Refined van Persie sharpens
striker's art By Tom Williams (AFP) – 17 hours ago LONDON — Robin van Persie may
appear to have simply picked up
where he left off since joining
Manchester United from Arsenal,
but a look at his statistics
reveals that he is now an even more effective striker. With 17 goals in 22 league
appearances, he is on track to
match the tally of 30 goals from
last season that landed him the
Premier League golden boot and
a glut of end-of-term awards. Scrutiny of his attacking
contribution, however, suggests
that his finishing has become
more clinical. In 2011-12 van Persie averaged
a goal every 111.1 minutes in
the Premier League, according to
statisticians Opta, but this
season, that figure has improved
to a goal every 103 minutes. It might appear that he is simply
benefitting from being the
spearhead of the league's most
attacking side, but in fact, van
Persie's attempts at goal have
become less frequent. Last season he shot at goal, on
average, 3.7 times per game.
This season, that figure is 3.1,
and yet he is scoring more
regularly. The apparent paradox can be
explained by a sharper focus
purely on scoring goals and an
increased ruthlessness in his
shooting. Van Persie's average number of
touches in the opposition penalty
area has fallen from eight per
game to 6.2, while the number of
chances he creates for his team-
mates has dropped as well, from 2.42 per match to 1.91. Arsenal's dependence on him
meant he had to play a more
active role in build-up play last
season, but at United he can
dedicate more of his efforts to
finding space in the box and exploiting the opportunities that
come his way. Fewer shots, more goals. The
picture that emerges is of a
centre-forward more in tune
with his goal-scoring instincts
than ever before. His dead-eyed equaliser in
United's 2-2 draw at West Ham
United in the FA Cup earlier this
month was a perfect illustration. Introduced as a 67th-minute
substitute with United chasing
the game, the 29-year-old did
not have a sniff of goal until a
high pass from Ryan Giggs sent
him clear in injury time. With one touch he cushioned the
ball, with another he pushed it
out of his feet, and with his
third he zipped a crisp drive into
the bottom-left corner to take
the tie to a replay from which United would emerge victorious. "Movement from the book, touch
from the book, goal from the
book," was the verdict of United
captain Nemanja Vidic. Having snatched van Persie from
beneath the noses of
Manchester City, United manager
Alex Ferguson has taken
supreme satisfaction from the
ease with which the elegant Dutchman has adapted to life at
Old Trafford. Van Persie, meanwhile, has found
a kindred spirit in the ultra-
competitive, straight-talking
Ferguson. "The things he says, when he
says them, before the match,
during the match and after it, it
is very direct," said the former
Arsenal man. "It is all spot-on and very
honest. I love that. We Dutch
people like to be straight and
honest and he tells you how it
is." Van Persie's knack for scoring
crucial late goals has further
endeared him to the fans of a
club who specialise in last-gasp
drama, and his injury-time
winner at City in December means he has already inscribed
his name in United folklore. As a former Gunner, van Persie
can expect to hear more than a
few choice remarks from the
crowd when he returns to
United's starting line-up for
Sunday's trip to Tottenham Hotspur. Spurs' defenders will need no
introduction to a man who has
previously scored five times in
north London derbies, but the
refinements to his game since he
joined United suggest he now requires even closer surveillance.