Training Talk: Robin Van Persie

Robin van Persie is the latest Manchester United player to answer our questions about day-to-day life at the Aon Training Complex - and to select his ideal five-a-side line-up..

Which part of training do you enjoy the most?

I like short games when we play four against four or five against five in short, four or five minute-games. We also do a lot of finishing drills - some very nice ones, especially when we work on quality finishing when, instead of doing four or five reps (repetitions) in a row, we do just one or two and then have a rest. Those drills are all based on quality and fine-tuning your moves.

How seriously do you take the matches in training?

Oh those games are very competitive! [Laughs].

Can you talk us through the best training goal you've ever scored?

Oh in training [pauses to think]…there was one in my first season. I think it’s on video as well because the first thing I said when I’d scored was ‘is it on tape?!’ [Laughs]. It was a long-range shot from behind the half-way line and it went in over the keeper.


Who is the most competitive player on the training pitch?

Everyone is competitive in their own way. You can see it when we play the short games I mentioned – you can see how badly everyone wants to win.

What sort of areas do you personally work on in training besides shooting?

I work on my right foot, heading, runs in behind the defence and one-to-one duels to help increase my strength.

Who would you pick to play with you in your perfect five-a-side team?

That’s a good question because you have to make a decision if you want to go with attackers or have a combination and you might need a goalkeeper! [Laughs]. I will go for David [De Gea] in goal. I need one defender so I will go with Michael Carrick because he can play in both positions [defence and midfield], then I’ll go for strikers so Wayne [Rooney]. I’m involved as well? I’m not on the bench?! So me, David, Michael, Wayne and… this is very hard because you have Juan [Mata], you have [Angel] Di Maria and you have Falcao... I’ll go for Falcao.

[Robin's five-a-side team: De Gea, Carrick, Rooney, van Persie, Falcao].