Arsenal FC: Comparing the Qualities of Robin Van Persie vs. Cesc Fabregas

Robin van Persie is to Arsenal this year what Cesc Fabregas was last year.

The parallels are too numerous. 

Both are unquestionably the best player on the team, both are captain and both are the main creative force behind the squad.  Thus, both are the most important to the squad.

And both are very similar players.  Yes, they play in different positions, but their roles are very similar and they possess many of the same qualities as footballers.

Both provide a huge creative engine when they are on the team, although van Persie does not get as much credit for this as he deserves because of his more prominent goalscoring exploits.

Deployed as a second striker, van Persie can feed the wingers, or operate with a classic number nine like Marouane Chamakh, although the Dutchman would probably like his partner to be able to score goals.

However, Fabregas is one of the best midfielders in the world; he certainly usurps van Persie in this area.

We already know that van Persie is a very able leader; his inspirational displays and perfectly fiery personality demonstrate it during every match that he plays.

In this area, he is even more effective than his predecessor as captain, Fabregas.  Now, many people deride Fabregas as a leader; they say he is totally ineffective and a failure as captain.

But I disagree. 

What made Fabregas a good captain was that his unbelievable quality instilled the team with a sense of belief when all seemed impossible. 

The players around him all knew they had a chance to win when they saw Fabregas next to them, and he served as an example of what a young player can achieve at the Emirates.

However, Fabregas was not as vocal as van Persie, and a hands-on approach to leadership would have been much more effective with the crop of young players that Arsenal had during his tenure as skipper.

The one area where van Persie crushes Fabregas, hands down, is in his goalscoring ability. 

For a midfielder, the Spaniard possesses a very impressive capability for scoring goals, but he cannot even approach van Persie—arguably the best striker in world of football at the moment.

If van Persie connects with a ball on his left foot, it is an absolutely unstoppable hammer blow, and with perfect placement as well.  Even with his supposed "chocolate leg," van Persie has made great strides, as his sublime finish against Norwich showed.

Against Manchester City, the Gunners were clearly lacking the finishing touch that van Persie can provide, and if he had been on the end of some of the chances that Ju-Young Park, or the aforementioned Chamakh received, Arsenal would surely not have gone goalless.

The most important comparison between the two, and the central reason behind the creation of this piece, are the constant transfer rumors that each has had to deal with at Arsenal.

For Fabregas, it was because of his connection to his boyhood club, and for van Persie, it is about Arsenal's willingness to pay him what he believes he is worth, and his faith in Arsenal's trophy-winning abilities.

Both players are irreplaceable.  Arsenal has still not replicated the creative threat and quality that Fabregas provided, and will probably struggle to for some time.

However, it is much easier to plug a hole in midfield than to replace one of the best strikers in the world, and, indeed, the very man who drives the team forward by his own will at times.

Losing Fabregas was probably unavoidable, but the issue of van Persie is quite solvable.

Pay him. 

Whatever he wants, pay it.  He is a reasonable person, and Arsenal will not be forced to pay that much more than what he actually may be worth.

Arsenal cannot afford to lose their best player two years in a row.

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