 |
| Van Persie |
Sir Alex Ferguson believes Robin van Persie is currently as necessary to Arsenal as Lionel Messi is to Barcelona or Cristiano Ronaldo to Real Madrid. finish off their leading scorer, the Manchester United manager reckons, and you go a long way toward silencing the Gunners."It has become a case of stop Van Persie and you stop Arsenal," Ferguson said before Sunday afternoon's meeting between the rivals at the Emirates Stadium. "His kind has been fantastic this season and his goal record speaks for itself. I hope he does not boost it this weekend."Arsenal have return to believe|suppose|deem|trust|admit|accept|have confidence|have faith in|place confidence in} him but i believe you may say precisely the same issue about Barcelona. If you can stop Messi they're not identical team, and if you can stop Ronaldo then Real Madrid aren't identical team. The highest groups perpetually appear to own a player who will make a distinction. Manchester town have David Silva, and for many years when he was at his peak Didier Drogba was a matchwinner for Chelsea."
Manchester United were tracking Van Persie for a minute when he was rising through the youth ranks within the Netherlands and will have beaten Arsenal to his signature, although Ferguson admits the London club perpetually had the inside track. "I bear in mind planning to see Van Persie play for Feyenoord reserves, way, way back," the Scot said.
"We were definitely interested, but the day we have a tendency to went to see him he did not play the complete game. He was either sent off or he walked off, i can't bear in mind that. we have a tendency to ended up leaving it, we have a tendency to did not make a move for him. i do not assume we have a tendency to saw enough of him to create a decision, whereas Arsenal were a lot of nearer to the case at the time and that they eventually got themselves a terrific player."
Ferguson's initial instincts do typically pay off, however, and like most United supporters the manager has been inspired by the recent displays of Antonio Valencia, a winger he signed from Wigan Athletic. The Ecuadorian's kind appeared to falter towards the top of last season and it took a minute to recover, although currently he's back to his energetic best, Ferguson believes he might merely have required longer than anticipated to totally live through the broken ankle he suffered in 2010, an injury compounded by another ankle knock in last summer's Copa América that forced him to miss the complete pre-season programme.
"He's been up and down but he's back to his best," Ferguson said of the player he signed to exchange Ronaldo. "Every time he played against us for Wigan he caused us issues, that was how he came to my attention. I phoned Steve Bruce [Wigan manager at the time] and received only positive reports. He told me he could play in three or four positions but I wished him on the wing. he is not got Ronaldo's goalscoring knack but he's a strong player who will place in a very cross, and any striker price his salt ought to be able to enjoy an honest cross."
Wayne Rooney appears to understand the service he gets from Valencia, and Ferguson will make sure that regardless of the tactical configuration of the side, sensible wide players can perpetually be a part of Manchester United's thinking. "If you can determine sensible wide players i believe they're an important asset to a side, as long as they have the appetite to figure," Ferguson said. "Antonio actually has that. it isn't a simple position to play, but if you examine the wingers we've got employed in the recent past, from David Beckham to Ryan Giggs to Nani, what they all have in common may be a fantastic work-rate."
