Robin Van Persie: Is He Arsenal's Most Valuable Player?

For quite some time now, Wenger has been stating how close Van Persie is back to full fitness, but it’s only been in the past week that Van Persie showed the world what he is capable of as he scored five goals in his last three games.

For a player with so much quality, talent and ideas, it’s a real pity that Arsenal’s Robin Van Persie is rarely compared to present-day greats like Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. There is no doubt that he possesses the skill to play like the above mentioned players, but it’s always been injuries that have been holding the Dutchman back and stopping him from reaching the heights he can easily reach.

Over the past few years, it has become a regular fixture for Arsenal fans to see their star striker fall prey to injury, just as he starts to show real quality. This year was no different. In his first Premier League start of the season against Blackburn, Van Persie got himself injured and was out until December.

In his first few matches after returning from injury, he looked out of touch and lacked the spark one has come to associate with Van Persie. But in the last couple of weeks, Van Persie has looked sharp, his movement has been great and at times simply unplayable.

In the match against Manchester City, he was good and his link-up play was smart. He was unlucky not to score, as he was denied by Joe Hart and the post. In Van Persie's next match against Birmingham, although he scored, he looked extremely out of touch and missed couple of sitters.

But following the Birmingham match, he has come to his best. Against West Ham he tore apart the Hammers and scored two goals and set up one more. He looked calm and assured and took his chances with aplomb. His movement was good and he continuously got into good positions. It was the kind of performance that assured Arsenal fans that their star striker was back to his best. In the midweek FA Cup tie against Leeds United, RVP came on as a substitute, scored a goal and finished off the game.

But Van Persie’s best performance was against Wigan Athletic on Saturday as he scored his first hat trick in Arsenal colours. He scored three extremely well-taken goals and was unplayable. His second goal was pure class from Fabregas’s pass to Van Persie’s finish. His goals were taken by striker who was at the top of his game.

If the last few matches are anything to go by, Van Persie may just be Arsenal’s MVP. Arsenal's utter domination of the last few games has coincided with Van Persie’s return to full fitness. Take nothing away from the likes of Song and Fabregas, who all still remain vital to Arsenal’s title push. I’m of the opinion that Van Persie may play the most crucial role in deciding the fate of Arsenal’s title aspirations.

For a team packed with such attacking quality and prowess, it’s evident that Arsenal’s attacking might is at its best with Van Persie in the squad. Van Persie seems to complete Arsenal’s free-flowing style of play and his movement allows other players to get into great positions. Van Persie seems to be the missing spark that Arsenal lacked initially in the season.

Van Persie is ruthless in front of goal and puts away his chances in scintillating fashion. For a striker, Van Persie tends to drop deep, which allows the likes of Walcott, Nasri and Fabregas venture into good goalscoring opportunities. These may be Van Persie’s biggest assets, and along with his great vision and link-up play, make him indispensable for Arsenal.

Let this take nothing away from Chamakh, who still remains an essential player for the Gunners. Chamakh filled in admirably for the then-injured Van Persie and was one of Arsenal’s best players at the start of the season. He fit in well in his first season and impressed a great deal.

Chamakh too can link-up well, but his finishing needs to improve. But it’s unfair to except Chamakh to be an exact replacement for Van Persie. He offers a physical presence up front which RVP cannot offer and holds up the ball extremely well. He is a great player to have on your bench and can fight for a starting place.

Despite Chamakh’s great qualities, Van Persie offers Arsenal something no other player can offer right now with his pace, intelligence and ruthlessness.

But right now Wenger’s main priority will be to ensure that Van Persie remains fit until the end of the season and doesn’t pick up an injury for its remainder. For Arsenal this season, anything is possible, especially with Van Persie leading their lineup.

This article along with others is available on Sportsbuzz, a new blog started by me. Do give it a read.