Robin van Persie slammed major issue holding Arsenal back when he joined Man Utd says Patrice Evra
FORMER Arsenal star Robin van Persie has slated his previous club’s training standards after his move to Manchester United in 2012.
Patrice Evra has revealed how former teammate Robin van Persie was shocked by how much harder Man United’s players worked compared to his former Arsenal team.
Speaking on the Vibe with Five, Evra recalls Van Persie hammering his former team’s lack of dedication.
In contrast, speaking about his new Man United teammates, Evra said: “Robin, he’d say, ‘Patrice, I’ve never seen people so professional. Training the way you’re training in the training session’.
‘He’d say he’d finish the training session, everyone is in the gym. Before training in the gym, after training in the gym.”
“That’s why he was like, ‘When I was playing at Arsenal, I was still on the pitch and I’d see kids with convertible cars already going to Harrods or whatever’.”
The Dutch striker made the controversial move to join the Red Devils for £22.5 million in the summer of 2012 after failing to win a trophy in eight years playing for the Gunners.
Van Persie was one of Arsenal’s best strikers, scoring 132 goals across 278 games.
Yet even after netting 30 league goals in the 2011-12 season to win his first Golden Boot, Arsenal still only finished third that year, 19 points behind Manchester City.
Desperate to escape his losing streak at Arsenal, the top scorer moved to top rivals Man United and immediately tasted success.
He went on to take the Golden Boot again the following year scoring 26 league goals – this time on the winning team, with Sir Alex Ferguson’s side finishing 11 points ahead of Man City.
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This was only the beginning of his success at Man United.
During his first season, Van Persie was named the club’s player of the year, and went on to win the English Super Cup in 2014.
In the following three years at the club, the striker netted 58 goals over 105 games.
Van Persie’s success was nurtured by veteran United boss, Sir Alex Ferguson, who knew how to get the best out of the seasoned goal scorer.
Evra told former United teammate Rio Ferdinand: “I don’t know if you remember, the way Ferguson managed Van Persie.
“He knows we are animals, if someone doesn’t train we are going to say he doesn’t deserve to play.’
“But with Van Persie he said: ‘Guys, this guy he won’t (be) training every day.
“Sometimes he’s going to be on the side training with his own physio.
“But I have to manage his injury. But this guy is going to win the league for us’.”