\u201cWhen you stop as a player some part of you dies. It was the thing I did my whole life, my identity, who I am. And that question really got to me. I said: \u2018My passion is football but I cannot play any more. I work for BT [as a pundit] now.\u2019 She asked: \u2018Is that really your passion?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201c\u2018I like it, I really learn a lot from that,\u2019\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
But, Van Persie says, Dina continued to press him, asking: \u201cBut is this your passion? Do you want to be the best pundit in the world? No. So what is the second-best thing about football?\u201d<\/p>\n
His answer: \u201cBeing a coach. But then I have to do my badges and I have to go back to school. I have to do all these theory exercises and I\u2019m not looking forward to that.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd she said: \u2018If you tell us we have to find our passion, you should do the same.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Which is how Van Persie came to spend long nights writing up theses on football tactics. He jokes that he barely knew how to open a laptop before 2020 but later he is happily flicking through slideshows illustrating Feyenoord\u2019s key values, training schedules, personal development plans: quite the transformation from old pro to PowerPoint manager.<\/p>\n
Robin van Persie with his wife, Bouchra, daughter, Dina, and son, Shaqueel, after signing for Feyenoord in January 2018. Photograph: Erwin Spek\/Soccrates Images\/Getty Images<\/p>\n
\u201cAt the start of the coaching course, I had [offers of] help from colleagues to do everything for me. I said: \u2018Stop! I will do everything myself, type every letter. I have to learn.\u2019 One exercise, I was busy for weeks and really proud. I sent it in and the big red cross came back. \u2018Not good enough. You have to do more.\u2019 OK, I get the point. Two weeks later I filed it again. \u2018Now I will get an A.\u2019 And again, the red cross. \u2018Is this teacher trying to test me? Is it because I\u2019m an ex-player?\u2019 The fourth time I filed it in and it was: \u2018OK, pass.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought: \u2018Do I really want to go through this?\u2019 It felt like \u2026 torture is a big word, but you know what I mean? It was tough. My first idea is to quit. And my daughter was: \u2018Oh yeah! You want to quit on your passion? Get on with it and do it better!\u2019 So I decided to go for it, put my ego aside. That was the moment I accepted I wasn\u2019t a footballer any more.\u201d<\/p>\n
And that is how we end up here at the historic De Kuip, Feyenoord\u2019s stadium, Arne Slot\u2019s old club, which Van Persie has inherited. It is now long into the afternoon and he shows no signs of wanting to leave. Rather, he wants to talk about the values he is instilling as coach here at Feyenoord \u2013 they were top of the Eredivisie before PSV beat Fortuna Sittard 5-2 on Friday night \u2013 and launches a PowerPoint to explain their project and demonstrate the detail he obsesses over as a coach.<\/p>\n
Robin van Persie says \u2018never say never\u2019 regarding whether he could one day coach in the Premier League. Photograph: Box To Box Pictures\/Alamy<\/p>\n
This player, he explains, has improved his speed to 33kph (20.5mph) by making adjustments to his running style. All players have personal development plans where they have to talk about their strengths and weaknesses. Footballers are never great at the latter but Van Persie leads by example, sharing his weaknesses in team meetings. \u201cThe feedback is that I can be really direct about the way I just give my opinion,\u201d he said. \u201cSo sometimes players can take that personally. In my opinion, they should not. But they can. So I have to do something with that. That could be a pitfall for me.\u201d<\/p>\n
It was probably useful he shed his ego on the coaching course as a few weeks into his first club job at Heerenveen, a mid-table team with a 2009 cup win to their name, he was on the wrong end of a 9-1 defeat. \u201cWe had a good first half! We were 2-1 behind but could have been 3-2 ahead. So I took off one of my defensive midfielders. I wanted to go for the win. And then everything that could have gone wrong went wrong. Forty-five minutes later you\u2019re like: \u2018What just happened?\u2019 That was an important learning moment for me. I realised that we should have a safety-net option, a Plan B, sometimes just three minutes of normal football. Then we have an escape and we go back to our normal. That is what I learned.\u201d<\/p>\n
