Former Liverpool player Dirk Kuyt has admitted he hasn’t been able to forgive his “team mate” Robin van Persie, specifically for switching to Manchester United.
During their time in England, the Dutch duo cemented their places in Premier League history—Van Persie as one of the best goal scorers the league has ever seen, and Kuyt as a local legend in Anfield.
There is a lot of history between the two former professionals, who both made their way to the English top flight from Feyenoord—Van Persie in 2004 and Kuyt in 2006. Both players were key players for the Netherlands national team during a dynasty.
They participated in some exciting matches between the Reds and Arsenal in the late 2000s, but both teams ultimately struggled to keep up with Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United in the title race. Van Persie scored 26 goals in the 2012–13 season for his new club, helping them win their 20th championship. The Scottish manager eventually pulled off the unthinkable and stole Van Persie away from the Gunners.
The former Liverpool forward participated in the regular game of “Start, Bench, or Sell” on talkSPORT’s Tuesday afternoon show with former Sunderland striker Darren Bent and host Andy Goldstein. The task was to choose hypothetically three former teammates for each position.
In addition, he received the choice over former Reds teammates Luis Suarez and Fernando Torres.
He chose to begin with Suarez because, despite admitting it was not as long as he had hoped for, he “had a great time with him,” adding that he stays in touch with both of his former Liverpool coworkers. Just 18 months after the Uruguayan’s arrival, Kuyt was sold by the Reds’ management.
After that, he declared that Torres would be benched because, despite spending more time with the Spaniard, “he went to Chelsea.”
The only remaining Dutch teammate left to be sold was Van Persie, and for a good reason: “I’m selling my best mate because we had a great time at the Dutch national team but he shouldn’t have gone to Manchester United.”
Given their fierce rivalry, Liverpool and Arsenal supporters in particular might identify with Kuyt.
