Source: Daily_Mail
Wenger's reliant on Robin van Persie to deliver Champions League glory
The decision to sell Emmanuel Adebayor constituted a leap of faith by Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, despite the very persuasive £25million offer on the table from rivals Manchester City.
And just as Wenger asked Adebayor to assume the mantle of Arsenal legend Thierry Henry when the call of Barcelona became impossible to refuse, so he has charged Robin van Persie with the task of replacing the Togo striker.
To say that Van Persie has warmed to the task would be an understatement, given the Holland forwars already has grabbed his five goals for Arsenal so far in their last six games.
But, perhaps Van Persie would even be taken aback by the lavish praise that was heaped upon him by his manager, praise that even contained a comparison to legendary Dutch master striker, Marco van Basten.
Wenger positively beams when asked to discuss just how well Van Persie, back in his native Holland before Tuesday's Champions League clash with AZ Alkmaar, has adapted to the lone striker role.
‘I love him there, I must say,’ said Wenger.
‘Because he has a brain, he can play others in and he can score. His movement is intelligent around the box and if we score a lot of goals, a big part is down to him.
‘Look at the first goal we scored against Birmingham. You can say it was a bit lucky, but you need a specialist soft touch to control the ball in that situation.
‘With a normal player the ball goes five yards away, but with his second touch he puts it straight back on his left leg and scores.’
Van Persie has admitted that adapting fully to the role of being the focal point of Arsenal’s attack will take time.
But Wenger is adamant that he has never harboured any doubts over the player’s ability to grow into the role.
‘He’s much stronger physically now,’ said Wenger.
‘I think he’s a Van Basten type, by which I mean he’s a technical centre forward. He has that classy first touch, sharp movement and a short back-lift.
'I always thought he was more a first striker than second striker.’
Van Persie will be leading the line again in the DS Stadium in Alkmaar, with Wenger’s options in attack somewhat limited by injuries for Tomas Rosicky, Nicklas Bendtner and Theo Walcott.
Rejecting the idea that Walcott is somewhat fragile after suffering medial knee ligament damage as a result of Liam Ridgewell’s challenge at the weekend, Wenger did concede the England winger is more than a little jittery when it comes to his World Cup place, following a series of injury problems.
Wenger said: ‘I believe Theo is worried about the World Cup, certainly, but I don’t think there’s any reason to worry now. He will be in the squad. He will be fit.
'It’s October and he has an injury of two to three weeks. I say four to be covered.’
Wenger is 60 on Thursday and readily admits that seeing such as Van Persie and Walcott reach their full potential is a large part of the reason why he remains young at heart.
‘I am in a job where you always look in front of you,’ said Wenger.
‘Unfortunately, the older you get, the less distance there is in front of you.
‘But when you have a team like I have now, it is absolutely exciting because you know that there is potential in this team and it’s down to me to get it out.’
Questions about retirement are batted away, as is the one regarding whether he will be taking up the opportunity of free travel on the London public transport system.
‘I don’t think so,’ was all the Arsenal manager would say, with a wry smile.
And although Wenger did concede that a move upstairs at the Emirates Stadium is likely once the demands of day-today management become too taxing, expect him to remain in football to his dying day.
‘Touch wood, if I had health, I would want to work as long as I lived, but adapted to my potential,’ he said.
‘It doesn’t always need to be physical work, it can be more intellectual.
‘You cannot be 75 on the pitch, although Giovanni Trapattoni has done well with Ireland.’
