Do we like Robin van Persie?
Our score: 6 out of 10. A decent footy bloke with no harmful words found and a kind gesture or two, but little on record either way about the things we care about.
Robin van Persie is the Rotterdam kid who became a Dutch football star, with a stack of goals at Arsenal and a Premier League title at Manchester United. He later went into coaching, taking charge of his boyhood club Feyenoord. In 2012 he said he would “always feel a Gunner”, which gives you the sentimental side of him.
The latest chapter is a messy one. Feyenoord sacked him on 7 June 2026 with a year left on his contract, even though they finished second and qualified for the Champions League. Reuters reported he was criticised for disputes with players, frequent team changes and a reportedly chaotic management style. The club's technical director said it was “better to start the next season with a new head coach”.
On the good-person side, the one serious thing on his file is old. In 2005 he spent about two weeks in custody after a woman made a rape allegation against him. Rotterdam prosecutors dropped the case in February 2006, so no charges were brought and nothing was proved in court. The article carried no statement from him.
On the harm test, we went looking and came back with very little. No campaigning against LGBTQ+ or trans people, no conspiracy theories, no anti-vax or climate-denial material and no dodgy company turned up in the searches. That is an absence of evidence rather than a glowing reference, so call it a pass on thin ground.
A recent moment that shows his character: in February 2026 he defended winger Raheem Sterling after pundits slammed his Eredivisie debut. Van Persie said the critics “really don't understand it at all” and called judging a player on half an hour “inappropriate”. Backing a struggling player in public is what a decent coach does.
So where does that leave us? He is a big-name footballer with a messy exit from his job and a long-ago allegation that prosecutors dropped. There is nothing that would make us wince if we cheered him on. We would not put his poster on the wall for his politics, because there are none on record.