Source: Team_Talk
Van Persie vital to Holland hopes
Robin van Persie's season of frustration over what might have been with Arsenal could just end with World Cup glory for Holland.[LNB] The all-action forward started the campaign in glorious fashion, scoring seven goals in 11 Premier League appearances and creating many more.[LNB]However, disaster struck while away on international duty when Van Persie suffered what would turn out to be serious ankle ligament damage following a challenge from Italy's Giorgio Chiellini during a friendly in Bari.[LNB]Initially, it was hoped Van Persie would be back in action after only a month or so and the 26-year-old even went as far as having radical treatment of placenta massage in Serbia.[LNB]The full prognosis, though, turned out to be much more severe, and would require reconstructive surgery.[LNB]There is no doubt Arsenal were not the same team without Van Persie, although Arsene Wenger's squad rallied to twice come back into the domestic title race but proved no match for Barcelona as they bowed out of the Champions League at the quarter-final stage.[LNB]Wenger firmly believes things would have been different with Van Persie spearheading the attack for the whole campaign.[LNB]"Robin had started to compete as one of the best players in the world, and then suddenly he was out," the Arsenal manager lamented.[LNB]Van Persie spent much of his rehabilitation period back in his native Holland, before eventually returning to action in the north London derby at Tottenham on April 14 - instantly galvanising the side and denied a dream return by some outstanding saves from Heurelho Gomes as Arsenal's title challenge all but came to an end after defeat at White Hart Lane.[LNB]Like any footballer, such a long spell - five months - out of the game can be tough on both mind and body.[LNB]"I have left a difficult period behind," Van Persie reflected.[LNB]"The World Cup is massive, but I always said from the first time I got injured that I wanted to play for Arsenal again this season. That is one thing I have achieved already."[LNB]Van Persie, though, feels his enforced time out of the game can only make him stronger for the challenges ahead.[LNB]"The amount of hard work I put in [during my rehabilitation] was incredible," Van Persie said.[LNB]"I would start at 10am and get home at 8.30pm. Sometimes I was so tired I could not even drive.[LNB]"So I had no fear about how I would feel or about my shape when I would make my comeback.[LNB]"I just know that if my body is in good shape, I don't have to worry about a thing on the pitch.[LNB]"That's why I had the confidence to turn it all on immediately from the first minute I came on."[LNB]Holland coach Bert van Marwijk - who endured something of a difficult relationship with Van Persie when he was a raw talent at Feyenoord - will be hoping that proves the case when Holland open their World Cup campaign against Denmark at Soccer City in Johannesburg on June 14.[LNB]"Robin is a very special player for me, and the most important thing is that he will be fit and in good shape for the World Cup," said the Oranje coach.[LNB]The Dutch prefer to operate a 4-2-3-1 formation, with the Arsenal striker - who has 14 goals from 41 international appearances - at the helm and the likes of Arjen Robben, Wesley Sneijder and Rafael van der Vaart providing the ammunition.[LNB]Van Persie said: "Now we have a different manager with different points which he is looking at, and that is normal.[LNB]"The system seems to be good for me as the central position is best suited to my game."[LNB]The Arsenal forward believes this summer the Dutch will, crucially, have genuine strength in depth throughout the squad.[LNB]"If you look around the Holland team, we have amazing players, in midfield, proper players and defensively we are okay as well," Van Persie said.[LNB]"For Inter Milan, you have got [Wesley] Sneijder, Dirk Kuyt for Liverpool, (Mark) van Bommel and Robben at Bayern Munich, all very good players, so we will see what is going to happen."[LNB]If there was ever a player who slotted right into Holland's own approach to the beautiful game, which is perhaps much like Arsenal, it is Van Persie.[LNB]Former Holland international Ronald Koeman summed up the importance of a fully-fit Van Persie to both club and country when he brought AZ Alkmaar to the Emirates Stadium for a Champions League group match just before the striker suffered his injury.[LNB]"Robin has developed himself in a fantastic way in the last few years," said Koeman.[LNB]"At the moment he is our best Dutch player, he shows that every week for Arsenal.[LNB]"He is a very important player for them now and sometimes he is captain of the team, and that says enough."
