"It's still ridiculous" – Robin Van Persie's '12/'13 season at United

[SteveJ]

“It was a genius signing, to get someone from one of your rival clubs, where he’d been for so long – everyone was shocked," says Johnny Evans. “He came to Manchester United to win the title, and he was a man on a mission that year. Ferguson loved people who could produce things out of the bag, moments of brilliance, moments of magic..."

“His biggest contribution was making everyone else 10% better,” Anders Lindegaard says. “When he arrived there was a sense that nothing could stop us from winning."

More:
https://www.theguardian.com/footbal...n-van-persie-2012-13-season-manchester-united

 

[Dr. Dwayne]

Just finished reading this. Thanks Steve.

 

[SteveJ]

I unashamedly love RVP, mate, and what he did for us.

 

[tenpoless]

Finally, We get to hear the honest opinions from ex players about van Persie. Johny Evans and Andreas Lingard. I liked them both back then as well and it was such a magical season. That season felt like a dream that I never wanted to wake up from. The muppetry, the timing, the freekick vs city, Sir Alex's farewell... United had what City didn't and it was so obvious who was going to win the league. And I do believe it was because of RvP. No RvP no story.

 

[TsuWave]

I love the guy, and he’s one of my favourite United players regardless of his short stay. Don’t care.

 

[Morpheus 7]

Magical player, he was so exciting to watch. I remember looking so forward every week to seeing him play, big game player with moments of the sublime. Cult hero, disgrace how he was discarded. That number 20 jersey will forever be his at Man United for me. Cheers Wenger, ridiculous Arsenal...never change.

 

[Big Ben Foster]

Magical player, he was so exciting to watch. I remember looking so forward every week to seeing him play, big game player with moments of the sublime. Cult hero, disgrace how he was discarded. That number 20 Jersey will forever be his at Man United. Cheers Wenger, ridiculous Arsenal...never change.

Umm....

 

[Morpheus 7]

Umm....

Rvp was a better player than Ole in my opinion, I added my opinion to not offend in my original post.

 

[mariachi-19]

Rvp was a better player than Ole in my opinion, I added my opinion to not offend in my original post.

There aint no banner with RVP 20 on it from recolection?

 

[Big Ben Foster]

Rvp was a better player than Ole in my opinion, I added my opinion to not offend in my original post.

Fair enough. Agree he was a better player but personally can't see the number 20 at United belonging to anyone but Ole. To each their own though.

 

[Mibabalou]

God that free kick against city.

Still remember exactly where I was

 

[Dr. Dwayne]

That number 20 jersey will forever be his at Man United for me.

Not quite, but that beautiful gingham top (the best thing that Nike's ever done) was cut especially for RvP and I'll always associate it with him and that wonderful season. It's just a pity Nike didn't go full ringer on it, although they did sneakily give you the option.

 

[Wilt]

Brilliant signing, brilliant striker. Virtually won the title singlehanded.

Loved playing under SAF and seemed more affected by SAF’s retirement than most.
.

 

[Cloud7]

What I would give to be able to experience that season again. It was such a wild ride. I looked forward to every game just to see RVP play. It always felt like that season, whenever we were down, we still had it in us to claw it back. I enjoyed watching him so much that season he easily jumped to third in my favorite United strikers after Rooney and Yorke, and he's up there in my favorite United players ever.

 

[Grande]

Magical player, he was so exciting to watch. I remember looking so forward every week to seeing him play, big game player with moments of the sublime. Cult hero, disgrace how he was discarded. That number 20 jersey will forever be his at Man United for me. Cheers Wenger, ridiculous Arsenal...never change.

Going over board doesn’t help a guy ...Robin van Persie was a star player at Arsenal for most of his carreer, a big star player for one season at United, there was nothing ‘cult’ about him, as opposed to the most famous number 20 at the club, who spent most of his carreer here becoming maybe the epitome of a Cult Hero and contributing to ten times as much glory in spite of being much less of a Superstar.

His two seasons under Moyes and Van Gaal was less than magical, the systems didn’t benefit him, his physicality waned, and after a while, his confidence. He was still good for a thirty-something striker, but there was nothing scandalous about letting him go to Fenerbahce for some regular playing time and scoring time in the twilight of his carreer.

I’ve had the pleasure of seeing Cantona, Solskjær, Cole, Yorke, Rooney and Van Nistelrooij and Van Persie live for United, all had that something extra about them that made me know something could come out if nothing at any time. Seeing Van Persie live at Old Trafford was magical in that way, a joy to behold, and to me he was an artist in the mold of Van Basten, Bergkamp and Cantona that it was great to see for United even if he was essentially an Arsenal player.

 

[padzilla]

He'll always be associated with that season of inspired brilliance - the less said about the horrific table cloth kit we had the better!

 

[Isotope]

Just goes to show on having a world class striker can transform a team.

 

[fergosaurus]

He was unstoppable that season. His first goal showed unbelievable technique to smash in a half-volley against Fulham. Then in the following game he showed his bottle by getting a hat-trick to beat Soton 3-2 away, after missing a pen. The volley against Villa to seal the title was one of the greatest ever United goals. We only got one proper season out of him but that season was one of the great individual performances in United's history so he'll not be forgotten.

 

[MiracleInMadrid]

Finally, We get to hear the honest opinions from ex players about van Persie. Johny Evans and Andreas Lingard. I liked them both back then as well and it was such a magical season. That season felt like a dream that I never wanted to wake up from. The muppetry, the timing, the freekick vs city, Sir Alex's farewell... United had what City didn't and it was so obvious who was going to win the league. And I do believe it was because of RvP. No RvP no story.

