Robin van Persie has been accused of showing contempt for Feyenoord supporters, as they get set to take on Aston Villa.
FC Update cover comments from Aston Villa, and Feyenoord, favourite Ron Vlaar, who doesn’t appear to be a big fan of his fellow Dutchman.
Van Persie found himself coming in for criticism last week when he left several stars out of his side for the away game at Sporting Braga in the Europa League.
He did not take top scorer Ayase Ueda, as well as Leo Sauer and Givairo Read, to Portugal for the game. All three players were rested. Meanwhile, key players such as Anis Hadj Moussa, Tsuyoshi Watanabe, and Luciano Valente were all only substitutes. Feyenoord lost the game 1-0.
Feyenoord fans were left unimpressed by the selection choices, clearly believing that Van Persie had thrown the game away with the absentees.
That was clearly a misstep in what has largely been a positive run for Van Persie so far after he took charge of Feyenoord earlier this year. Vlaar was certainly unimpressed.
“I do have a problem with that, because it’s contempt for your supporters,” he said.
“”They want to see the strongest team. And they want to win, although Van Persie wants that too, of course. Although there’s little reason to complain in the rest of the league when you have 19 points from 7 matches.
“At the end of the Europa League season, we’ll see if he’s right. Because the main thing, of course, is to advance.”
The focus is now on Aston Villa, who head to Rotterdam with confidence rising after wins over Fulham and Bologna. They’re not back to their best, yet, and Vlaar thinks there’s opportunity for the Dutch side.
“Feyenoord has to play their own game. I saw them up close in Alkmaar. I think they’re physically strong. They’re all well-knit,” he added.
“Villa isn’t really playing their best yet. This weekend they did win for the first time in the league and last week they also won against Bologna. But it’s nowhere near as convincing as the past two years. That’s why there are definitely opportunities for Feyenoord.”
