Boy Wonder

Robin has always been the subject of ridicule as a certain caped crusader's sidekick, be it for his little tights or overzealous exclamations in the heat of battle. That being said, the Robin roosting at the Emirates is now, more than ever, the only gun firing on all cylinders there.

Another brace over the weekend, relieving some pressure from an embattled manager, the former Feyenoord man is truly the main attraction at Arsenal, and has attracted interest from Man City as well - but then they tend to cast covetous eyes towards the area anyway, as attested to by Kolo Toure, Emmanuel Adebayor, Gael Clichy and Samir Nasri. Contract speculation aside, "RVP" has been at the club since 2004, and has played alongside such names as Vieira, Henry, and Bergkamp, as well as Fabregas, Nasri and, well, Jenkinson. Such is the situation that he has gone from substitute and sidekick to captain and catalyst. The one true flying Dutchman in the Gunners now (though with Bergkamp's famous fear of flying...), they can ill afford to have him fly off, be it to a rival or the treatment table.

The son of two artists, the artful Van Persie's attributes and contributions are matched by few. Be it a close clinical finish, a swerving freekick, a slaloming run or a Cantona-style chip against Sunderland (they do seem to fall victim to those...), the maverick striker is indeed Arsenal's main striker (much to Chamakh's chagrin). That being said though, he has never finished a season playing more than 30 league games. The closest he has ever come to that came in the 2008-09 season, where he finished with only 11 goals (but was still top-scorer for the club). The tally is not a black mark against the man though, having played as a wide or supporting player for much of his early career, such figures are still respectable, but perhaps unacceptable for the coming season.

His form and fitness notwithstanding, the difference and challenge he faces today is that of the supporting cast. For so long one of them himself, the burden of goalscoring (and creating, it seems) has now fallen on his shoulders alone. Mikel Arteta and Gervinho, quality players in their own right, are not like-for-like replacements for Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri - a point hammered home by everyone it seems - and one look at Fabregas' and Nasri's stats and achievements since their moves might suggest the same. And even before that, the likes of Dennis Bergkamp, Jose Antonio Reyes, Robert Pires, Freddie Ljungberg and of course Thierry Henry could pick up the slack. Not any more.

Many Arsenal (and opposing) fans believe that Arsenal's success in tied directly to Van Persie's performance. From what we have seen so far this season, that isn't too far from the truth. More than a century of goals from the man who has stepped out of the shadows of those before him, it's time for Robin to go from sidekick to superhero. The Gunners will hope that it happens, and that they can hang on to him after.