His first United year was his final Peak under Moyes and then Van Gaal he was simply over the hill.
Did we let go of Robin Van Persie too quickly?
- Thread starter Shark
- Start date
Frankly if SAF stayed around for a few more years, half the players like Nani, Rafael, RVP, Welbeck etc we could've kept around. Unfortunately the managerial merry-go round in the subsequent years didn't help those players at all.
Nah his legs had gone. Need to do what we did with RVP with a lot of our current players - they might be able to do a job but they need to go to make way for upgrades.
No but We let Rafael go too quickly.
No he had one good season left in him that's why Wenger let him come to us, the same sort of thing has happened with Matic!
A genius who is made out of glass like Van Persie, needs to be handled with cotton wool in the final stages of their career.
Moyes came in thinking that running his players into the ground, while switching the mentality from all out attack to a more cautious approach, was the way forward.
If you look at how Fergie handled Giggs in the final years, the same would have been done with Van Persie. Had Sam Allardyce replaced Fergie in that period, and got tough with Giggs, demanding that he forget about making goals and assists, and instead focus on tracking the Fulhams/Huddersfields No. 10 all game, then it wouldn't have ended well either.
Moyes came in thinking that running his players into the ground, while switching the mentality from all out attack to a more cautious approach, was the way forward.
If you look at how Fergie handled Giggs in the final years, the same would have been done with Van Persie. Had Sam Allardyce replaced Fergie in that period, and got tough with Giggs, demanding that he forget about making goals and assists, and instead focus on tracking the Fulhams/Huddersfields No. 10 all game, then it wouldn't have ended well either.
No.
We just bought him too late. 09/10 should have been it, with the (at the time) huge CR money still fresh.
We just bought him too late. 09/10 should have been it, with the (at the time) huge CR money still fresh.
He'd burned out. Fergie's last year was the absolute end of his peak and he was brilliant. Can't have helped that when he came back the next season he was being coached by David Moyes. He had a quality performance vs. Spain at the World Cup but it was clear he'd lost the last of his pace and struggled to be effective for 90 minutes at that level even during that tournament.
Think if we'd have had him a few years earlier he'd have gotten Fergie his third three-peat and maybe another champions league final.
Think if we'd have had him a few years earlier he'd have gotten Fergie his third three-peat and maybe another champions league final.
No. Let go just at the right time.
His final season is so bad, depressing to watch, it hurts watching him struggle so badly.
His final season is so bad, depressing to watch, it hurts watching him struggle so badly.