One man’s bold is another’s naive. Whether the Manchester United legend can strike the right balance between pragmatism and those purist principles could make or break his chances of dispelling that ‘great players don’t make great managers’ cliche.....KINDLY READ THE FULL STORY HERE▶
For now, the jury is out, even if the sounds coming out of the Heerenveen camp are notes of positivity.
Only weeks into his first ever managerial role, iconic former striker Robin van Persie is already encountering the same, familiar questions that have come the way of many young idealists attempting to imprint a stylish, possession-based gameplan onto a rather limited group of players.
The former Manchester United striker enjoyed big wins over Middlesbrough, Dordrecht and Rayo Vallecano in pre-season, battering the La Liga outfit 5-0.
In competitive action, however, wins and goals have been far harder to come by.
Heerenveen were brave and ambitious in defeat at Ajax, going down 1-0 at the Johan Cruyff Arenal; the spiritual home of Total Voetbal.
Next came a 1-1 draw with Utrecht. A game in which Van Persie’s side managed double the amount of passes as their opposition, dominated 65 per cent of the possession, mustered 24 shots but still needed a late equaliser to salvage a point.
Mixed start for Manchester United legend Robin van Persie
“I am seriously worried about Van Persie,” Dutch pundit Johan Derksen told Vandaag Inside after that Utrecht clash. “I wish the boy everything, because he radiates so much joy. Full of courage and he is a bit of a clone of Johan Cruijff.
“But that (new style of play) has hardly yielded any points so far. He has to be very careful. If he loses the next few matches, he will suddenly be (viewed as) very bad tactically.
“It is naive what he does. He says he wants to enjoy the football, but the Heerenveen crowd does not enjoy the match if it is 3-1 to the opponent.
“Van Persie is playing with fire.”
Now, Derksen is no stranger to making some rather odd comments that do not really stand up to scrutiny.
The stats and the underlying numbers suggest that, if Heerenveen can replicate that Utrecht performance, a first win should arrive pretty quickly. The Friesland outfit won the XG battle on Saturday, and really should have won the game too.
“I really saw a completely different Heerenveen than the one I played against in recent years,” Utrecht coach Ron Jans explains to NOS, the hosts excellent after the break and displaying the sort of confidence and interplay you would maybe not expect so early in ‘RVP’s tenure.
“They take a lot of risks and they do it quite well. Compliments to Robin van Persie, who is shaping this team to his will in a short time.”
“It is very nice with him,” adds goalkeeper Micky van der Hart, now tasked with building out from the back a la Andre Onana under Erik ten Hag at Man United.
“He has a very positive way of playing football. We try to put pressure and play football from the back. That gives a lot of positive energy and I think that we can have a great season because of that.”
Heerenveen fans and players excited with new start
And while Derksen feels that patience will soon run thin amongst the Heerenveen fanbase, the mood right now is one of cautious optimism.
“I think it’s great how he managed to do that in a short time,” ex-Heerenveen forward Gerald Sibbon tells Omrop Fryslan, Van Persie successfully getting his new players to buy into his short, sharp tactics.
“This risky way of playing takes time to sink in, but I like that fast, short combination game. This way you also make your players better.
“They get the ball much more and have to find solutions quickly and accurately. Ultimately, you will outclass opponents with these aggressive opponents.”
Heerenveen face NAC Breda next time out.
Three points – at the third time of asking – would go a long way to silencing Van Persie’s critics while emboldening his backers.
