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Why Fergie’s last gamble paid off

rvp_1789656aIt is just over a year since Robin Van Persie’s diving header met Daley Blind’s cross before flying past Iker Casillas, as Holland drew level against Spain in their World Cup debut.

Most of those watching the game took the Dutchman’s finish as a glimpse of what the future had in store for him and Manchester United.

There it was, a striker that had suffered a disappointing season showing the sort of form that had propelled his side to the league title 12 months earlier, before rushing away to celebrate with the man who was set to become his club manager within a month.

As it turned out, Van Persie’s goal and the ensuing celebration represented more of a nostalgic look to the past than a mouthwatering appetiser.

Louis Van Gaal’s arrival did not revitalise the Dutchman the way United fans had hoped and expected and, after another largely anonymous campaign, Van Persie’s three-season spell at Old Trafford came to an end on Monday as he joined Fenerbache.

Out of Europe’s top leagues, only six players have scored more goals than Van Persie over the last five seasons and many will wonder what it could have been had the 31-year-old built on his first campaign at Old Trafford.

Would have Van Persie left United had Sir Alex Ferguson stayed in charge or had Louis Van Gaal replaced him in 2013?

Would have he played a more prominent role over the last two seasons rather than reducing himself to be a passenger had David Moyes not taken over two years ago?

While both theories have their supporters, when one considers Van Persie is on the wrong side of 30s and carried a whopping £250,000-a-week salary with him, Van Gaal’s decision is perfectly understandable.

Bar the occasional flash of brilliance – the last-minute equaliser against Chelsea and the two goals away at Southampton stand out – the Dutchman fell short of expectations last season, scoring a mere 10 goals.

Perversely, had Van Persie’s debut campaign at United not reached such lofty standards, his performances over the last 24 months wouldn’t have been subject to such intense scrutiny as he struggled to replicate the form that had made him an instant hero for the Stretford End.

“I am a gambler, a risk taker,” Fergie once famously said and gamble he did when, in the summer of 2012, he managed to convince Arsene Wenger to sell him the then Arsenal captain.

Unfazed by the Dutchman’s horrendous injury record – Van Persie had missed 52 games over the previous three seasons – Fergie pulled off the last masterstroke of his stellar career.

Having lost the title in the cruelest of ways just a couple of months earlier and with an ageing squad, United needed a lift.

In the days when the cheque-book was firmly in David Gill’s back pocket, Van Persie’s arrival did not address the obvious deficiencies of the side but it gave United the belief they needed to bounce back from the horrendous disappointment of the previous season.

Van Persie lifted the dressing room and the fans, providing the former with the kind of hungry player every championship-winning side needs and the latter with the first world class signing since Ronaldo’s departure.

Having hit the ground running – a hat-trick at Southampton on his third appearance for the club, goals at Liverpool and Chelsea and at home against Arsenal – the Dutchman carved himself a spot in United’s folklore with his last minute winner away at City in December.

There it was, the surprise signing doing what Fergie had paid £24m for, as United, a largely inferior side to City on paper, secured a win that swung the momentum of the title race.

Like a man on a mission to secure his first Premier League title, Van Persie almost single-handedly dragged United to the title, his hat-trick against Aston Villa clinching it in spectacular fashion.

What some thought could be the start of something great quickly became the beginning of the end, as RVP never rediscovered that form in the wake of Fergie’s departure, scoring only 22 league goals over the last two seasons.

As his niggling injuries returned, Van Persie looked increasingly uninterested and frustrated and eventually sealed his own fate.

Perhaps RVP and United could have achieved a lot more together or perhaps it is the destiny of the ready-made solutions to lose their appeal over time. One thing, however, is certain.

The Dutchman will not be regarded as a United legend, but he was a gamble that, albeit just for one season, paid off handsomely.

Dan

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