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Then there is the second group of players; the type who are never fully welcomed at the club until they have been shown the red card. If they are sent off, it shows they care. Of course it helps if they are sent off against a big rival and preferably without deserving it. Look at Freddie; after scoring with his first touch against United, he struggled to make an impact until a shove and a sending off against Spurs showed he had the mettle for Arsenal. We could be indignant for them; they, and consequently we, had been cheated. There isn't anything the average Arsenal fans loves better than a little unfair treatment and a whiff of a FA conspiracy.
The Arsenal of today has more than one of those players who split the Arsenal crowd in to two opposing, and often belligerent, camps. For some, Reyes is a lightweight who will never make it in the Premiership; for others he is a young player on the cusp of something great. For some, Jens is a world-class keeper who may have the odd misjudgement but helped to keep us unbeatable for the whole of last season; for the guy invariably sitting next to me in the North Bank, he is nothing more than a liability.
Perhaps the biggest opinion-divider in the present squad is the man touted as the new Dennis Bergkamp. Of course it was never going to be easy to live up to such impossibly high expectations. Van Persie had to be given a little time and a lot of support if he was to achieve his unquestionable potential. It's just a pity that the average football fan considers a month an overly-generous length of time for young players to reach legendary status.
His equalising last-gasp goal against Southampton bought Robin a little time. He had shown a flash of Dennis Bergkamp-like flair and it was enough to convince some that he was something a little special. In the Carling Cup against Manchester United, he showed another side not too dissimilar to our deified Dennis - his temper. He isn't afraid to use his strength - or his elbows - to win the ball. Of course, against Manchester United at Old Trafford this aggression was allowed, welcomed even. If he had been sent off then he would have returned a Highbury Hero. A few months down the line, against a ten-men Southampton and protecting a one goal lead, such rashness equates to nothing more than stupidity. Indeed, whilst some red cards have been known to endear a crowd, this one merely incensed them.
Of course we all know what happened next. Wenger, whom the arsenal fans have lauded as the epitome of cool and patience, lost both and we lost a vital 2 points. Van Persie was, without question, stupid; the foul was at least a second booking; the crowd understandably disappointed to see the team draw another match we should have cruised through. Yet, the censure that followed seemed a little over-the-top. The media, albeit in my opinion wrongly, accused the Arsenal fans of welcoming the introduction of van Persie against Pompey with murmurs of discontent. There was, however, an undeniable question mark placed over Robin's temperament. Is he really talented enough to compensate for the risk poised by his Bergkamp-like red mist?
My simple answer is, unsurprising to anyone who has ever heard me in the North Bank, yes. He has a long way to go but even the Great Dennis loses his temper sometimes. Wenger, perhaps Robin's severest critic, has not yet forgiven him for his red card madness, but Robin seems to me to be a very young player willing to learn from those around him. You can, at times, see the mist descend and my heart is in my mouth as I see his studs up but something, perhaps a little Wenger in the back of his head, stops him from following through.
In terms of skill, he is undoubtedly a potential Bergkamp in the making - it takes a special player to make a goalkeeper in the calibre of Friedel look ridiculous. In fact if you ask an increasing section of the North Bank at least, there is something about Persie, something quietly exciting. Perhaps he will be the next Dennis; perhaps he will emerge from the great man's shadow and transform into something entirely different yet equally integral. All I know is that behind the anger and the attitude is a legend waiting to step forward and repay the faith of both his manager, his mentor and, hopefully, his fans.