Robin van Persie has stated that he thinks next summer could be his best yet, and that he expects Arsenal to redeem themselves from some of their disappointments from last year, starting with their season-opening trip to Newcastle.

Van Persie was able to stay healthy for the entire second half of last season, and the results were staggering. RVP found the net 18 times after New Year’s in the Premiership, including a Premier League record 9 consecutive away matches. He will be 28 this season.

“I was 27 last year and everyone would think that you have an amazing start to the season and then maybe grow from there,” Van Persie told Arsenal.com. “But I had an injury and needed time to get back to fitness.”

“The second part of last year, I scored 18 Premier League goals so it’s strange. You can’t really tell beforehand whether you are going to have your best year because you don’t really know what is going to happen.

If it goes your way, I do believe that this could be a really good year for me. The way I see it is that I am halfway through my career now. I have been playing for ten years and I’d like to play for at least ten more years.”

Robin is a great example of what an Arsenal player should be, and last season he proved that, when he’s healthy, on his day he is one of the best in the world. I think that he could easily go on for several more years, although he is turning 28, injuries have made him miss a lot of time, so perhaps he will keep his legs longer than most.

With regards to Newcastle, RVP is determined that Arsenal will correct their mistake.

“It’s very important [to make up for that] because if you throw away a 4-0 lead, it’s mad,” said the Dutch striker.

“I don’t think it ever happened in the Premier League and I’m not sure it will happen again. We need to set something right there and show that it was a mistake and it’s not something that will happen more often.”

It’s a great attitude to have, and if I’m being frank, I would much prefer that Robin van Persie, not Cesc Fabregas, be given the captain band this year.

Robin is much more ‘in your face’ and more vocal, I personally think that some of the younger players at Arsenal may respond better to that form of leadership than they do to Cesc’s strong-but-silent, ‘lead by example’ style. I’m not taking a dig at Cesc over the Barca saga, although I don’t think that helps.

I think that Robin has shown what he can do when he stays healthy, the key to me will be how Arsene chooses to use him. If Arsene relies on him too much, van Persie will break down again.

Hopefully Between Chamakh, Vela and newly signed Gervinho, along with Walcott, a suitable solution can be found so that RVP10 can stay fit for a whole season. If he can, it will go a very long way towards helping Arsenal to a trophy.

Ryo Miyaichi, who is another possibility in attack for the Gunners, and is quickly becoming a fan favorite after his debut performance against the Malaysia XI, has spoken out about what a great opportunity he has to not only impress Arsene Wenger, but also to learn from Le Prof and the rest of his Arsenal teammates.

Having followed Feyenoord a bit last season, I can say that I have been impressed with Ryo and that the fact he is receiving high praise from everyone is not surprising. When you look at where he was a year ago (still playing high school football) to now, with a chance to make the squad (albeit, a small chance this year), its nothing short of a meteoric rise.

Honestly, for the talk many have made about wanting experience in the squad, and worrying about what the future of Arsenal may hold, I have to admit that the not so distant future doesn’t look to bad. Jack Wilshere, Wojciech Szczęsny, Aaron Ramsey, Alex Song, Emmanuel Frimpong, Johan Djourou, Theo Walcott, Ryo Miyaichi… the future does look bright, even if the next year or two don’t pan out.