Arsenal will move on without the Oranje Master

Little can be said of Van Persie's latest condemning statement released.

Forget the hate mob, forget loyalty, more or less forget his captaincy.

It is just sad that many little Arsenal boys will be missing their RVP hero. But thats that, life goes on.

No man is bigger than the club. If you want to test this statement, romp into your director's office now and ask for twice your salary and insist or else you say Arriverderci! I'd bet SGD50 your boss will fire you if you insisted on this. lol.

Legacies are built over time. Unfortunately, legends are too...much heralded over time and unlike Bergkamp, this Dutch Hot-Shot decided enough is enough. He has succumbed to the "Awww, we didnt win a trophy again. Like the kid in the park who goes on crying asking mum why his other friends have RC controlled toys and he only has a kite. Continue buying your way into his heart and you gonna have a super spoilt child growing up in his teens."

Sometimes, "Mum - Like the club, knows best."

I know many Man Utd fans will hate me, but i would just like to get some perspective on things. Take Rooney for instance, his form ever since he signed that "Bumper" contract right after Alex and even the board of Man Utd had held their stance against his indiscretion against the club saga; is erratic, and poor overall.

Yes, i acknowledge that he has still scored freely in few games where opposition defences were apalling. But when it mattered last year and the season before that, he hasnt been consistently been finding the net. Touch your heart and question why? Nothing motivates him anymore. To be honest and i think even Rooney agrees. He is Ballon D'or material, but has regressed in achieving world's best. Simply, even when he held the club at knifepoint with his threat then, the saga ended with the club offering the largest contract to date for him. Admit it, something surely must be wrong there. At all costs? Man Utd are still winning things so you cant see how lack of trophies can cause huge cracks. By then, you think all the "Top" players would stay?

I'd even reckon you can forget about ever seeing Rooney's best ever again because when the next time his contract is nearing, he will turn contract rebel again.

Don't believe the whole open letter from Red & White though, the supposed we support but question Kroenke ownership. To be frank, even if you had Ferguson as manager here and still spent millions and not winning, it would still spell the same. Top players leaving. This is not just an Arsenal trend, it is a footballing trend. To take Arsenal as the most obvious scapegoat is for the convenience of those daming football writers.

Lets take some things in consideration, the supposed "Worst Arsenal Team in a century" last season climbed from a bloody well with EVERYONE, i mean it, EVERYONE taking the chance to kick us in the side and mocking us; to a respectable finish that showed fighting spirit i haven't seen in a while.

If one thing last season showed, without Fabregas, some players stepped up to take more responsibility in MF. They were primarily Song, Arteta, Rosicky, and yes even Ramsey even if he did fade out at the end but he started well in the first half. Because of this, the Arsenal MF actually had more resolve and bite to it as compared to when Fab4 was here. However last season also showed what we miss when Fab4 was here, off the ball running, availability to take a pass and pass and move forwards rather than sideways. This year it was obvious at times, we lacked a willing box-to-box man with the guile to sweep in between MF and take passes to release others into space. But hey, we have just the man, Wilshere and an improvingly consistent Rosicky.

So enough the doom and gloom gunners fans. It is good RVP mentioned it in early July that he will leave. Gives us time to see who we want to buy. And trust me this time, Wenger is different in the market, he has learnt from the past and is not stubborn anymore, he is buying into experience more and more. Enough of those fans with negative jibes and claiming they know better than Arsene. I say let the man work his wonders with 2 months to go. You will be surprised.

Lets expect a good season and look forward with anticipation. Who else is Le Boss going to buy?

By the way, to be honest with you, i always respected and admired RVP's technique and passing play. But never ever felt inspired by him like i was with Henry and Bergkamp. In fact in the current team, i am inspired by Kos6 who has in my opinion been the best player we had last season. You should see his gritty face when as usual his last ditch effort saves Arsenal again. So many times he saved the tactical mistakes of his partnering CBs and it is seldom the other way round. Watch carefully this year and you will see what i mean. I am going to be buying the new home jersey with his name on it this year.

So off to start work and all ya gooner fans, keep the faith. The world isn't always just abut Red & White.

Arsenal - Forward 126years.

James Chan
Long-time Arsenal fan in sunny Singapore