Patrice Evra reveals how Robin van Persie slammed Arsenal’s work ethic when he joined Man United
‘At Arsenal, I was training and the kids in convertibles went to Harrods’: Patrice Evra reveals how Robin van Persie found a HUGE difference between Arsene Wenger’s life and Sir Alex Ferguson’s at Man United
- Robin van Persie left Arsenal to join title rivals Man United in 2012
- Van Persie was surprised by the difference in work ethic between the two teams.
- Evra claimed Van Persie felt United were ‘so professional’ compared to Arsenal
Patrice Evra has revealed that Robin van Persie was surprised by the difference in work ethic between Manchester United and Arsenal when he joined the Red Devils in 2012.
The Dutch forward made the controversial decision to leave Arsenal after going seven years without winning a trophy, opting instead to join their title rivals at Old Trafford.
At the time, Arsenal were trying to keep up with the two Manchester clubs, but Evra has claimed that Van Persie noticed a major problem which slowed the Gunners down immediately.
Speaking of Van Persie’s first impressions of United, Evra told the vibes with five YouTube channel: ‘Robin, he was saying, “Patrice, I’ve never seen people so professional. Train the way you train in the training session.”
‘He would say finish the training session, everyone is in the gym. Before training in the gym, after training in the gym.
Patrice Evra (left) has revealed that Robin van Persie criticized Arsenal’s work ethic when he joined Man United.
Evra has explained how Sir Alex Ferguson treated Van Persie differently to keep him fit
Van Persie paid Ferguson’s faith by playing a decisive role in United’s victory in 2012-13
“That’s why he was like ‘when I was playing for Arsenal, I was still on the pitch and I’d see kids in convertibles already going to Harrods or whatever.'”
Van Persie was Arsenal’s main man during his final years at the Emirates, taking over from Thierry Henry when he left the club to join Barcelona in 2007.
He was entrusted with leading a young team that contained many young English talents, including Jack Wilshere, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Kieran Gibbs, as well as promising overseas prospects such as Wojciech Szczesny, Francis Coquelin and Carlos Vela.
Van Persie shone under Arsene Wenger and had his best scoring season in 2011-12 when he scored 30 league goals to win his first Golden Boot.
However, Arsenal only finished third that year, 19 points behind Manchester City.
This prompted Van Persie to look elsewhere for opportunities, eventually agreeing to a move to United on the eve of the 2012–13 season.
Van Persie made a huge impact in his first campaign at United, scoring 26 league goals to take the Golden Boot once again as Sir Alex Ferguson’s side won the title by 11 points.
Arsenal could only finish fourth, 16 points behind the champion.
Van Persie was a senior player at Arsenal, assisting younger players such as Thomas Vermaelen (second left), Cesc Fabregas (second right) and Carlos Vela (right).
Van Persie grew frustrated with Arsenal’s lack of success and moved to United in 2012.
Evra agrees with Van Persie that all the United players trained exceptionally hard under Ferguson, but has explained that the Scotsman would go easy on Van Persie as he knew how decisive he would be on match days.
“I don’t know if you remember the way Ferguson managed Van Persie,” Evra said, addressing his former teammate Rio Ferdinand.
He knows that we are animals, if someone does not train we will say that they do not deserve to play.
But with Van Persie he said “guys, this guy is not going to train 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.”
