How did Robin look?

Pepe LeFrits

I missed the game last night.

Will he be fit and sharp enough to start against United Monday week?

y va marquer

I kept losing the match stream but I saw enough of him to say that if he stays fit he has to start against Man U.

He produced an insanely good back heel to put Vela through on goal.
It was inspired but unfortunately Vela was not....

It's a bit of a cliche to say he's pure class but he is!
You can't leave that kind of talent on the bench.

Rohit

Not involved enough in my opinion, even if some touches were sublime as is expected of him. Simply based on last night i will not want him to start against United. There are over 10 days and 2 matches before we visit Old Trafford though and he should improve with game time in theory, so how he looks against Partizan when he comes on will give an indication of whether he is ready or no.

lorddulaarsenal

looked great - it's clear to see he's on a level above our other strikers. great touches, good physical presence and just lacking a bit of sharpness

Ricky1985

No, he wasn't that sharp. Some great moments of genuine class, but he wasn't enough of a goal threat, and looked a little sluggish in his movement and use of the ball.

He definitely isn't up to playing the role Chamakh's been playing this season, but with another 10 days training, and some minutes in the two matches, he might have a chance to play against United.

goon

Looked a little off the pace but class in pretty much everything he did.

I would definitely start him against United.

Qwiss

He had a few flashes of inspiration, the back heel to Vela being the most memorable, but he wasn't amazing. Hard to judge as he wasn't playing as the main striker, Nik was. I'd wouldn't start him ahead of Chamakh unless he really impresses between now and the United game. Maybe start him wide depending on who's fit and on form. At the moment the way everyones been playing I'd still start him off teh bench with Nasri, Chamack and Shava all ahead of him.

USArsenal

dont think he looked amazing last night.. as most others have said, he had flashes of brilliance (his flicks to Vela notably) but he was well off the pace (literally, pace, he has none) and his first touch & control was not up to his standard.. that comes with more time.. dont know tif he should start v. ManU, but we have 2 games to play before that.. if he regains some more sharpness (sorry) before then, he could start

Clrnc

He needs more games before he can be back to his best form. But he still showed moments of brilliance which is encouraging. We missed those.

kamikaze

given his lack of pace and quickness, i'm starting to wonder if van persie would best be used as a second striker in a 442 rather than as a centre forward in a 433. he might take less of a beating there as well.

lorddulaarsenal

Still made some scoring opportunities despite being slightly off the pace

est

His set piece delivery was also quite brilliant.

y va marquer

est wrote:
His set piece delivery was also quite brilliant.

We've missed that.
We don't take advantage of the majority of our set pieces.

daverwr

y va marquer wrote:
est wrote:
His set piece delivery was also quite brilliant.

We've missed that.
We don't take advantage of the majority of our set pieces.

We definitely don't and that's a big area for potential improvement with Robin around. FIFA 11 always mentions that Arsenal are a real danger from set pieces and after this season I always scoff whenever they mention that.

tazmania

I want him to get fit already to replace Chamakh. Once him and Cesc are fit and ready to go, it's going to be awesome.

Captain

Theoretically, all three can play in the same line-up.

flobaba

Yeah, he looked pretty good- great touches, and passing, but you also have to consider that the quality of most of his teammates and more importantly, the opposition, was considerably lower than standard.

tazmania

Captain wrote:
Theoretically, all three can play in the same line-up.

technically they can and it would be nice to see but we would probably have better options (in the center or on the wings) to complement the team.

Captain

Cesc moves back to Wilshere's position and RvP comes into Cesc's position; there aren't two better options in the squad really.

Pepe LeFrits

I say we move Robin into Clichy's position!