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Louis van Gaal is not afraid of making the big decisions where Robin van Persie is concerned and now the biggest of the lot is almost upon us.

Two home matches against sides struggling for form are now on the calendar. Steve Bruce’s Hull City visit Old Trafford on Saturday. They have lost their last three matches and have only won two points in the last 15. They have slumped to 17th in the table.

Four days later and Mark Hughes will turn up with a Stoke City side who have fared only marginally better in recent weeks losing three out of five and putting just four points on the board from the last 15 available.

Two visitors low on confidence. Ideal for a striker to regain his confidence or perfect to blood a rookie hitman?

Does Van Gaal stick or twist?

The feeling is beginning to shift that the Dutch boss should be playing some different cards.

When Van Gaal was named as David Moyes’ successor it appeared that it was Van Persie’s dream appointment.

The working relationship the pair had with Holland’s national side was likened to a father-son bond. Well if that is the case the Dad is displaying some tough love.

Was there anything more telling than sacrificing a 31-year-old former Golden Boot winner and your World Cup captain for a 18-year-old in James Wilson with nine minutes still to go in a tight Manchester derby against City at the beginning of the month.

If that wasn’t something of an embarrassment and a pointed message about Van Persie then what about last Saturday at the Emirates against Arsenal?

Against his old club and in front of former fans who were desperate for any humiliation that could be piled on the player who turned his back on them in 2012 for United, Van Gaal gave the baying hoards just what they wanted.

With 15 minutes to go he gave him the shepherd’s crook and subjected Van Persie to a walk of shame in front of the best part of 60,000 people enjoying every delicious moment of retribution from their viewpoint.

The United boss piled on the agony by informing the media afterwards that Wilson was introduced to provide pace.

Van Persie has not been blessed with pace since a number of injuries he sustained at Arsenal caught up with him but it was still a moment you would never have imagined when the two Dutchman palled up again at Old Trafford.

To further rub salt in RVP’s wounds stats then emerged that his meagre 13 touches against Arsenal in United’s 2-1 win was the worst registered by a United player for more than a decade and the fewest by any Premier League player this season.

Former United player and MUTV co-commentator Paddy Crerand did come to Van Persie’s aid in his talk show saying, “Who had the ball all of the first half? It certainly wasn’t United. If you are a striker you are dependent on other people getting the ball up to you.

“Look at the facts and figures in any football match and see how often the striker is involved in the game. A striker isn’t always involved because there are loads of times in the game that you have to defend. It is not as if United were attacking for 90 minutes and Robin only had one or two shots.

“If a striker was given 100 shots at goal then you would score 50 of them at least but we didn’t have much of the possession.

“Saturday was a big confidence booster for the team and in the next match everybody should be more involved. When you get the whole of the team more involved then the strikers will get more involved and they will have more shots and more chances.

“Robin can play better. There is no question about that but when the team gets better it will help.”

However, Crerand recognised the spectre of Wilson is growing. The Reds Academy product has been hailed as a “brilliant prospect” by Van Gaal’s assistant Ryan Giggs, who gave him his debut last May against Saturday’s opponents Hull as interim boss and was rewarded with two goals.

“The problem for Robin and the rest is the kid James Wilson. He is going to put pressure on them all. I expect Radamel Falcao to score goals but everything is up for grabs.”

Van Persie certainly cannot complain that he has not had his chances in term’s of team selection because he has not missed a Premier League game since the opening day of the season as he worked his way back following the his post-World Cup break.

His start under Van Gaal has reaped just three goals from 10 league matches compared to eight out of ten in his first Reds season for Sir Alex Ferguson and even seven out of ten for David Moyes!

The moment of truth is looming.