Are we really beginning to doubt on RVP ability? You having a fecking laugh. He is the guy who got us the third place in the table. Without his goals we were not talking about the CL League.

Sorry you all are not honest and it winds me up.

Not really.
He is among the top 10. But he isn't out and out the best in the world.
Never was.

That tag belongs to Ibrahimovic.

Ok Dubbed, to entertain you, RVP is the 2nd best striker in the world.

If RVP didn't start all those games Chamakh would have scored 30 goals easily.

That tag belongs to Ibrahimovic.

You know why I am laughing Dubbed?

Any half decent player who plays upfront for Arsenal will score goals.

DaStu

There may be some attributes where Podolski is superior to van Persie in, but if you want to compare them overall and how they complement the team, I would wager van Persie would be the better fit.

As for van Persie looking out of place in the lone striker role, he was previously utilised as a conventional winger . It didn't work when he tried playing up front with Adebayor in the 4-4-2, but I thought when Ade left, Robin did well in the lone striker role.

In 09/10, in spite of his injuries, he got 10 goals and 8 assists in 17 appearances. In 10/11, he got 27 goals and 8 assists in 36 appearances. In 11/12, he got 37 goals and 11 assists in 44 appearances. I know statistics aren't the be all and end all but for someone who isn't a natural striker and had to be converted into one, that is very impressive.

Van Persie may not be a clinical striker, but he is a match winner and provides us with extra dynamism. He provides more than just goals and last season, showed real leadership qualities on the pitch which was invaluable.

I think Podolski's a good player, but he will never surpass RvP in my view.

Any half decent player who plays upfront for Arsenal will score goals.

We have scored zero goals so far. Please notice

"We have scored zero goals so far. Please notice"
===

So? It's been two games, get a grip.

I don't think anyone's doubting that Van Persie is a top-class striker.

What is being said is:
A) Podolski can potentially (operative word) be as good, if not better than Van Persie, but still has a long way to go.
B) Van Persie is not the best striker in the world. People talk about us having relied heavily on him, but he also relied heavily on the rest of the Arsenal team for chances.
He was not an Henry-esque striker that could pick the ball up, run 40 yards, and drive the team forward, nor was he a Drogba type battering ram of a striker that could play the lone striker role without support; he relied on others to create the space and the opportunities for him, and as fantastic as his goalscoring record was, he also missed a number of fantastic chances last year too.

RVP played on the wing sometimes but he was naturally a no.10. I think now he's developed that goalscoring instinct he could do serious damage playing as a no.10 again.

DaStu speaking sense as per.

"Any half decent player who plays upfront for Arsenal will score goals."

How many half decent strikers would score 37 goals for us?

"How many half decent strikers would score 37 goals for us?"
===

Not many.

DaStu

I understand what's being said, but I just think it is incorrect.

Podolski has less raw talent than van Persie and he won't truly supersede van Persie because he isn't as talented.

Van Persie did miss a lot of chances last season and there are a few sitters which he missed that I felt were unforgivable, but again, for someone who's not naturally a striker and was forced to be deployed as one, his goalscoring record is commendable. Arsenal last season created chances in abundance, but we were very wasteful in front of goal; van Persie made sure more times than not that the ball ended up in the back of the net.

I don't think that Podolski has the physical or social qualities that were well-endowed in Robin and that's why I don't think he will ever be better than him or have the influence Robin had on the pitch.

Gotta hope that we don't depend on one player to core half the team's goals ever again

"I don't think that Podolski has the physical or social qualities that were well-endowed in Robin"

Robin was hardly a physical striker. Podolski is stronger and quicker than Robin. Robin lost his pace because of his multiple injuries, and was never the strongest anyway

Van Persie was deceptively very strong. I can recall in the Sunderland game at home last year when he shrugged off three defenders at once and then created a chance for one of our players.

I think Podolski is stronger than him, but Robin was hardly weak.

"As for van Persie looking out of place in the lone striker role, he was previously utilised as a conventional winger . It didn't work when he tried playing up front with Adebayor in the 4-4-2, but I thought when Ade left, Robin did well in the lone striker role.

In 09/10, in spite of his injuries, he got 10 goals and 8 assists in 17 appearances. In 10/11, he got 27 goals and 8 assists in 36 appearances. In 11/12, he got 37 goals and 11 assists in 44 appearances. I know statistics aren't the be all and end all but for someone who isn't a natural striker and had to be converted into one, that is very impressive."

I don't really disagree - he did well. However, I don't think it was until 2011 that he really began to blossom in the role.
In the 08/09 season, Wenger began to toy with the idea of using Van Persie as a lone striker in the second half of the season, after seeing that our strikeforce lacked packed with Walcott pushed as deep as he was in our previous 442 set-up.
IMO, he looked very out of place for these few months in which he played said role.
In the 09/10 season, we looked fantastic before his injury, I agree, but I also feel that this was in part due to the unpredictability of our formation and teams taking time to adapt to our new set-up.
Unfortunately, he was injured a couple of months into the season, so we never really got to see how he would have settled into the role that year.

In the first half of the 2010/2011 season, Van Persie got off to a very slow start, and if ESPN is to be believed, he didn't score an EPL goal until after New Year.
It was after this point that he finally came to life, and started his near record breaking goalscoring run.

This is why I argued it took him around 2 years until he looked settled in the role.
He first played there in 2009, but it was only in 2011 that he began to look like the world class player he had always promised to become.

Gotta hope that we don't depend on one player to core half the team's goals ever again

Hope the bill with Giroud and Poldi will pay off.

terrible article.. Podolski is nowhere close to RVP's ability. He does nothing better than RVP and there's a technical chasm between both.

"I think Podolski is stronger than him"

Then you agree that Podolski's physical qualities are better than Robin. RVP's technique is incredible no doubt, and much better than Lukas. However, as a poacher, Lukas could potentially be mor eproductive. He could finish of more chances, even if he won't produce as many goal of the season contenders

i also don't understand the assertion that RVP isn't strong. He takes good care of himself on the pitch and doesn't get bullied. This makes him better as a lone striker than Podolski. Rather than spewing garbage about RVP's ability, maybe some are better of ignoring his existence instead of living in denial about his ability.

Ah pipe down Sheriff, you clown.

This a forum meant for debate. If you're not interested you can go elsewhere.

"Podolski is nowhere close to RVP's ability. He does nothing better than RVP and there's a technical chasm between both."

And you have the cheek to label people's opinion (articles) as 'terrible'?

Moronic comment. Not surprised though. Podolski does nothing better than RVP?
You seem to think RVP is this technical genius, when in fact all that's technically special about him is his volleys.

RVP has great dribbling, top notch technique, immaculate first touch, awareness, great balance, exceptional skill, dangerous passes (defence splitting through balls), first rate finishing, power left foot, as well as an accurate right foot.

Can you say the same about Podolski?