This is not an article bashing our ex hero for the sake of it, although it is not surprising we Gunners enjoy that indulgence. No, this is more a vindication possibly of a piece I wrote last summer when it became apparent our then talisman would depart. There has been much recrimination about the club’s decision to sell to a rival and this is natural because we sold what most fans believed to be a world class striker at the absolute pinnacle of his game and at the peak of his powers.
Well, you know what happens after you reach the pinnacle or peak? You go down the other side. And you know it takes a longer time to climb to the top of the mountain than to descend. In fact, on the down slope, the downward journey can, on occasion, be rapid. Enough of the clever analogies, I will get straight to the point.
The article I wrote last July revealed that of the 20 strikers who had scored 20 or more league goals (and there were only 20) in the previous 2011/12 season, from Europe’s 6 big leagues, only 4 were 30 or over. If you are interested, they were Ibrahimovic, Di Natale, Milito and Nene. Only 2 of these look likely to repeat the feat this season. Now, we can all make statistics sing the tune we wish, but they were the facts. The chances were that RVP would, like so many others in the modern game, find goals harder to score in his 30s.
When I wrote a piece recently asking why players can’t seemingly play as many games in the Premier League era as they did previously, I was told that the pace of the game is more exacting, pitches firmer, etc. Indeed, the better playing surfaces make for more pleasing on the eye football, but they are harder on the modern player’s body. Wear and tear kicks in earlier and RVP has had his share.
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