ROCKIN’ ROBIN
Van Persie used to strike fear into defences on the pitch, now he’s doing it as a coach ...inspired by guru Guardiola
ROBIN VAN PERSIE has been tapping into the genius of Pep Guardiola in his bid to become a top coach.
The former Manchester United and Arsenal striker rejected the chance to become part of Erik ten Hag’s Old Trafford backroom staff when the United boss quit Ajax in the summer of 2022 – because he wanted to continue cutting his teeth with Feyenoord’s youth team.
Van Persie, 40, does harbour an ambition to eventually return to the Premier League as a manager – and he was allowed into Guardiola’s inner sanctum last season, to cast an admiring eye over how the Catalan was plotting Manchester City’s Treble chase.
Feyenoord manager Arne Slot is another disciple of Guardiola – and despite his history with the red side of Manchester, RVP identifies with the same attack-orientated philosophies as the City boss.
Van Persie will be granted his UEFA Pro Licence next summer, and there will be no shortage of interest from clubs looking to prise him away from his Rotterdam roots, despite Feyenoord seeing him as the natural successor to Slot in the senior hotseat.
Van Persie said: “I don’t see myself as one of the best coaches just yet.
“It was only two years back that I started on the path of being a coach. I do feel that I am doing well.
“I put a lot of time and energy into it but I am not there yet. How do I know? Because when I spend a day with other coaches, or when I see how the first team at my own club works, I realise how much is involved.
“It is also about the strength of a coaching team – the staff have to work incredibly well together these days. Football tactics, working with physical trainers, with the assistants, everyone who have their own tasks on and off the pitch.
“I learn from that and then try to make that same link to my own staff and my team.”
Van Persie’s Feyenoord Under-19s are competing in the Champions Youth League this season, and the man with a burgeoning reputation in Holland is now starting to gain admirers from abroad, too.
He helped United win the last of their 13 Premier League titles under Sir Alex Ferguson in 2013, and Ten Hag wanted the Dutchman to bring a flavour of the club’s glorious past to his own backroom staff when he arrived as manager.
But Van Persie felt that the move wasn’t right for him – both from a professional and personal perspective. He added: “I am still learning every single day – and sometimes I also take my work home. My wife often says, ‘Will you please close your laptop, so we can watch a series together’.
“I want my team to be really attacking because then you have the best chance of winning.
“But every coach has got to throw his own sauce over his team’s attacking football – and that is what I am doing.”