Reports have come out of Real Madrid this week, suggesting that Arjen Robben has had so many injuries in the past 6 months, that he has forgotten how to walk. Robben has had a number of niggling injuries since his £25m transfer from Chelsea to the Bernebau last summer and has only made 9 appearances for the club, scoring his first La Liga goal in last weekend's 7-0 demolition of Vallidolid.So, is it true that everyone's favourite old young man with the glimmering head needs to learn how to walk again? Can he still play with the electrifying pace and skill that defined him when he was at Chelsea? He had this to say:
”I was surprised reading that. Some anonymous member of the medical staff said that. That I was in therapy with my walk for months. That is a crock of shit. I walk like I walk, and I do that my whole life and I will do that for the rest of my life.”
That's nixed that rumour, then. Dutchmen don't say 'That ish a crock of sheet!' without meaning it. STT reckons that Robben has always had a problem walking, running and just genrally staying on his two feet. Gravity and Robben have always had a very good relationship - maybe he has a physics degree? Since he's left England, the most proficient performers of this art are now Ronaldo and Emmanuel Adebayor, who was so gravitationally challenged this weekend that he received a yellow card for his troubles. Here's a retrospective on Robben's career:
The self-administered choke slam and the 'Platoon' (Nobby Solano playing the part of the Vietcong)
Supplication to the might of Talal El Karkouri
Getting blown through a plate glass window (not in the good way)