Dear fellow Gooners,
Let me first acknowledge what a tough day it's been. I'm sure that I am not alone in being immensely disappointed of how the situation with van Persie has developed in recent months, and even though a part of me was resigned to losing our captain this summer, I still felt a lump in my throat as I read through his statement and it dawned on me that he was actually going. With Nasri, it was disappointing, but he was just another player - a very good player, granted - but he was never going to go down as a legend. Losing Cesc was tough, very tough, but we knew for a long, long time that he was going. He'd given us seven years of his life and truly loved the club, and I personally couldn't begrudge him the opportunity the move back to his hometown club and play alongside some of the greatest players in the world - many of whom he had grown up with. It was a sad day, seeing Cesc in Barcelona's shirt, but we all knew it was coming.
Cesc's departure was like waving goodbye to a lifelong friend who you may not see for a long time - van Persie's statement today and his pending transfer to Manchester City feels more like walking in our your wife screwing the neighbour. I feel cheated, and I'm sure many of you feel the same. A lot of us put faith in our captain to prove his loyalty and repay the faith we had shown in recent years, through chronic injuries and accusations of sexual assault. We'd given so much to him and it felt great to see him finally reach his peak and prove his quality. The contract situation was unfortunate, but I really believed van Persie would prove repay the faith, ask for a new contract and spend the next few years attempting to lead this side to glory. However, today's impromptu and surprise announcement has really rattled me and there's a couple of reasons I wanted to make this post.
I've noticed that a lot of people on here seem to be splitting the blame differently - some blame van Persie for turning his back on the club, others seem to blame Wenger and Gazidis for not doing enough to convince him to stay. That's fair enough, but I'm a little worried that Robin's departure will bring a lot of what is, in my opinion, a lot of unwarranted criticism upon our manager and our board. I'd quickly like to point out that I'm not wanting to try and convince the anti-Wenger and anti-board members on here to change their minds, because some of the sentiments expressed may well be true and I agree with some of the comments on here. However, I do worry that today's events have brought a lot of criticism towards our manager that I feel is unfair. My belief, which may or may not be correct, is that it is our captain who has played the situation perfectly to absolve himself of some of the blame.
I think it's fair to say that van Persie was acutely aware of all the speculation from the media and the fans that the club didn't have ambitions to win major honours, and that Wenger and the board were perfectly happy to finish fourth every season and make a profit on player sales. This is a widely accepted fact and with the form van Persie was in last season, I think a lot of people assumed he'd want to play for a side that could win trophies immediately. By and large, people couldn't blame him for wanting to leave with a year left on his contract and his age fast approaching 30. Despite, I believe this situation has given him the perfect opportunity to engineer a move to Manchester City and a ridiculous wage packet.
First, he says he wants to wait until the end of the season. Fair enough, but this gives him the opportunity to wait out to the end of the season to wait and see if we fail to make Champions League football - if we don't, it's a perfect excuse to leave. Following that, he says he wants to wait until after the European Championships to make decision. Again, fair enough, but in doing so it makes the situation more anxious and gives him the opportunity to put himself in the shop window. Dragging the saga out also increases the chance that the fans will begin to turn on Wenger and Gazidis for failing to agree a deal quickly. Furthermore, the signings of Lukas Podolski and Olivier Giroud - both of whom, I believe, were brought in to play alongside van Persie, and not replace him - give the impression that Wenger was already buying back-ups in case he decided to leave. He spoke of wanting us to buy well this summer, and already we have two top players confirmed to be joining with two months of the transfer window remaining. However, this isn't good enough. What else did he want? Three new players by the end of June? Four? I fail to believe this, and am more inclined to believe that talk of ambitions and proof of that was a delaying tactic to create uncertainty amongst the fans and draw criticism from the fans onto Wenger and the board.
What sticks out most in his statement is the part about his ambitions not matching the club's. Really? I don't like Gazidis and Wenger can frustrate at times, but what would they have said in that meeting that told him of this? That they didn't want to win the Premier League, or the Champions League, and that finishing ahead of Tottenham was enough? Of course not. I'm sure they would have told Robin that they want to win things as much as he does, and that they would invest in new players - a promise that has, as of now, begun to become fulfilled. I honestly believe that van Persie knew a long, long time ago that he was gone once Manchester City rose their interest in him, and that whatever happened in the months that followed he would have made this announcement. Conveniently, he won't specify what was said in that meeting and what differences there are between him and the club in terms of ambitions - all out of 'respect' for Wenger and the fans that have stood by him during tough times during his time here. Bullshit. He knew he wanted to go, but he just waited long enough for discontent to grow further and the signings made up until this point to look like ready made replacements, rather than a true sign of trying to improve the squad.
To conclude, I'm sorry this has been such a long post, and that some of it may or may not make sense. I'm not claiming my words to be gospel, as, like all of you, I'm just trying to put the pieces together of an extremely troubling dilemma that has hurt many of us. My main point was that please don't hang the Wenger and the board out to dry for this, as there's no real way of knowing how their ambitions don't match those of van Persie and of the fans - he's shown the club and Wenger no respect by deciding to make this announcement off of his own back and seemingly without informing the club. Whether or not you believe it, Arsene could well have woken up and was planning on continuing to spend to lead the club to another Premier League title this season. We could still sign 1-2 players of top class and really push on for a trophy, but, alas, our captain does not want to be part of that and would rather desert the club that have stood by his side for years and get on last final payday.
I'd just like to remind everyone that great players have graced this club before Robin van Persie and great players will grace our club after it. On a day where many of our biggest worries have been realised, it's important to keep perspective and continue to support the team to the best of our ability. No man is bigger than the club.