van Persie Will Not Be Lone Gunman

Arsene Wenger has confirmed it is not his intention to play Robin van Persie as a lone striker for the entire season.

Le Boss has had his hand forced so far this campaign, injuries to Emmanuel Adebayor & Eduardo Da Silva and only the inexperienced Nicklas Bendtner as cover, mean Wenger has had little choice than to play Belorussian dribble wizard, Alex Hleb behind the single forward.

The Arsenal frontman has been isolated much of the time this season with Alex Hleb in scintillating form just sitting behind the flying Dutchman. However, in my mind, it’s no coincidence that when Nicklas Bendtner has crossed the white line as a substitute this season, he has changed the look of the team for the positive when reverting back to a 4-4-2 formation. Something Wenger seems to agree with.

“Alex likes to play through the middle,” said Wenger on Arsenal.com. “But I must say if you ask Steven Gerrard or Tomas Rosicky or any of these kinds of creative players then they all say they want to play there.’

“However I cannot isolate Robin van Persie up there the whole year. It does not work on a longer period. It can work in some games but it cannot be the basis of your game. You need two strikers.”