On the face of it, Robin van Persie's Manchester United career could be defined by Sven-Goran Eriksson’s legendary summation of another uninspiring England performance.
‘First half good, second half not so good,’ perfectly encapsulated Eriksson’s reign as England manager and it also seems a good fit to describe Van Persie’s time at Old Trafford.
We have all witnessed Van Persie’s decline from the prolific striker who almost single-handedly delivered the club’s 20th league title during his first season at the club.
The grey flecks have increased, the injuries have started to mount up and the goals just don’t come along as regularly, or spectacularly, as they did in his early days at United.
Right? Well, no. Actually, the opposite is true.
The relief displayed by Van Persie as he celebrated his injury-time equaliser against Chelsea on Sunday masked a surprising reality about the Dutch forward’s contribution as a United player.
The truth about Robin van Persie is that, statistically, his United career should really be described as ‘first half good, second half even better.’
By scoring against Chelsea on Sunday, Van Persie broke into the top fifty of United’s all-time leading goalscorers chart.
With 51 goals, and at the age of 31, he can forget about overhauling Sir Bobby Charlton’s 249 goals to claim top spot, but Van Persie’s goals-per-game ratio is better than each of the top three -- Charlton, Denis Law and Wayne Rooney -- on United’s goalscoring list.
Only Tommy Taylor (0.69 goals per game), Ruud van Nistelrooy (0.68) and Dennis Viollet (0.61) can better Van Persie’s rate of a goal every 0.60 games for United.
Law, second to Charlton in the scoring charts with 237 goals, sits just behind Van Persie with a strike-rate of a goal of every 0.58 goals per game.
Those statistics could be misleading, with many supporters suggesting that Van Persie’s ratio would be a result of his incredible start at United following his 2012 transfer from Arsenal.
But as impressive as Van Persie was in his first few months at Old Trafford, his output since -- and David Moyes may rub his eyes in disbelief at this -- has been even better.
Van Persie’s first 25 goals, during his outstanding first season at United, took 43 games to amass.
His second 25, despite the injuries and loss of form experienced under Moyes, and in a team shorn of confidence, came within 38 games.
Van Persie made just 28 appearances for United last season, but scored eighteen goals, including a Champions League hat-trick against Olympiakos.
This season, the goal against Chelsea was his third in eight games -- a period which manager Louis van Gaal admitted has been a frustrating one for the centre-forward.
But against Chelsea, Van Persie’s all-round performance hinted at a return to the form many believe he has not displayed since his early days at United.
Van Persie, playing as a lone striker, led the line well, engaged in a physical battle with Chelsea John Terry and was rewarded with his late, late equaliser.
The last time United had scored a point-saving or point-winning goal in stoppage time was Van Persie’s free-kick against Manchester City in December 2012.
Perhaps Sunday’s performance proved that Van Persie performs best as a lone forward -- the role he played in the title-winning season -- but the goal numbers, at least, suggest that there really isn’t too much wrong with the player’s form.
During the 2012-13 season, Van Persie’s performance data -- runs, sprints, ground covered -- were regarded as off the scale by United, with last season resulting in an inevitable dip.
But under Van Gaal, the tide may be set to turn for Van Persie, with performances ready to match the goals that has been surprisingly consistent.
And rather than fear for his place, Van Persie can point to a strike-rate which proves he is delivering the goods, even when it appears as though he isn’t.
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