Injury ravaged, inconsistent, a prima-donna attitude and an inability to truly settle at a club have plagued the former PSV, Chelsea, Real Madrid and now Munich man in recent times. But, the wide-man, now 26, glistened under the Manchester spotlight in yesterday’s second leg, where he along with his Bayern team mates did not give up the ghost in clawing back a three goal deficit to grab two fatal European away goals seeing the Bundesliga side move into the semi-finals.
On 74 minutes, Robben found acres of space unmarked on the edge of the Manchester United area (whom by this stage were down to 10-men following full back Rafael’s earlier red card) where a drilled corner picked him out expertly, allowing Bayern’s number 10 to adjust his body stance and technical position as he met the ball perfectly firing a low left footed volley into the corner of fellow Dutchman Edwin van der Sar’s net.
Robben (above) wheels away in celebration following his late winner, but is this finally the Dutchman's time to shine?
The goal, must have relinquished a cluster of emotions for Robben, who despite his obvious talent and ability has never quite harnessed his potential to the full fore. Last night’s performance, offered the doubters though a selection of trade mark masquerading runs, explosive cameos of pace and a new found work rate in Robben with the way he interacted with and helped his team mates.
After witnessing the unblemished and mesmerising display produced by Lionel Messi on Tuesday night against Arsenal, in comparison to Robben, they are similar players in terms of their prevalent attributes being to run with the ball at pace and take on opponents, but Messi, widely considered the world’s best player has taken his game to new heights, whilst the Dutch attacker should take note of the whole circus revolving around Messi.
Barcelona’s star man has learnt to deal with the unfair treatment he receives off opposition defenders, maintaining a level headed and calm persona giving him the freedom and confidence to make the most of his ability in the final third. In comparison, Robben still needs to dig deep and find that inner-belief that is in him somewhere that he is good enough to be one of the world’s best. Certainly, on his day, many of a defender would pass up the opportunity to have the fleet of foot Dutchman charge towards them, but what Robben needs to grab a hold of is the importance of consistency, a solid mental strength, plus a repetitious end product, all of which are in his disfigured locker room somewhere.
There are a few signs that he is now coming into the peak of his powers though. A typical young hotshot at PSV buoyed his reputation as one of the games rising stars flanking wholesale attention from Manchester United, before Chelsea finally won over his signature. A few eventful, but successful years at Stamford Bridge filled with reoccurring injury problems prompted a move to Spain, when Real Madrid came calling.
Real Madrid ousted the winger after their 'Galactico' reprieve, but Robben showed signs towards the end of his Bernabeu career that he was playing himself into form.
A sluggish and difficult start acquainted Robben, but towards the end of last season he started to come into his own housing a degree of self-assurance and goal scoring credentials which we had not seen from him before. But then, with the arrival of a new glut of 'Galacticos' the Dutchman was unfairly thrown onto the Bernabeu scrapheap despite his pleas to stay. German giants Bayern stepped in and now Robben seems to have that new lease of life, that he is the star man, in a team he feels at home playing in. Two crucial Champions League goals thus far, against Fiorentina and Manchester United, both away from home, have underlined how he is finding the form to produce in big games.
This could be a defining season for Robben if he can continue to spearhead Bayern’s European run after years in the wilderness and there are clear signals the wing wizard is finally fulfilling much of the hype heralded above his head.
If and when he is on form, few are better, but it is a case of connecting all the facets to Robben’s armoury together, in harmony and if he can conquer his mental attribution, the talent is at his disposal to be truly unleashed. A hectic few months ahead, with the World Cup in South Africa in the horizon gives Robben a chance to be placed amongst the game’s elite. An opportunity like this one should not pass him by.
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