Van Persie happy to walk on mild side

IT is one of football’s hoariest old cliches, the belief that the game’s wild things must be indulged rather than transformed.

Throw light on their dark side, so the theory goes, and the player himself will be eclipsed.

It is the reason those three red devils, Eric Cantona, Roy Keane and Wayne Rooney, were routinely indulged by Alex Ferguson at Manchester United, why Billy Bremner was able to run riot at Leeds. But not everyone buys into the theory.

Robin van Persie was mad, bad and dangerous to know in his youth in Holland, regularly finding himself in scrapes with his club coaches at Excelsior and Feyenoord. More seriously, there was also his arrest on suspicion of rape by police in Amsterdam in 2005, although he was eventually cleared of any wrongdoing.

But that was then. Now, at the ripe old age of 26, van Persie is the epitome of the model professional. Sleepless nights are still the norm, but any bags slung low under his eyes can be explained simply by the arrival of his second child and first daughter, Dina Layla, last month.

“I’m not getting enough sleep at the moment – seven hours is not enough,” he reflected with a sigh.

Not that van Persie is complaining, or not much, at least. The Holland international is currently in the form of his life, having plundered eight goals in his last nine games in all competitions, including two in this rout of Arsenal’s ambitious local rivals on Saturday. The quiet life – nappy-changing and tantrums aside – appears to suit him.

“My family life is fantastic,” he said. “The main things are my two kids and my wife and it makes you stable. It gives you a basis to perform because it is not good to go out all the time.”

Van Persie has not lost all his old fire. His fractious relationship with Emmanuel Adebayor was one of the factors in the Togolese’s insistence on leaving north London, while relations have not always been smooth with his other team-mates. William Gallas and Nicklas Bendtner, to name burt two, might be short of a Christmas card this winter.

There was a time when van Persie would have allowed these clashes to poison his football, but no longer.

“Robin is one of the leaders in the dressing room,” Arsene Wenger, his manager, said. “He is not so much of a shouter but he speaks his mind. The Dutch way is to speak your mind and that is good but I must say he has fantastic humility as well. He listens to your opinion and is enjoyable to manage.”

Wenger, who confirmed Bendtner will be out for around a month with groin damage, suggested that his talisman has the potential to become the “best passer and goalscorer in the league” if he maintains his current progress.

The Golden Boot would be in van Persie’s permanent collection if he was able to feast on such flabby defending as Tottenham offered in their latest north London derby capitulation on Saturday.

Having spent the 48 hours before this squabble trumpeting their own strength in depth and ruminating on Arsenal’s lack of experience, Harry Redknapp’s team duly proved how far they themselves must progress before they can be taken seriously as challengers to the Premier League’s established elite.

They held firm for 43 minutes before capitulating in spectacular fashion. Van Persie prodded in the opener from Bacary Sagna’s cross, after Spurs allowed their hosts to take a short throw; then, direct from the kick-off, Cesc Fabregas seized on Wilson Palacios’ blunder, waltzed past the Honduran, skipped over King’s flimsy challenge and swept regally home.

A feisty contest had been punctured at a stroke and Tottenham were probably grateful that there was only one further addition to the scoreline after the interval. That arrived in the 60th minute when the visitors inexplicably failed to heed an advantage played by referee Mark Clattenburg after Benoit Assou-Ekotto fouled Eduardo. Sagna scooped up possession and fizzed in a cross which Heurelho Gomes allowed to slip through his fingers, with van Persie bundling in from close range.

The old van Persie might have delighted in pointing out the pleasure Arsenal took in slapping down their old foes but, true to form, his sharp tongue was kept sheathed.

“Tottenham can say whatever they want to say,” van Persie said. “We just tried to show our quality on the pitch.” There was no arguing with that.

REFEREE: Mark Clattenburg (Tyne & Wear) 7: Rather generous not to punish some heavy tackles with yellow cards, but his advantage for Arsenal’s third goal was perfectly judged.

MATCH RATING: *** A curious afternoon. The game was dead for 43 minutes before Tottenham’s defence inexplicably caved in. After that, Arsenal produced some polished football.