Arsene Wenger: Robin van Persie deserves Arsenal respect

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Robin van Persie and Arsene Wenger

Manager Arsene Wenger has told Arsenal supporters not to abuse Robin van Persie when the striker plays against his old club on Saturday.

It will be the first time the Dutchman, 29, has played against Arsenal since a £24m summer move to Manchester United.

"I hope it [reception] is a respectful one because he did very well for us [for eight years]," said Wenger.

"We campaign against discrimination, it was still the case last week so why should it not be the case this week?"

United boss Sir Alex Ferguson does not believe Van Persie, who scored 132 goals in 281 appearances for Arsenal, will receive a negative reception from the travelling Gunners fans at Old Trafford.

"I don't think that will be a problem," he said. "I think the fans will recognise the eight years he gave them and it will be nice."

Van Persie, who scored 44 goals in 57 games for club and country last season, announced in July he would not extend his existing Arsenal deal and signed for United in August.

Following the transfer Wenger admitted his "regret" at losing a "world-class player", but the Frenchman says Saturday's Premier League match at Old Trafford is not about revenge while admitting he is not surprised at the impact Van Persie has had at Old Trafford.

He has scored nine times in 11 matches for the Red Devils, who are second in the Premier League table.

"For us, what is important is the result at the end of the game, and the quality of our performance," said Wenger.

"[But] I am not surprised by how well he [Van Persie] is doing. At Manchester United you have good players around him, and Robin is very intelligent around the box - his runs are fantastic and his technique is absolutely amazing.

"There are a lot of players in offensive positions, so with his intelligent runs, of course he will take advantage of that.

"Robin is certainly the most efficient striker."

Sixth-placed Arsenal, who were beaten 8-2 in the same fixture last season, will be without injured striker Gervinho, goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny, full-back Kieran Gibbs and midfielder Abou Diaby on Saturday.

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  • Fair play to Wenger. It shows the measure of the man that he is asking for respect for a player who spent a great deal of time collecting his wages whilst injured and then when fit refused to sign a new contact despite the club backing him through his troubled times, leaving us for one of our biggest rivals. Personally I think Wenger is paying Van a great deal more respect than he showed AFC.

  • I think on Tuesday vs Reading, Arsenal fans were amazing. They sang passionately at 4 down right to the end, you could hear them above the Reading fans. If a similar vibe is present at OT I could see it really spurring their team on. I'm not so confident at the moment, but who knows

    (Hears to hoping the refs stay out of it too)

  • Arsene Wenger will urge respect because its the professional and sensible thing to do but how many travelling Arsenal fans are going to? Very few I'd imagine. Yes he's been at Arsenal for 8 years but decided to walkout when he was flourishing. To be honest, I wouldn't boo him personally (I'm an arsenal fan) but I think the arsenal board needs questioning/booing. You can't blame it all on RVP

  • The gooners are away, so we won't be able to tell what they really think until the home fixture. Hope he won't get the Sol Campbell treatment, as that was well OTT, but he is a Judas, so he will certainly get some stick.

    As others have mentioned, some of it depends on how RVP acts, especially if he or Utd score.

  • @ 176 agree totally. I really DO NOT GET why Clattenburg cannot just come out himself and say 'they misheard me, I actually said this'. What is this wall of silence, red tape, censorship cr@p. In fact, in general, why don't referees do post game interviews like managers & players? What's all this cloak & dagger nonsense. I actually would like to hear a ref say why he did/didn't do this/that

  • @168. Maybe, but the Europa and 'smaller' teams should not be ignored. Spanish teams have won it 5 times in the past ten years. Add to that Spain's dominance of World Football since 2008 and we have more cause for concern. Add to that the emergence of Spanish stars in our league, Mata, Silva & Cazorla, none of who came from Barca or Madrid, and you can see the quality their league produces.

  • Anyone who gave 8 seasons and scored a hatful of goals deserves respect. I fully expect the Arsenal fans to give him that respect before kick off, but once the game kicks off, then he is simply a member of the opposition and will get the usual banter that opposition players get from all sets of fans

  • simply put, if RVP had left Arsenal in the summer for an overseas club, I could see Wenger's request for respect being adhered to. To move to a rival will obviously provoke the fans who were understandably hurt/ frustrated by his decision.



    I do think if RVP scores however today that the celebrations will be kept to a minimum.

    http://fantasyyirma.wordpress.com

  • @234
    What is this rubbish about poor robin not being in it for the money!
    That's got to be the best line ever coming from the dreaded utd file.
    Most amusing. Christmas already ho ho

  • @220 You might be right if we are talking about buying players with long histories of injuries that kept them out for several seasons. RVP did not have this injury. He was a good, yet petulant and childish player. Arsenal made him very good and improved his attitude as well. Therefore, RVP owed Arsenal his loyalty after 6 and a half years on the sidelines. All the while he was still being paid.

  • RE153

    No one hated Ronaldo when he left united? Because he left to play in Spain! Bit different if he had joined Liverpool or City!

    Just hope Arsenal have the last laugh tomorrow, depends who the referee is though!

  • @161
    Three Spanish teams?! Barcelona, Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid (8 points clear of city rivals, 16 European wins in a row), Malaga (top of CL group with 3 wins, one defeat all season), Valencia (see below), Levante (first season in Europe, two wins and a narrow defeat), Sevilla (beat Real Madrid, as many European trophies in last 7 years as all English clubs combined). Seriously, mate?

  • mattyrjb

    What if Ronaldo had gone to Arsenal, Chelsea or even City, still feel the same?

  • I reckon it's RVP's turn to take a dive in the box this week for the winning penalty or to get someone sent off depending on fergie's choice of ref.

  • I think some people forget very quickly.

    He had 8 seasons at Arsenal, averaging 10-15 games a season. Check it out if you don't believe me. Out of these 8 seasons, pretty much only in the last one he played a full season. He played well, but he left immediately after.

    His complaint was that we didn't spend money, yet we spent 30m to get Santi, Giroud and Podolski.

    Respect left for RVP? None.

  • as an arsenal fan i hope RVP gets a good reception from the travelling contingent at todays game, he was awesome for us last season & although unlucky with injuries in the 7 seasons previous he still left his mark with some stunning goals. dont blame him for moving to a club where he gets more money and has a chance to win more trophys, anyone would do the same. all the best RVP, just not today ;)

  • I can't remember Arsenal fans respecting their any of their players when they've left. It's not going to be any different is it.

    A very boring news story.

  • 247. flibbleflobble
    35 MINUTES AGO
    Can't believe some of the comments coming from Arsenal "fans".

    And if Rooney had signed for City, you would of course welcome him back to Old Trafford. He even duped his parents who said he wouldn't sign for another EPL team

  • Why do managers have to come out with these comments?! He'd be better saying nothing...surely he's asking for trouble by highlighting the issue further!

  • Give poor robin a break! high rubbish from wenger here. I say a turn coat is a lost soul. waynes world proves this every week.

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