Van Persie, club skipper in the wake of Cesc Fabregas's exit to Barcelona, scored twice in a 3-0 home victory against Bolton Wanderers on Saturday - a win that helped steady the ship after the club's worst start to a Premier League campaign.
Despite that fillip there is still a long way to go before the doom-mongers disperse and anything short of victory on Wednesday against a club with an abysmal record in England would offer them more ammunition.
"Robin has matured from the boy who was a little bit emotionally impulsive when he arrived to the guy he is today," Wenger told Arsenal's website.
"It was difficult to predict but he is intelligent, he speaks his mind and you can talk to him as well. He takes advice and overall he has developed very well.
"I think he has a combination of leadership on the pitch. He is technically a super-talent, certainly, and you gain respect from the others. Now he has added the second part, that means speaking his mind."
"After the four goals against Blackburn we lost a little bit of confidence but we were very proud of our performance on Saturday," he said. "We want to go on with this way of defending."
"In the Champions League, you need 11 points to qualify [from the group stage] - that means you have to take nine at home and two or three away," Wenger said.
"We got an interesting point in Dortmund and we know after if we do well at home, then we will qualify."
Theo Walcott's expected recovery from a knock sustained against Bolton will be a major boost for Wenger who initially thought the England flyer had suffered a serious injury.
Ernesto Valverde's team had not played a competitive match before that game due to the fact their opening two Super League games were postponed as a result of a matc
