Manchester United celebrated their 20th title win in style thanks to a hat-trick from Robin van Persie. The Dutchman joined the Red Devils from fierce rivals Arsenal last summer after becoming disillusioned with the direction the London club was taking and the lack of trophies won during his eight year spell at the club. As the final whistle was blown last night and the players started to celebrate, there was one player with a slightly larger smile than the rest; RVP could jump around with joy at finally collecting a league winners medal after so many years of goalscoring exploits going unrewarded.
Whilst Arsene Wenger will be talking about his developing squad and the potential of his players, Sir Alex Ferguson will face up to his old rival this weekend in a more relaxed condition than normal. His team are champions, with a 16 point lead over Manchester City, and the Scot will already be planning for next season and how he can make his team even stronger. Meanwhile, Robin van Persie will line up against former team mates and friends and will play in front of the fans who adored him for such a long time. His decision to leave the Emirates looks like a good decision now that he has a winners medal to show off and only the hardest of Arsenal fans can begrudge him success after so much dedication and service to the club.
Ultimately his decision to head north was somewhat forced upon him, as he was coming towards the final years of his career and wanted silverware to show for his years playing in England. After watching players such as Fabregas, Nasri, Clichy, Song and others sold to rivals over his final seasons at Arsenal, he was extremely frustrated that Wenger seemed reluctant to spend on reinvestment and perceived the replacements to be of inferior quality. Now he is surrounded by players of quality and trophy winning experience and at long last can proudly lift the trophy that has evaded him for such a long time.