RVP: I should have scored more
Manchester United striker Robin van Persie believes he could, and should, have scored more goals this season.
By ESPNSTAR.com staff
The Dutchman leads the standings with 18 goals to his name in the Premier League. Many of these goals have been crucial for United as they have helped them notch wins against the likes of Arsenal, Manchester City and Liverpool.
However, Van Persie, ever the perfectionist, believes that he should have been more efficient with his finishing and scored more goals for the club.
"It should have been 10 games, 14 or 15 goals. At least four or five I shouldn't have missed," Van Persie told Sky Sports.
"It's not going really well. It is going well but if you start to believe it's going well, you're going down.
"If I look at all those games, I should have done better in most of them because I had more chances than just one chance and one goal."
In the same interview, he also stated that his fitness has improved due to a transition to a more advanced position.
Last season, he was promoted to the role of a poacher by manager Arsene Wenger and after moving to United, he has continued to play there. He believes that the reduced workload of the position has helped him play on a more regular basis - he has now started 71 consecutive Premier League games.
"It's a different game, they're very close to each other playing No 10 or No 9. But there's a big difference," he continued.
"As a No 9 you have much more intervals - stop-start, looking for spaces, waiting, then going for it and taking chances.
"As a No 10 you have to deal with the defensive midfielder of the opposition. Depending how they play you can have a really difficult game.
"You're always expected to get into the box making 30-40 metre runs when you attack, then you have to go back 30-40m or more depending how far he goes back, and you have to go left or right.
"It's much more of an endurance game than stop-start.
"If I look now my game as No 9 is great. My average running in games has always been high, but it's high intensity runs now.
"Before I had to run more endurance-wise, now it's more stop-start, short and sharp runs in behind."