This year is make or break for Van Persie.

A good win yesterday. It was a funny game that we could have equally won 3 or 4-1 if our finsihing had been better, yet also perhaps have lost if Charlton had put away someof their chances, or been awarded a pretty stone-wall penalty.

We seem to be playing really good football again in terms of our passing and movement. Pin-ball football - or Wengerball - seemed to be happily pinging away. Indeed, some nice early passing created an opportunity for Fabregas, which he should have scored with a headed chance set up by Thierry. Instead, he skied his header from close range. It was a poor miss and you could tell he was dissapointed by the way he refused to meet Tel's eyes as he ran off.

Charlton then, against the run of play, took the lead. Hoyte, who continues to be a weak spot in the team, played Hasselbaink onside, allowing him to cross for a completely unmarked Bent. It was a really soft goal to concede and I did worry about our reaction.

Yet we've had to battle back from a goal down a few times already this season - the difference yesterday was that two of our chances actually went in.

Hleb was a constant hub of activity on the right hand side. Unfairly maligned by quite a few supporters for his reluctance to shoot, he is becoming a real creative dynamo. He holds on to the ball and more often than not makes an intelligent pass. I've said it before, but he really reminds me of Dennis sometimes - not in his scoring abilities [yet] but the way he always seems to be thinking when he's on the ball. Something always seems on the verge of happening with him, and very often does.

He was given too much time by the Charlton defence for RvP's first goal. He danced around enough to pull defenders towards him, before floating a perfect ball to RvP. Robin's finish was excellent, and at 1-1 I fancied us to win.

There are not enough superlatives in the dictionary for Robin's second. It was a stupidly good goal, the type you try when you're a kid in the playground and ends up in the road. Arsene got it right when he said it was technically perfect. A perfect goal, perhaps, already,the best of his career.

And after that we should have put the game to bed; but we fluffed our lines instead. Robin missed an easy chance for his hat-trick, while Thierry missed a fabulously easy chance when one on one with the keeper. Persistent tackling by Hleb gave Thierry the ball with only Carson to beat and, unusually for Thierry, he snatched at the opportunity.

So we then had to deal with a lot of Charlton pressure and three golden chances in particular. Jens pulled off a fantastic save low to his left to prevent an otherwise certain goal. At his present rate, he's pulling off on game-winning save a game. Then Willy hand-balled it in the box but a penalty wasn't given. I don't think he was fully fit yesterday but he's so good I want him in the team whenever possible at the moment. He's a real battler who can help us win games just by his presence. Finally Hasselbaink, who moaned all game, headed wide when he should have scored.

The headline might seem odd given his fantastic performance yesterday, but I really believe that this is the case. We've all known, since the Blackburn semi-final, that Robin is capable of scoring unbelievable goals - hence why he has a loyal fan club among many Arsenal fans. On his day he's as dangerous a striker as they come and its good to have a player in the team who's game is so focused on scoring goals. But, the worry remains that he isn't developing his wider game for us. For Holland, he gets to play on the wing, which, despite his desire for goal, he may actually prefer, and he seems to contribute more to the team. Unfortunately, I think he likes the spaces that Thierry occupies. When Robin's scoring, he's fulfilling his worth to the team and squad. Unfortunately, and unlike, say, Adebayor, or even Baptista in the flashes we've seen of him, when Robin isn't scoring, he often might as well not be on the pitch.

I think Arsene will give Robin another year to prove his worth to the squad. If he gets 15+ goals this year and isn't otherwise developing, he may get another year on top of this. But if Robin's game doesn't become more consistent or more productive in terms of his general team play, he may cash in and bank on one of Bendtner or Lupoli making it at Premiership level. Both are currently tearing up the Championship. Especially as I'm still not sure if Thierry likes playing with Robin.

Results elsewhere went for us yesterday, so, if we win our game in hand, we're only two points from the top. And our next home game is against Watford. Three good summer siginings, combined with a few youngsters and foreigners who have now adapted to the Premiership, have turned our squad into one that can genuinely compete for the title. Especially with Chelsea, Man U and Liverpool all looking fallible.