Arsenal Mania

The boss clarifies comparisons with van Persie

Written by Jonathan Chong on Thursday, November 5, 2009

A few days ago there were a few comments being attributed to manager Arsène Wenger, quoting him as saying that striker Robin van Persie was better than Arsenal legends Thierry Henry and Dennis Bergkamp, combined!

Arsenal's 2008/09 Player Of The Season has already scored eight goals in 13 games since the start of the current campaign and is currently the club's leading goalscorer but even the in-form Dutchman wouldn't admit that he was better than both Bergkamp and Henry put together!

Wenger clarified that he didn't actually say that, and the story from the media had gotten out of hand. The Frenchman explained: "They [the media] asked me 'what kind of player is van Persie?'.

"I said it is difficult to say because he is a little bit a mixture of the characteristics of Thierry Henry and of Dennis Bergkamp.

"He is not purely a target player or a runner of the ball like Thierry, but he can play up front. And he is not a Bergkamp, not purely a final ball-giver like Dennis.

"Robin is a bit of both, but that is why he is van Persie. I did not say he is Henry plus Bergkamp like some papers made it!

"They were two world-class players, and Robin is a world-class player but a different type. He is a mixture of a target man and of a supportive striker."

There is no doubting the talent and form that our number 11 is in, with Dutch legend Marco van Basten once saying that van Persie was the most talented player in the Dutch national squad.

van Persie has netted 13 times in his 37 appearances for his country, and AZ Alkmaar manager Ronald Koeman praised the forward, saying: "Robin has developed himself in a fantastic way in the last few years.

"At the moment he is our best Dutch player, he shows that every week for Arsenal.

"He is a very important player for them now and sometimes he is captain of the team, and that says enough."

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