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Van Persie says Twente are the Dutch Tottenham
David Hytner
The
Guardian
Tuesday, 12 August 2008
There was a twinkle in Robin Van
Persie's eye as he considered who might be the English
equivalent of FC Twente, the Dutch club that stand between
his Arsenal team and the group stage of the Champions
League.
"Tottenham Hotspur," he replied with a laugh,
following a slight pause. The alarm bells rang in the
Arsenal press office, as they began to envisage the
worst case scenario headlines. Yet Van Persie recognises
a club on the up and while Tottenham's stated aim of
playing in Europe's elite competition remains as yet
unfulfilled, Twente sent shock waves around the continent
at the end of last season when they qualified for it
for the first time.
After a fourth-placed finish in the Eredivisie, they
entered the play-offs to determine the Netherlands'
second Champions League entrant and having beaten NAC
Breda in the semi-finals, they recorded a famous 2-1
aggregate victory over Ajax in the final. The scenes
after the 0-0 draw in Amsterdam in the second leg have
taken on a timeless quality for their supporters.
Few of them would have chosen Arsenal when the draw
for the final qualifying round was made. "They
were a bit disappointed because of the name of Arsenal,"
said Van Persie, ahead of the first leg of the tie,
which will be played tomorrow night in Arnhem as Twente's
stadium in Enschede is being enlarged from 13,000 to
24,240 and the work is not quite finished. "I think
they would have wanted a team in eastern Europe or something."
Twente, who are now managed by Steve McClaren, lost
two of their best players over the summer— the
midfielders Orlando Engelaar to Schalke and Karim El
Ahmadi to Feyenoord — while Blaise Nkufo, their
leading scorer for each of the past five seasons, is
suspended for both legs of the tie.
But Van Persie, the Holland international, has seen
enough of Twente to know that Arsenal's progress cannot
be taken for granted. The club, a force in the early
1970s —they lost the 1975 Uefa Cup final to Borussia
Monchengladbach — have come on strongly again,
particularly in the last two seasons under the coach
Fred Rutten, who has also left for Schalke.
The chairman Joop Munsterman predicts that turnover
this season will reach 29.5m euros, hardly Premier League
level but almost double that of last season while there
is ambition and spirit in McClaren's squad. The new
midfield signings Theo Janssen and Cheick Tiote are
well while the 19-year-old striker Marko Arnautovic
bristles with promise.
"I know Twente quite well as I have Dutch satellite
TV at home," said Van Persie. "They had a
great year last year and although they've lost Engelaar
and El Ahmadi, who were the playmakers, they got one
good player back from Vitesse Arnhem‚ Äì
Janssen Äì, so they are still in good shape
with a good team."
McClaren's arrival is regarded as a coup, and not only
in Enschede, which has a population of 160,000 and is
located by the border with Germany. "The people
in Holland are really happy with McClaren and they are
almost proud to have him, because it is quite a strange
move to come from England manager to Twente," said
Van Persie. "Holland is very proud, especially
Twente and they are all saying that they really like
his style of coaching."
The last time that Arsenal faced a McClaren team, they
routed Middlesbrough 7-0 in January 2006. "I remember
that but normally we had a tough time against his sides,"
added Van Persie. "We are ready for this game.
We have our pre-season games under our belts and we're
ready."
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