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Friday, November 19, 2010

Van Persie risks Wenger wrath

Arsenal's injury-plagued Dutch striker Robin van Persie has risked the wrath of boss Arsene Wenger by publicly criticising the Arsenal manager for ignoring his advice to snap up Rafael van der Vaart in the summer.

Van der Vaart did, of course, decide to make the move to North London after being deemed surplus to requirements at Real Madrid, but Spurs were the lucky side that ended up securing his services.

This hasn't gone down well with Van Persie, who has been quoted in the Sun as saying that his "advice was not followed" despite the player making it clear how talented and consistent his Dutch teammate is. The Arsenal odds suggest the club are still in with a chance of winning the title, but clearly the striker thinks things would have gone better with Van der Vaart.

Although every player is entitled to his own opinion, the decision from Van Persie to question the decisions of his manager publicly is a risky move.

Wenger hasn't taken kindly in the past to players deeming themselves bigger than the club, and that's exactly what these comments seem to hint at. Of course Van der Vaart has helped Tottenham defy the Champions League odds this season, but should Van Persie be rubbing his manager's nose in it?

With a couple of high-profile names finding themselves on a fast train away from North London after making similarly ill-judged comments, either in private or in public, Van Persie may yet live to regret his decision to speak out on the issue.
This is particularly the case when you bear in mind the lack of first team action the striker has experienced over the last couple of years.

Whether Wenger, always so watchful of Arsenal's finances, will be content to continue to pay the striker's wages as he fails to recover from persistent injuries and even risks becoming a disruptive influence on the bench, is a question that the Dutchman may not like the answer to.

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