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

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.

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

I would definitely start him against United.

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.

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

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.

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.

Still made some scoring opportunities despite being slightly off the pace

His set piece delivery was also quite brilliant.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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

http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/-i-can-accommodate-van-persie-and-chamakh-

Basically what Captain said.

Have to say, I think Chamakh and Robin would complement each other brilliantly. You don't really see partnerships like Cole and Yorke or Raul and Morientes anymore but I reckon these two could work as well as any of those.

Does anyone realistically think that we'll move Cesc back to central midfield though? I'd like to see it, but it's been quite some time since he's had an extended run there.

Whether it will actually happen is one thing, but the thought of Cesc as a deeper lying play maker feeding Van Persie supporting Chamakh (who also gives us a threat from crossing) just seems unstoppable to me. If this were to happen though, one of two things would need to happen in order to accommodate this:

1. Song would have to drastically improve the defensive side of his game. None of this running into the opponent's box stuff, we'd need him to be a wall at the back. Hopefully he'd notice that with Cesc, Van Persie and Chamakh (and presumably Arshavin and Nasri on the wings) he won't be able to masquerade forward and he shouldn't need to as they are all far better than him offensively.

2. We'd need to get someone other than Song to take his place and be more protective.

It'll be interesting to see what sort of action Wenger takes.