Gary Neville has defended Robin Van Persie’s performances, saying that the Dutchman’s poor start to the campaign was down to a lack of help from his teammates, who must do more to help him.
Van Persie has scored three times in nine Premier League games and has come under criticism for looking uninterested and for not being as sharp in front of goal as he was during the World Cup in Brazil and Neville admitted the former Arsenal captain was beginning to be under pressure.
“There’s pressure on Van Persie, people want more from him,” Neville said on Monday Night Football.
“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.”
Dan
