Behind the Numbers: Robin van Persie

To conclude our mini-series analysing Arsenal's top five players of the season, our statistician Josh James reflects on Robin van Persie's 2011/12 numbers.

The 2011/12 season was a record-breaking campaign for Robin van Persie. The striker became the first Arsenal player to score 30 league goals in a season since Thierry Henry in 2003/04, earning the Premier League Golden Boot in the process. His 37 goals overall beat his previous best seasonal tally by 15 and he also played more games than in any other campaign - 48.

Of those 48 games, 45 were from the start, and he was only withdrawn on three occasions, meaning he played 4,095 minutes last season - 84.3 per cent of the total available to him. He averaged either a goal or assist every 81.9 minutes.

He also joined a few exclusive 'clubs' during 2011/12. His fifth goal of the season - against Bolton in September - pushed him to the 100-goal mark for the Club, one of only 17 players to reach the landmark.
He is now one of only seven Arsenal players to score 30 or more league goals in a season (only the second in a 38-game term) and also one of seven Gunners to have won the Golden Boot. At the end of the season the skipper was named both FWA and PFA Player of the Year, something only previously managed by Thierry Henry and Dennis Bergkamp at Arsenal.

With his goal against Wolves in April, van Persie equalled the Premier League record for scoring against 17 different teams in a season - only Fulham and Manchester City kept out the prolific marksman.

There's no doubting van Persie's importance to the team. He scored 40.54 per cent of Arsenal's league goals (the fourth highest proportion in Club history), and 38.54 per cent of the overall goals from the season.

His personal playing record was P48 W27 D9 L12, for a win rate of 56.3 per cent, slightly down on the overall win-rate for the team of 57.41 per cent. Exactly half of his appearances (24) were at Emirates Stadium, and 22 of his goals (59.5 per cent) were scored there. He is the all-time leading scorer at the stadium with 67.

He has 132 goals for Arsenal, placing him eighth in the all time-scorers chart. He has played 278 games, more than any other player in the squad, and enough to put him 58th in the all-time appearance list for the Club.

For more reading on Robin van Persie's statistical highlights from the season, please click here

Behind The Numbers

Behind The Numbers

Stats correct as at June 1, 2012. Josh James also provides the stats for the Arsenal Analysis pages of the matchday programme. To subscribe, or buy online, click here.