Anyone can be Batman, but not everyone can be Robin

On 17 May 2004, a twenty-one year old striker by the name of Robin Van Persie signed for Arsenal on a four-year deal. Rumour had it that he would be the next Dennis Bergkamp. Why not? They were both Dutch and both played a similar attacking role on the football field. Except, it was not to be. Dennis Bergkamp finished his career at Arsenal and our man, Robin Van Persie, recently decided to go north to Manchester United. The media and the footballing world described his departure as a “disaster” for Arsenal and that may be true. Let’s face it, when Robin Van Persie left Arsenal, the Gunners didn’t lose just a player. They lost their penalty taker and a striker who nearly beat the Premier League record for scoring the maximum number of goals in a single season and most importantly, they lost their captain. They lost a leader in Robin Van Persie.

Last season, Van Persie, gave Arsenal perhaps his best season ever when he went on to win the Golden Boot for being the EPL‘s top scorer ahead of both Wayne Rooney and Sergio Aguero. In addition to earning him nicknames like “Captain Vantastic” and “Van The Man”, it also resulted in him being idolized by the Arsenal faithful and the rest of the footballing world. He had spent eight years at a club where he was worshipped, why could he have possibly wanted to leave?

Let’s look at both sides of the coin.

A seven-year trophy drought for a club as big as Arsenal FC, would have inevitably led to some sort of frustration but could it have gone to the extent of changing allegiance? Or did RVP feel that after his phenomenal performance in the 2011/2012 season, he deserved something better than life at the Emirates? It couldn’t have been the latter. As many Arsenal fans would agree with me, one good season doesn’t make up for the club paying Van Persie’s hospital bills for seven years. As simple math would tell, he still owes Arsenal six astounding seasons until things even out.

And then there’s the question of loyalty. Throughout last season, you could see the pride and adoration in every Arsenal fan’s eyes whilst mentioning the words “Robin Van Persie”. There were chants echoing all around the Emirates Stadium, loud enough for the entire city of London to hear. Yelling “Robin Van Persie, he scores when he wants!” became custom and somewhat mandatory if you were an Arsenal supporter. But all that is now history. A while back, if Robin Van Persie had gotten injured on international duty, the Arsenal followers would’ve cursed and screamed all the four-letter words present in their vocabulary. If that happens from now on, Arsenal fans will rejoice. When Van Persie switched from Arsenal to ManUtd, he didn’t just change teams. From the day he refused a new contract at Arsenal until the day he signed one at Old Trafford, only one word rang through the minds of Arsenal fans. “Traitor”. It’s a perfect example of “From hero to zero”.

How many times have the Gunners felt like this? Kolo Toure, Flamini, Adebayor, Clichy, Fabregas, Nasri, Song…the list goes on. But each time one of those players walked out of North London, Arsenal fans would revive from their wounds. They would deal with the betrayals eventually. But dealing with Van Persie leaving is like being able to stand up after having been stabbed in the back. Ironically, Van Persie is already somewhat of a “backstabber”.

RVP at United

Now, Arsenal fans can try convincing themselves as much as they want on how RVP leaving won’t make a difference. And with both Santi Cazorla and Podolski arriving in style after scoring both the goals in a 0-2 win against Liverpool at Anfield, the Gooners have every reason to be delighted. But unfortunately, it looks like RVP has made his mark in Manchester as well. Having scored four out of Man United’s six goals in three matches, the United fanbase is enjoying every minute of the show and is hoping for greater things to come. And for the icing on the cake for RVP, Wayne Rooney is out with injury for a month. Which means, RVP has enough and more time to prove himself worthy of being a “Red Devil”.

So. As the 2012/13 season kicks off, has Van Persie left the red side of North London for the dead and rejuvenated the red side of Manchester? That may not be it, but one thing is for certain. Words cannot describe how much Arsene Wenger and his men will miss the ‘Flying Dutchman’. Never again can Arsenal fans witness two trademark left-footed volleys from one man against both parts of Merseyside. Or maybe they will. Except this time, they’ll probably see him do it in a United jersey.

What Van Persie brought to Arsenal was unique and extraordinary. What he took away when he left were the dreams of millions of gunners across the world.

I’d like to conclude by quoting Bruce Wayne from “Batman: The Dark Knight Rises”. He said, “Anyone can be Batman.”

But at Arsenal, not anyone can be Robin.