[quote='Francis Jeffers' Awful Career' pid='135178' dateline='1330875253']
Van Persie is a very explosive player, and we will see a notable decline eventually IMO.
[/quote]

I wouldn't say he relies on his physical strength. He is quite quick and he is very strong but he relies on his brain more, I think. He's good enough to adapt into a Bergkamp-type role if his pace and strength suddenly falls off a cliff.

But I agree that we cannot expect him to keep scoring at this rate. He might settle into a 1 in 3, no.10 man but I think that blocks Wilshere's path since he may have been expected to evolve into that role.

We need to talk to Sir Alex and figure out a way to get 6 more years at the top level out of this guy. His quality is exceptional. We are not going to buy someone of his level.

yuv wrote:

wilshere - were you being sarcastic? wasn't sure. Are you the real wilshere, BTW?

:mad:😆 Of course I am.

Well, when are you back from injury?

[quote='Francis Jeffers' Awful Career' pid='135178' dateline='1330875253']
Van Persie is a very explosive player, and we will see a notable decline eventually IMO.
[/quote]

No, really?! 😆

I don't think van Persie is explosive? I think he could keep going for another 2-3 years at least.

33 is the age at which players start to decline according to Wenger.

I don´t think Wenger has said that. It isn´t true anyway.

I seem to recall him talking about it at some point or another, years ago. That's also why after the age of 33 our players get a one year deal and/or move them on.

Decline isn't necessarily a bad thing, Scholes has declined as a footballer since the age of 33(ish) but he's still relatively better than most midfielders out there.

Zlatan is having the best season of his career at 30 years of age. Xavi is still going strong at 31 and Drogba had the best season of his career at 33 years of age.

Van Persie is only 28. Is it only Arsenal fans who have a phobia of footballers in their late 20s?

I guess that RvP's "batteries" are still fairly full due to having yet to finish 1 full season. He didn't play a lot over the years and did a lot of rehabillitation exercises (wild guess, but I suppose they are still a lot better in the long term than full tempo, gritty games).

Physically the decline USUALLY starts at around 30. I say usually because there are of course individual differences.

What Wenger actually said was that players often have a dip around 30, they then adapt and often come back to a good level for another year or two. Wenger is also adamant that the further up the pitch you play - the more difficult it is with age. He is right in all that IMO.

Humble Rex wrote:

Physically the decline USUALLY starts at around 30. I say usually because there are of course individual differences.

What Wenger actually said was that players often have a dip around 30, they then adapt and often come back to a good level for another year or two. Wenger is also adamant that the further up the pitch you play - the more difficult it is with age. He is right in all that IMO.

True, true. He also said that you play 30+ year olds the wages for what they've already achieved rather than what they're capable of at the moment.

General Mirth wrote:
Humble Rex wrote:

Physically the decline USUALLY starts at around 30. I say usually because there are of course individual differences.

What Wenger actually said was that players often have a dip around 30, they then adapt and often come back to a good level for another year or two. Wenger is also adamant that the further up the pitch you play - the more difficult it is with age. He is right in all that IMO.

True, true. He also said that you play 30+ year olds the wages for what they've already achieved rather than what they're capable of at the moment.

I'm getting extremely frightened thinking about the wages of a 30 year old Walcott.

Claudius wrote:

Well, when are you back from injury?

I will eventually announce it on Twitter, where I spend most of my time, despite the fact that I could do much more fun stuff with all my money. 😉

What y va now posted makes all this rather sad, must say.

I have a faint hope that Arsene is just being over the top cautious with what he says about Wilshere's progress, realistically though it's looking less likely we'll see much of him this season 🙁

Hope he can be the new "Javier Zanetti" (the guy has 39 and plays like a 28-year old, fantastic)

Wenger says a lot of things.
Most are lies or bullshit.

I meant Van Persie is explosive with the way his shifts the ball to find space for himself etc. not in terms of pace.