Louis van Gaal has revealed that he does not expect striker Robin van Persie

Manchester United boss Louis van Gaal has revealed that he does not expect striker Robin van Persie to be fit for the match against Manchester City this weekend.

The Dutchman has missed the last five matches due to an ankle injury. United have not missed their talisman striker during this period, as Wayne Rooney has been scoring a lot of goals since been reinstated as the striker. Even if van Persie is available for selection against City, it is looking highly unlikely that Van Gaal may change the personnel or formation given the way the team has been playing in the last two months.

United remain in with a shout for the Premier League title after managing a 3-1 win over Aston Villa last weekend. This kept them in touch with Chelsea and Arsenal while it also helped them leapfrog Manchester City into the third place after Manuel Pellegrini’s men lost against Crystal Palace. It is widely speculated that this may be van Persie’s final season at United, as the 31-year-old is believed to be looking at pastures new. Even though he holds a special relationship with Van Gaal, his inability to find the net on a regular basis in the last two seasons is believed to be the reason. Continue reading Louis van Gaal has revealed that he does not expect striker Robin van Persie

Robin van Persie not Impressive Record for MU

In 23 Premier League matches, Robin van Persie has scored 10 goals. This isn’t a very impressive record for any striker and it’s much worse for a forward who was once considered to be one of the best in the world a few seasons ago.

Robin van Persie has 17 months left in his contract with Manchester United and no discussions have been made concerning a possible extension.

Fortunately for the Dutch attacker, it’s not just him who is underperforming for Manchester United as it’s almost the entire team which have failed to actually make a commanding series of impressive performances in this season. Neither Falcao nor Rooney are currently going through the best shape of their lives and these are the players which are suppose and expected to be the main attacking powerhouse of Manchester United but have failed to deliver. Continue reading Robin van Persie not Impressive Record for MU

Louis Van Gaal presses Persie ahead even after Poor Performance

The manager of Manchester United, Louis Van Gaal, would have left Robin Van Persie out a few weeks back because of his poor form, but, he was not able to do so because he did not have the options to replace the striker.

Van Persie had lost his form completely after the World Cup, but, he kept getting picked by his compatriot throughout the summer and he eventually got back in nick.

Continue reading Louis Van Gaal presses Persie ahead even after Poor Performance

RVP STRUGGLES FOR FORM

Along with Radamel Falcao, Angel Di Maria and Wayne Rooney one of the other main attacking stars of Manchester United is Robin van Persie but the Dutchman is not going through the best of times and van Persie is far from being the same player that he once was when he made his debut season as a player of Manchester United where he managed to score 26 goals.

In the current year Robin van Persie has scored less than 13 goals for Manchester United in the Premier League and Louis van Gaal himself has admitted that the Dutchman is struggling to find his form of some time ago.

A few weeks ago on November 22, Arsenal hosted Manchester United at the Emirates Stadium and this match was one of the worst for Robin van Persie as he made a total of 13 touches on the ball and was anonymous throughout the entire match as he did not contribute in any way for his team during their 2-1 victory over Arsenal. Robin van Persie was substituted out of the match and replaced by the 19 years old forward James Wilson in the 2nd half.

When the match was over Louis van Gaal had a few things to say concerning the form of Robin van Persie as the Dutch manager said:

“I do think 13 is few for a striker. I want to improve that. You can count his touches on the ball but more important is how he is playing. It was a very bad game for him. That is why I changed him. When I change a player, it is not because he is the best player on the pitch. You are doing something wrong. I believe in the players. When I change them, normally, it is because they are doing something not good in their performance’’

Robin van Persie managed to score a morale boosting goal during Manchester United’s 3-0 victory over Hull City as the Dutchman is starting to find the back of the net and his confidence is building up once more.

RVP MUST GET BETTER

Former Manchester United defender Gary Neville says that Robin van Persie should improve his performances this season in order to help his team get results. However, he says that the striker is alone not responsible for the average performances he has put in this campaign. Van Persie, who signed for United back in 2012 for £ 24 million, helped the club in the Premier League in his first season, which also turned out to be Sir Alex Ferguson’s last season in charge a manager. Since then, however, van Persie has struggled for fitness and form. It was heavily expected that the arrival of Louis van Gaal would propel the striker back to the top of the goal scoring charts, but it has not happened yet.

The striker did score in the 1-1 draw with Chelsea, but he was unable to provide any influence in the 1-0 defeat against Manchester City on Sunday.

After missing the start of the season due to injuries, a Wedding in Cheshire and World Cup hangover, van Persie has played close to 800 minutes in the league. He has secured only three goals so far. Many believe that the 31-year-old is a player on the decline largely because of injury troubles. He was largely injury free when he joined United, but his career was severely halted by injuries prior to it.

“There’s pressure on Van Persie, people want more from him. He’s got to do better in long situations and needs to make better runs. But his team-mates aren’t finding him as much as [Paul] Scholes and [Michael] Carrick were two years ago. I called him a burglar before – he lives off back of centre-backs. The type of pass he wants is into space. In defence of Van Persie I don’t think his team-mates are in synch as they were two years ago. Maybe Carrick coming back will help him,” said Neville.

Robinho happy to wear captaincy

The comeback man Robinho has said that he would be happy to wear the captain’s armband if he is asked to do so by the Brazil boss Dunga, but, he is not thinking about that at all.

Robinho was actually not in the squad that was announced by Dunga initially for the upcoming couple of friendly games against Ecuador and Colombia, but, he found a place eventually because of Hulk’s injury.

Considering his experience and his healthy relationship with Dunga, it has been rumoured that Robinho might be given the chance to lead the side on Global Tour.

The forward though denied yesterday that he was desperate to be the captain in those two games. According to him, he just wants to perform well and establish his place in the Brazilian side again. It doesn’t matter whether he is captain or not.

Talking to the reporters earlier today, the veteran Santos player said, “If I am made the skipper, that’s cool. If I am not, that’s cool too. The armband is not going to affect my game.”

“I have a great tuning with the coach and that would always remain the same. I just want to do my job on the pitch.”

Robinho was a regular in the Brazilian squad during Dunga’s previous stint as manager. However, he was at his prime at that time. He was playing for top clubs. The same can’t be said about him right now.

Robinho had played more than 50 matches for the Selecao under Dunga the last time around and to his credit; he had been successful, scoring in excess of 20 goals.

Robinho wasn’t able to make it to the World Cup squad of Brazil this year despite featuring in a couple of international matches towards the end of 2013. A few people felt that he should have been there in the final squad.