Robin Van Persie + Wayne Rooney = Success?

Everybody in the Footballing Fraternity agrees on at least one fact in recent times: Manchester United’s acquisition of Robin Van Persie in 2012 was an incredibly shrewd business move on Sir Alex Ferguson’s part (of course, this analysis was partly in hindsight after Persie netted 30 goals in all competitions for Manchester United in the 2012/13 season) and Persie would be an interesting strike partner for Wayne Rooney, considering they had very different styles of play. Persie’s form in the 2012/13 season cemented SAF’s reputation as a visionary and more importantly Persie along with Rooney hit the back of the net 46 times to hand Manchester United the English Premier League title for the 20th time. All hailed the Dutch no. 20 as the greatest signing for Manchester United since Eric Cantona in 1992.
Manchester United kicked off their current season with a resounding victory at Swansea City but since then haven’t really picked up the pace like they usually do, plateauing at number eight on the table for some time and then rising to their current number five on a wave of recent victories at Stoke City, Fulham and Arsenal much to the relief of management and fans alike.
Since the beginning of this season, Rooney and Van Persie have played together seven times and between them scored nine goals, the most recent of which came during the much awaited clash with Arsene Wenger’s men effectively cutting down the points difference between the table leaders and the reigning champions to just five points. David Moyes’ has breathed a sigh of relief knowing that as long as his dynamic duo deliver, Manchester United is in with a fighting chance to defend their trophy in a league showcasing stellar performances by Arsenal, Liverpool and the big surprise this season, Southampton.
At this point, another partnership is being widely acknowledged as a combination to watch out for. Incidentally, they also don the colour red at their home ground and are currently as lethal as, if not more than, the United Duo. I am referring, of course, to the Liverpool pair of Daniel Sturridge and Luis Suarez who, going by just statistics, are currently outshining RvP and Rooney. Munch on these numbers to ease your skeptical mind: In spite of having played just four times together this season due to Suarez’s domestic ban, Sturridge and Suarez have scored a very impressive ten goals together in comparison to (an equally impressive) nine goals by our pair. You will say, of course, that there is just the difference of one goal and Liverpool just got lucky but the gap widens greatly when another tiny detail is thrown into the mix: Those nine goals came after Robin Van Persie and Wayne Rooney played together seven times. In terms of assists and subsequent conversion, guess which pair comes out on top? It’s not that hard, really.
So, it is plain for everyone to see, Rooney and RvP are below Sturridge and Suarez in terms of the only statistics that really matter for any strike combination. The one heartening aspect to this entire debacle is that Van Persie and Rooney are really enjoying playing with each other for the time being and they do not mince their words regarding this.
"It’s really enjoyable for us as players to play that way. We’re both creative players and I think that’s why we’re working well," said Wayne Rooney after their emphatic 1-0 victory against arch rivals Arsenal.
"I am very pleased with my partnership with him - we love to play together, you know. I think we are similar players in the way that we are all-round - we can both drop back and go in behind. We both have a pass in us - which is what I love. I love to play with Wayne because for me he has it all.
As long as we can combine that really well, as long as we work together and try to improve – which we are doing - I think we can go from strength to strength.” echoed Van Persie.

Partnerships are not only about individual skill or goal scoring ability, they are also about synergy that must exist between the partners, a certain level of understanding that they need to share like a pair of twins, albeit from different wombs and it is reassuring to see that Van Persie and Rooney are exhibiting just that.

Of course, things haven’t always been this smooth. At any one point in time, only one of the ‘R’s is in the spotlight. Persie started this season, guns ablaze and firing on all cylinders but of late has not been at the top of his form whereas Rooney has found that he can do no wrong and the maximum he can be penalized with is a yellow card! The two, individually, belong to that elite class of footballers which the remaining mortals can only aspire to become a part of. However partnerships require work to be considered truly great (think Kenny Dalglish and Ian Rush; Thierry Henry and Dennis Bergkamp; Andy Cole and Dwight Yorke) and before we jump the gun and crown the current Red Duo as the greatest partnership ever, we need to step back and allow them to blossom. The only problem here is that Van Persie is now a ripe 30. Perhaps there may not be much blossoming left now?