van Persie and Marouane Chamakh are perfectly capable of playing as the lone striker.

Van Persie has played on the wings in the past but has favoured the central role and has done well in that position. Robin van Persie is at his best when he is able to score goals and that's the reason why he has to play in a central role.

Chamakh cannot play anywhere else other than that of a centre forward because he does not have the pace or skill to be successful on the wings and besides, he has no previous experience playing there. It would be insensible to play Chamakh on the wings though I am sure the striker, being a team player, will accept the role.

In the game against Wigan, Wenger named both Nicklas Bendtner and Robin van Persie in the line-up and Theo Walcott and Carlos Vela played on the wings. Though Bendtner and Van Persie are both centre forwards, Wenger did not play the 4-4-2 formation; instead, Van Persie played behind the striker where his creativity and vision could be put to good use.

Tomas Rosicky played in the position of Cesc Fabregas due to the Spaniard's recurring hamstring injuries and did a decent job, but when he did get opportunities to score, he could not produce a good shot on goal.

Van Persie is deceptively quick and his skills will be useful to direct play from the centre of the park in the absence of Fabregas. The Dutchman's vision is as good as anyone else in the team and there is no reason why he will not succeed in this role behind Chamakh.

Cesc Fabregas had a knack of scoring goals from midfield, which was crucial to the Gunners last season but in this season, both Fabregas and Rosicky have not contributed many goals to the the team. Van Persie cannot be afforded any space by the opposition and if he is given space or time on the ball, he has a deadly long range shot which can provide Arsenal a new dimension.

If he is marked very closely by the midfielders, then Samir Nasri and Andrei Arshavin will find spaces in midfield and can utilise them to immense effect.

Cesc Fabregas is Arsenal's best player in attacking midfield but in his absence, it will be a good idea to continue playing Robin van Persie in the role behind Chamakh. Chamakh is good with his link-up play, which will allow Van Persie to drive into the box.

Also, Van Persie will drift to the wings to create spaces which will allow Jack Wilshere to influence the proceedings in central midfield.

Arsenal will not have Fabregas for the game against Fulham and will probably only have him on the bench for the Manchester United clash. Robin van Persie should be given a start for the game against Fulham to improve his match fitness ahead of the important clash against the table toppers.

Arsene Wenger will have to find a formation which suits his two best strikers, Van Persie and Chamakh, which could be the key to the Gunners being successful in this season.

Last but not least, the Gunners were drawn with championship side Ipswich Town in the Semi-Finals of the Carling Cup and with Manchester United and Aston Villa knocked out of the competition, Arsenal are capable of lifting a trophy by the end of February.

Arsene Wenger has not lifted a trophy at the Emirates (other than the Emirates Cup) and should motivate his players to be at their best for the next three months, which could determine if Arsenal can finally bring trophies to the Emirates.