Sheffield United captain Chris Morgan was suspended for three games for sneaking a punch at Van Persie in a game that the Blades won. There was a bit of a back and forth taking place between the two players that seemed to have rattled Van Persie. In the next match against Charlton, Osei Sankofa was sent off for denying Van Persie a cleat goalscoring opportunity. Clearly Charlton had seen TV coverage of Morgan taking Van Persie out of his game.
It maybe that Van Persie has taken on the load of the Gunners striking capabilities with Henry injured and underperforming and is thus being targeted. However Van Persie is a bit of a tetchy character and tightly wound. It is easy to get under Persie’s skin. And players with a reputation of being enforcers love to have a go at players with that personality. David Sommeil at Manchester City accused Persie of racist abuse when the two tangled in a match last season. Sommeil is no angel and he has had his share of controversial incidents.