{"id":11091,"date":"2011-12-11T22:30:01","date_gmt":"2011-12-11T22:30:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/2011\/12\/wenger-hails-mature-van-persie\/"},"modified":"2011-12-11T22:30:01","modified_gmt":"2011-12-11T22:30:01","slug":"wenger-hails-mature-van-persie","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/12\/11\/wenger-hails-mature-van-persie\/","title":{"rendered":"Wenger hails &#8216;mature&#8217; Van Persie"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/8f1857261854_vanpersie2_getty.jpg\" width=\"466\" height=\"282\" alt=\"Robin van Persie\" \/> Van Persie has scored 33 Premier League goals in 2011<\/span> <\/p>\n<p>Arsene Wenger says Robin van Persie&#8217;s increased maturity has played a major part in the Dutchman&#8217;s prolific goalscoring form.<\/p>\n<p>Van Persie took his tally of league goals to 33 for 2011 with a <a href=\"http:\/\/news.bbc.co.uk\/sport1\/hi\/football\/16015017.stm\">superb volley against Everton<\/a> on Saturday.<\/p>\n<p>Wenger said: &#8220;When he first joined Arsenal [in 2004] Robin was nervous, he was impatient, like every young player.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Now he is completely different. I give the most credit in my job to those who can change.&#8221;<\/p>\n<div readability=\"31\">\n<blockquote readability=\"5\">\n<p>Robin is not arrogant. He is intellectually honest and intelligent<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span>Arsene Wenger<\/span> <span>Arsenal manager<\/span><\/div>\n<p>Van Persie&#8217;s strike against Everton was his 19th in all competitions this season and he is now just three goals behind the record for most goals in a calendar year in the Premier League era &#8211; set by Alan Shearer for Blackburn Rovers in 1995.<\/p>\n<p>His scoring feats have turned Arsenal&#8217;s season around. The Gunners have won seven of their eight league games since <a href=\"http:\/\/news.bbc.co.uk\/sport1\/hi\/football\/15051273.stm\">losing 2-1 at Tottenham<\/a> on 2 October and qualified for the knockout stages of the Champions League, <a href=\"http:\/\/news.bbc.co.uk\/sport1\/hi\/football\/15933230.stm\">finishing top of Group F<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/news.bbc.co.uk\/sport1\/hi\/football\/teams\/a\/arsenal\/3659835.stm\">Wenger signed Van Persie as a 20-year-old<\/a> from Feyenoord for \u00a33m and says his growing calmness on and off the pitch have seen him develop in to one of Europe&#8217;s most feared strikers.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Robin is more mature. When you are 22, you don&#8217;t have the best of games, you rush your moments a little bit.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;When you are 28 you can keep focus and, if you get a chance, try to get it away.<\/p>\n<div readability=\"32\">\n<ul>\n<li><strong>2011\/12:<\/strong> 19 goals in 21 appearances (up to 11 Dec)<\/li>\n<li><strong>2010\/11:<\/strong> 22 goals in 33 appearances<\/li>\n<li><strong>2009\/10:<\/strong> 10 goals in 20 appearances<\/li>\n<li><strong>2008\/09:<\/strong> 20 goals in 44 appearances<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><em>Goals record for all competitions<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>&#8220;He can be impulsive but he listens to people. He is honest speaking and doesn&#8217;t bear a grudge afterwards.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Robin is not arrogant. He is intellectually honest and intelligent. People who change maybe make the biggest improvement in their lives.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Wenger will be hoping that Van Persie can stay fit for the rest of the season as he attempts to win a first major trophy for the club <a href=\"http:\/\/news.bbc.co.uk\/sport1\/hi\/football\/fa_cup\/4558271.stm\">since the 2005 FA Cup<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Injuries have been unkind to the 28-year-old in recent seasons &#8211; <a href=\"http:\/\/news.bbc.co.uk\/sport1\/hi\/football\/teams\/a\/arsenal\/8954958.stm\">in 2010\/11<\/a> he was restricted to 25 appearances in the Premier League out of a possible 38 after suffering an ankle injury against Blackburn. Over the past five full seasons, Van Persie has been absent from 84 league games out a total of 190.<\/p>\n<p>Wenger will also be keen to secure <a href=\"http:\/\/news.bbc.co.uk\/sport1\/hi\/football\/15691244.stm\">Van Persie&#8217;s signature on a new contract<\/a> at Emirates Stadium but said after the win over Everton that &#8220;football mathematics are not always completely logical&#8221; when asked about his striker&#8217;s future.<\/p>\n<p>Last month Arsenal chairman Peter Hill-Wood commented on Van Persie&#8217;s contractual situation, saying: &#8220;He doesn&#8217;t want to talk about it and we&#8217;re not troubling him. We&#8217;ll approach him near the end of the season.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We hope he will sign a new contract &#8211; I don&#8217;t see why he should not.&#8221;<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p> Van Persie has scored 33 Premier League goals in 2011 Arsene Wenger says Robin van Persie&#8217;s increased maturity has played a major part in the Dutchman&#8217;s prolific goalscoring form. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11091","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Wenger hails &#039;mature&#039; Van Persie - Ghanamma.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/12\/11\/wenger-hails-mature-van-persie\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Wenger hails &#039;mature&#039; 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