Sorry for the pettyfogging, but that spelling of 'Anders Lindegaard' is too much a reach for me to ignore it.

 

[TheReligion]

We'd have won the European Cup if it wasn't for that ridiculous red for Nani v Real.

Very fun season to watch.

 

[Verbalkint]

He was absolutely sensational that title winning year with us. A winning mentality, almost a refusal to accept defeat plus being very, very good at scoring goals. We knew how good he was but when he actually joined United it was clear that he was a much better player than we gave him credit for. That entire season was packed with happy, drunk weekends and brilliant Mondays at work. Unforgettable.

 

[ROFLUTION]

I remember seeing him at Arsenal a year before, and it was just so insane how much he guided and lead the team.

He was literally everywhere on the pitch, and everything he did was so direct. He met his match at United. Great move for both parts

 

[Josh 76]

I've said it many times, that season (epecially the first half) I've never seen anything like it at OT. His technique and finishing was out of this world.

 

[DRM]

I love that season for so many reasons, not least because of RVP's brilliance! I remember my wedding day, I looked at the scores and we were 2-0 down to Soton. Then just before the wedding reception...3-2 up, rvp hat-trick! I knew then he was going to be a special player for us! Needless to say I got pretty wasted that night

 

[Freak]

There was just magic about him that season. Everything he did was class. Even the way he held the ball up.

 

[SambaBoy]

One of his most underrated goals was against West Ham at Upton Park (in the cup I think). The ball from Giggs was terrific but to take a ball like that coming over your shoulder with such a good touch and a defender on you is a really difficult skill and to then leash it into the bottom corner with his weaker foot, technique of the highest order.

 

[Yagami]

He really came at a vital time as Rooney and Nani were nowhere near as good as the previous few seasons, and Kagawa just wasn't the player we thought we were getting. It's especially a shame regarding Rooney as if we had the 11/12 version alongside 12/13 RvP, that would've been incredible.

We'd have won the European Cup if it wasn't for that ridiculous red for Nani v Real.

Very fun season to watch.

It would've been interesting to see how we would've done against Dortmund because we were looking like it was only a matter of time before we were through before Nani's red.

People also forget Varane should've been sent off for fouling Evra as the last man in the 1st leg, too.

 

[Annihilate Now!]

Any time there's a thread on him/this i'm compelled to say the same thing... feck Moyes for feckin' wasting a season where we had the best striker in the league.

 

[Maticmaker]

Very few players have had as much impact on the club in their first season as RvP.
There seemed at times to be something predestined about how the season panned out, RvP's performances top notch, his link up with Rooney, the recovery of the league from City, even down to SAF going out on a high; Theatre of Dreams indeed, it certainly was that season and mostly down to RvP.

 

[Massive Spanner]

He was even better the season before with Arsenal. The only reason they finished top four and not top ten.

Unbelievable striker at his peak. A shame injuries meant that peak was quite short, but I'm glad he was with us for a year of it to win Fergie one more title!

Can't believe he's the last fecking player to score a hat-trick for us too. jesus wept!

 

[fergosaurus]

We'd have won the European Cup if it wasn't for that ridiculous red for Nani v Real.

Very fun season to watch.

That red still hurts. As does RVP's miss at the Bernabeu, the one where he controlled it with his chest and it fell nicely to his left foot but he scuffed it from close range. 9 our of 10 times he buries that.

 

[Hammerfell]

He's a legend in my eyes, simply for dragging us to Fergie's final title win.

 

[predator]

Nothing but love for Robin. Just a success from the word go. Loved his aggression aswell.

 

[Vault Dweller]

I absolutely love RvP

 

[hmchan]

One of his most underrated goals was against West Ham at Upton Park (in the cup I think). The ball from Giggs was terrific but to take a ball like that coming over your shoulder with such a good touch and a defender on you is a really difficult skill and to then leash it into the bottom corner with his weaker foot, technique of the highest order.

True. Pogba has provided similar terrific passes in recent years but most of them are wasted by our forwards. More often than not they make a bad touch, lose control and the chance is gone. Not here to judge Martial, Rashford or Greenwood, they are young and they still have plenty of potential, but I just feel that a top striker like van Persie in his prime could improve our team a lot.

 

[RUCK4444]

What a feckin player.

He was the perfect signing. I only wish we had him at his peak for longer.

A complete striker, some of the very best technique you will see from a striker. Could score any type of goal.

Ridiculously good at his peak. Love the guy

 

[RUCK4444]

One of his most underrated goals was against West Ham at Upton Park (in the cup I think). The ball from Giggs was terrific but to take a ball like that coming over your shoulder with such a good touch and a defender on you is a really difficult skill and to then leash it into the bottom corner with his weaker foot, technique of the highest order.

This. That’s the type of technique that usually only exists in computer games.

 

[Vault Dweller]

We'd have won the European Cup if it wasn't for that ridiculous red for Nani v Real.

Very fun season to watch.

God, that still pisses me off man.

 

[Nikelesh Reddy]

He was just a player at the peak of his game....Much like RVN in 02,03....Cristiano in 07,08.....Rooney in 2010....12/13 was just a magical season for RVN.I still look back very very fondly on that season....

 

[Rozay]

Love Van Persie, and it annoys me to this day that I don’t think he gets anywhere near the credit he deserves on a broader PL scale - largely because he had a terrible injury record, and also because Arsenal won feck all. Personally, at the time, I always thought he was a better striker than Drogba who was very popular. Definitely one of the best strikers to ever play in the PL. And he made it look good!