Manchester United superstar on his "fantastically beautiful challenge", well up for it

There had been a simmering in the Dutch press that Robin van Persie was beginning to speak behind the force-shield of an ego after receiving plenty of criticism following his country's football fall from grace. The Manchester United superstar has been involved in all kinds of claims and problems since the World Cup and had started to be measured in what he said, protecting himself from further scrutiny. There were claims of arguments over a World Cup bonus pot Van Persie was put in charge of and then questions over whether he should have been picked by Guus Hiddink to be his captain, Arjen Robben publicly stated he'd love the opportunity to lead his country. Old arguments with Klaas Jan Huntelaar resurfaced after the Schalke player reacted strongly when Van Persie shot instead of making the better choice of a pass, Van Persie's reaction - telling Huntelaar to shut his mouth - was equally strong.

All of that could be brushed under the carpet if the Netherlands were winning football matches, but they're not... the country are falling apart and the media circling for who to blame. Guus Hiddink has got an awful lot of criticism, Ajax's Ronald de Boer saying the manager is past it and from a different era. Louis van Gaal united the country despite being such a divisive figure previously and Hiddink hasn't been able to live up to the standards the Manchester United manager set but Van Persie says it's not all his fault.

Quoted by De Telegraaf, the Manchester United player explained "At the European Championship in 2012, we have lost three games in a row and then there was a long road to rehabilitation. That lasts longer than others. It is once again to be a very long, hard road. But I see it as a fantastically beautiful challenge.

"I do not think it's fair that there we are now pointing to the coach... Van Gaal is Van Gaal, Hiddink is Hiddink and before that we had Bert van Marwijk and Marco van Basten. They are all different, but all coaches... Black and white? For me it is white and white. In the sense that both are trainers."

Van Persie's place for the Netherlands is also under threat, with his poor Manchester United form carrying over to the national team. He needs to improve on both fronts and if he doesn't it will be interesting to see what both Van Gaal and Hiddink do.