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Time Running Out for the Yet-to-Be Dutch Master

Arsenal's Robin Van Persie celebrates his goal against Bolton Wanderers during their English Premier League soccer match at Emirates Stadium, London, Saturday, Sept. 24, 2011. (AP Photo/Sang Tan)

Robin van Persie didn’t so much sprint to a century of goals for Arsenal as limp. That is as good a metaphor as any for the career of the striker, who has seen his time in North London marred by injury after injury, consigning him to lengthy spells in the first-aid room.

It took 238 games before Van Persie reached triple figures with Arsenal last weekend, having signed with the club ahead of the 2004/05 season. Due to injuries, he has only once managed to start more than 20 English Premier League games in a season, in 2008/09. Since then, it’s seemed as if “Van Persie” and “injured” go together like “Tevez” and “transfer request” or “Carragher” and “no penalty.”

For now, it seems his injury troubles are behind him. While all at Arsenal may not be well, Van Persie is in the most prolific goal-scoring form of his stop-start career, netting 21 goals in 26 league starts this calendar year. Not a bad return for a player who lacks pace and height, two supposed requisites for top strikers these days.

Talk of Van Persie in recent days has concentrated on his future. Arguably the last remaining “big-name” player at the club, the Dutchman must be wary of following in the footsteps of Samir Nasri and Cesc Fabregas, whose sales were poorly handled. Rumor has it that Van Persie’s contract comes to an end at the conclusion of next season. The club is bound to come under pressure not to repeat the nonsense that saw Nasri’s contract wind down, reducing his resale value accordingly.

Van Persie seemed to add fuel to the fire by suggesting he wasn’t even thinking about a new contract now, instead focusing on helping the team climb the table and challenge for honors. Yet there can be no denying he would have been upset at seeing Nasri and Fabregas move on, and it would be understandable if he questioned his own future at the club.

Father Time maybe the striker’s biggest enemy. He turned 28 just before the season, and manager Arsene Wenger will be acutely aware that any extension would see the club’s leading scorer comfortably into his 30s, an age when Wenger usually starts to release players, not commit them to the club. Throw in an injury record that could come back to haunt him and the impression is that Van Persie’s time to make a real impression on Arsenal’s history is waning.

Van Persie’s talent has never been in doubt, yet history may well record his impact on Arsenal as less significant than his compatriot, Dennis Bergkamp, a player with similar strengths. It would be a shame if history cast Van Persie as the Dutch master who never was.

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