When Wayne Rooney almost decided to leave Old Trafford in October 2010, one of the main reasons he gave was Manchester United’s “lack of ambition” and marquee signings.
But when the England striker was dropped from the starting lineup against Real Madrid, the newly-arrived Robin Van Persie was used as a stick to beat him with.
The Dutchman has been a revelation since signing from Arsenal in the summer, scoring 23 goals in 30 starts in all competitions.
But in a football landscape where narratives seem to change with the winds, there is already talk of a “goal drought”.
Van Persie has not scored in over a month – a period which spans all of six matches (two league games, two Champions League ties with Real Madrid and two FA Cup ties). The number 20, has not scored since the 2 – 0 league win over Everton on January 10th.
True he started four of those games, and missed gilt-edged opportunities in the first leg against Real Madrid.
But to call it a drought is a bit of an insult to populations that live in arid climates – or a certain Fernando Torres who had not scored at all in 2013 until he netted against Steaua Bucharest on Thursday.
Drop in chance conversion
Back in early January, just before Manchester United hosted Liverpool, I compared RVP and Luis Suarez. At the time Van Persie’s chance conversion rate was 30 per cent but that has now dropped to 24 per cent, while Suarez’ remains at the 16 per cent mark.
But in actual fact the Uruguayan now has a better clear-cut chance conversion rate in the Premier League at 54 per cent to the Dutchman’s 36 per cent. But that has as much to do with Suarez’ increased productivity and consistency rather than a dramatic decline for Van Persie.
Fatigue is a factor during his brief goalless period. Because Van Persie was so injury prone during much of his Arsenal career he never played full seasons. Unsurprisingly his best season for the Gunners came last year when he played a full 38-game Premier League season for the first time. He also suffered a dip in form around this time last year, going scoreless in the league between mid-March and mid-April.
Pre-season regime
Pre-season is also a factor. For example Barcelona’s pre-season training regime accounts for the fact that the squad will suffer a physical dip in January and February before roaring back into life in the last three months of the season – which partially explains their recent poor form before they trounced Milan on Tuesday.
Similarly Arsenal often suffer issues between mid-January and early March and Van Persie spent pre-season with the Gunners after arriving home from Euro 2012. In fact he made his United debut just three days after signing so the fact that he hit the ground running straight away quite an impressive feat.
Of course Van Persie is not all about goals, but he has been a peripheral figure, providing just one assist in a match against Norwich since the Everton game where he scored and assisted one each.
But to even raise doubts about his credentials over a six game run is very hasty indeed, similarly to the scrutiny Lionel Messi endured after failing to score in a couple of cup and Champions League games recently before emphatically silencing any doubters against Milan.
Judging him over a full season, Van Persie is undoubtedly the signing of the season and will probably only be beaten to Player of the Year awards by Suarez and Tottenham’s Gareth Bale.
