Robin van Persie details impact Arsene Wenger, Alex Ferguson and Arne Slot have had on career
The former Arsenal and Manchester United forward is following in the footsteps of Arne Slot as Feyenoord's new boss, and he's got plenty of role models to inspire him
Robin van Persie will lean on the lessons learned from Arsene Wenger, Sir Alex Ferguson and Arne Slot as he embarks on a coaching career.
Van Persie, 41, the former Arsenal and Manchester United striker who has been appointed Feyenoord boss less than a year after Slot departed the Rotterdam club to take charge of Liverpool, insists the experience he picked up working for two of the Premier League ’s greatest-ever managers will be invaluable.
Feyenoord decided to sack Brian Priske late last month for failing to keep pace with Ajax and PSV Eindhoven at the top of the Eredivisie - and opted to turn to Holland’s record goalscorer to rescue their season after he had been working with Heerenveen.
Van Persie has inherited a casualty list that has stripped him of 13 players - as well as a Champions League double date with Serie A pacesetters Inter Milan. But he is undaunted by the challenge.
Van Persie said: “I have had a good talk with the players and I know what I want to achieve. I was lucky that after Arsene Wenger I also got to work with Sir Alex Ferguson. I really learned from Sir Alex. One of his best pieces of advice was that everything you say to your players, you have to keep your word. He was great at that.
“If he promised something, he kept it. I strive for that too. If you say something, it has to mean something for your players and staff.
“I’ve had the opportunity to work under fantastic managers. Arsene was great at giving confidence and chances to players. I try to include that in my own approach and make it part of my man-management skills.”
“I really appreciated his words when I got the job at Feyenoord. I really see him as my football father. I was able to develop in many ways, as a player and as a person, because of him. His support was always there - on and off the pitch. He also gave me the opportunity to prove myself at Arsenal at top level.
“I know how important it is for young players to get opportunities - and the same goes for young managers.”
It was Wenger who first spotted Van Persie’s potential to become one of the Premier League’s most lethal marksmen, raiding Feyenoord in a cut-price £2.75million deal for the 21-year-old when he was operating as a winger.
The Dutchman spent eight years at Highbury and the Emirates before forcing his departure to United in 2012 to score the goals that helped Ferguson reclaim the title before announcing his retirement.
Van Persie moved to Turkish club Fenerbahce before returning to finish his career with Feyenoord. He eventually joined Feyenoord’s coaching staff in 2020, working with the strikers in Dick Advocaat’s squad before moving into the academy when Slot took charge.
Van Persie continued to watch how Slot brought success back to the Rotterdam club while also helping in the progress of his son Shaqueel as he emerged through the youth system.
Van Persie, whose daughter Dina is being tipped for great things as an equestrian athlete, said: “We should all be very proud that Arne has worked here at Feyenoord for three years.
“He did a really great job, absolutely raised the level, and if you see how he is doing now at Liverpool that is really something we are proud of. I am happy to continue the work with his legacy. I won’t suffer from it, on the contrary, I see it as a plus because a number of players who worked under Arne know the patterns I like to see.
“The best coaches I have had, like Wenger and Ferguson, kept everything as simple as possible. Football is not simple. There is an incredible amount involved. But the trick in management and training a style of play, is to constantly make everything simpler. This is something I have learnt from them.”
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