skip past newsletter promotion<\/a><\/p>\n Sign up to Football Daily<\/p>\n Kick off your evenings with the Guardian’s take on the world of football<\/p>\n Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. If you do not have an account, we will create a guest account for you on theguardian.com<\/a> to send you this newsletter. You can complete full registration at any time. For more information about how we use your data see our Privacy Policy<\/a>. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy<\/a> and Terms of Service<\/a> apply.<\/p>\n after newsletter promotion<\/p>\n ProfileRoad back to Feyenoord: RVP’s journey as an MVPShow 2001-04 Makes a senior Feyenoord breakthrough at 17, wins the Uefa Cup, but falls out with manager Bert van Marwijk over his attitude.\u00a0<\/p>\n 2004 Joins Arsenal for \u00a32.75m, half Feyenoord\u2019s original asking price. Ars\u00e8ne Wenger explains he plans to convert the little-known winger, 20, into a forward: \u201cWe just feel there is something really interesting there. He has potential.\u201d<\/p>\n 2005-12 Wins the FA Cup in 2005, hits 35 goals as captain in 2011 and wins Golden Boot and Player of the Year titles in 2012. Signs a new deal in 2009: \u201cI just can\u2019t picture myself in a different shirt.\u201d<\/p>\n 2012-2015 Joins Manchester United for \u00a322.5m (pictured). Wins the title in 2012-13 but is hampered by injuries.<\/p>\n 2015 Joins Fenerbah\u00e7e on a three-year deal for an undisclosed fee.\u00a0<\/p>\n 2018 Returns to Feyenoord on a free but retires a year later. Signs off with 102 Netherlands caps. Starts coaching at Feyenoord.\u00a0<\/p>\n 2024 Joins Heerenveen in his first head coach role \u2013 then takes the Feyenoord job in February this year.<\/p>\n Thank you for your feedback.<\/p>\n There is a growing club of former teammates in his business. He is still in touch with Cesc F\u00e0bregas, coaching Como<\/a>, fifth in Serie A. \u201cEven now we have a fantastic connection. He wasn\u2019t the fastest, but he was always on time. He was reading the game and spaces so well, that vision, technique, composure on the ball. And a little bit nasty as well! I liked that.\u201d Van Persie recently reconnected with Jack Wilshere, now managing Luton<\/a>. \u201cMikel Arteta as well. Me, Jack, Cesc. Who\u2019s next?\u201d<\/p>\n Right now Feyenoord looks like a long-term project. His son Shaqueel, now 18, is on the fringe of the first team and the whole family are enjoying being back home again. But naturally the Premier League could come calling. \u201cI think the English league in every possible way is the best. I felt that as a player and it\u2019s even improved, is even more demanding for players and coaches 1761991690. So, yeah, never say never.\u201d<\/p>\n Robin van Persie says everyone at Manchester United was \u2018excited, happy, proud to work there\u2019 because of Sir Alex Ferguson\u2019s management skills. Photograph: Tom Jenkins\/The Guardian<\/p>\n All the input he has from staff, data and laptops is some way from the old-school management under which he grew up. \u201cWe had nothing back in the day in terms of all these tools. If we played a Champions League game, we would look at AC Milan for maybe 10 minutes. Then it was: \u2018Go and play. Express yourself.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n If you wanted to have a who\u2019s who of mentors, then Wenger, Sir Alex Ferguson and Louis van Gaal is quite the brains trust. Van Persie ponders how Ferguson \u201chad the managing skills to keep not only 27 millionaires happy, but the whole building. The whole of Carrington was excited, happy, proud to work there. That\u2019s the team culture he created with [chief executive] David Gill. Back in the day, you had one coach and one director. Wenger had it as well, with [vice-chair] David Dein. If you look at Wenger and [his chief scout] Steve Rowley they were basically doing the same without a laptop.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1281.jpg\")
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