da fazobetai： This article is part of Football FanCast’s Pundit View series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent quotes from journalists, pundits, players and managers…
da betsson： Robin van Persie has told SPORTbible that Arsene Wenger had a bigger influence on him as a player than Sir Alex Ferguson.
What did he say?
The 36-year-old spent the best part of his career in England, with his time on these shores spread across two clubs, Arsenal and Manchester United. Combined, he scored 190 goals in 385 appearances.
He retired from football last season after returning to the Netherlands with Feyenoord, and he has been speaking about his career with SPORTbible. When asked which of the two managerial greats had the biggest influence, he responded:
“The biggest influence must be Wenger, because he was the one who worked with me. I came in as a kid and he helped me develop. He saw something in me. Sometimes I messed up. I got a silly red card or – as kids do – I made mistakes. But he still gave me another chance. Chance after chance sometimes. Sir Alex was at a different time because I came as a mature player. But I’m very happy to have worked with those two great managers – only a couple of players can say they worked under both!”
Both played important roles
The striker was spotted as a 21-year-old playing for Feyenoord by Arsene Wenger, and the latter deserves a big portion of the credit for turning the Netherlands international into one of the greatest strikers in Premier League history. Throughout his career at Highbury and the Emirates Stadium, his goal tally increased in almost every season, and he began to play a bigger and bigger role for the Gunners in each passing campaign.
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He always displayed so much potential, and the French boss persevered with him as he initially struggled to live up to those expectations, whilst he also had problems with injuries. By the end of his time in north London, he had scored 58 goals in his final two seasons for Arsenal.
However, whilst Wenger turned him into a fantastic player, it was Ferguson who turned him into a true star. Not necessarily thanks to his work on Van Persie specifically, but he enabled him to be a part of a Premier League-winning side, and he played a starring role too.
As the Red Devils lifted the title in 2012/13, RVP scored 26 goals as he played in every single match in the league, going down as a true legend in English football.
Yes, it was Wenger he moulded him, but Ferguson made him the finished article with the league win. It would have been such a shame for a player of his quality to depart England without a league title. Fortunately, that proved not to be the case.