TEAM OF THE SEASON - ROBIN VAN PERSIE

It was almost like the old days, put Ronaldo in as captain at the beginning of the season and then just leave it like that for the rest of the year.  Well not quite, but it was pretty close.  Undoubtedly, unquestionably,  the player of the season with 30 goals and 13 assists he was the main example this year of an "undroppable".  By that I mean a player you had in your team irrespective of the difficulty of upcoming fixtures, he was indeed fixture proof.  He was a little slow to warm up only scoring once with no assists in his first 4 games.  Then he put the after burners on and the rest is history.  He then provided a goal or assist in 23 of the remaining 34 games never going more than 2 consecutive games without one or the other. So not quite Ronaldo returns but will we ever see that again?  What was crucial for me though is that his base stats never dropped off.  Even if not scoring his shooting stats including the on target % were always strong as were his key pass stats so you were always comforted that returns were around the corner.  Crucially this season he played 38 games.  In his 8 seasons in the premier league the most games he has completed before this were 28 and his average in the 7 seasons prior to this were 22 games.  If this season was remarkable for his goals and assists it was also remarkable for the fact that he played a full season.  It is also worth noting that in his last 3 seasons, on an average basis, he has produced a goal or assist in every game.  


Heres his stats:


Points:  269 (need I say highest in the game)
Games:  38
Points per game:  7.1
Goals:  30
Goal every game ratio: 1.3
Assists: 13
Bonus points: 45
Bonus points as a % of total points:  17%
Price range: Start £12.0m.  Lowest:  £11.9m round 7.  Highest £13.6m round 34.  Finish £13.2


Everything up there is nothing short of mind blowing. 


 The prospects for next year are interesting though and not certain.   Obviously any player of the season is going to be a Man City prospect for next year although maybe the Samir Nasri experience (money apart) will dampen players enthusiasm for a move.  There's also the question of his price, who knows what it could be next year, although to me he could never be too expensive.  you also need to factor in his past injury record, not having a full rest after the Euros and the potential fatigue of carrying Arsenal single handedly to third last year may all take its toll.  In my mid its no coincidence his best year has been after a proper summer break. 


Having said all that if he stays at Arsenal it will be a brave man who leaves him out.