Has Robin Van Persie Gone Past His Prime, As The National Team Coach Keeps Ignoring Him.

It appears that the international career of Fenerbahce and former Dutch Captain Robin Van Persie is now over. This is the second time the Dutch striker has been snubbed by Coach Danny Blind as he was not listed in the provisional squad for the upcoming friendlies against France and England.


This clearly shows Danny Blind is presently planning ahead as he believes it is better to build his attack around the younger generation of Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, Luuk de Jong and Vincent Janssen (uncapped). This is coming at a time that they Netherlands have failed to qualify for the European Championship in France in the summer, after winning bronze in the last World Cup in Brazil (2016).


This is another shock for Van Persie who claims he was indirectly pushed out of Manchester United by the same coach who made him the national team captain during the World Cup Tournament (Louis Van Gaal). While Van Persie may have lost a yard of pace and quite not as deadly infront of goal like he used to, the striker still remains the "Oranje's" all time leading goalscorer with a prolific record of 50 goals in 101 games . He is also only one of eight Dutch players with more than 100 caps for the national team since history. These records cannot be overemphasised considering that Van Persie has outscored prolificient Dutch forwards like Ruud Van Nistelrooy, Roy Makaay, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, Marco Van Basten, Dennis Bergkamp and Marc Overmars to mention but few.

This season in the Turkish League, the former Arsenal captain has played 23 games with a goal return of 9 and an assist. He has also created 12 chances with a shot accuracy of 41 percent and an average pass accuracy of 74 percent . What this stat indicated is that it is still too early to conclude that the forward has lost it, rather it maybe time for the national team to move on without him as he will be 35 during the next tournament in Russia (World Cup).

Having said that, Robin Van Persie still remains one of the finest forwards to have graced the game and be accorded the respect due to him. He surely deserves a testimonial to celebrate his international career.