Nic Bendtner is no more than an impact substitute
I remember when Nic Bendtner went to Birmingham City a couple of years ago.
The notoriously demanding Blues fans lambasted him for a lack of effort and being wasteful in front of goal – and I took it with a pinch of salt.
After all, here is a full international at a young age with a lot of playing time ahead of him and a lot of experience to gain.
When he came back to Arsenal last season, though, I think a lot of us wondered what was wrong with him, because he never used to stay around after a game and applaud the fans or bond with his team-mates. It smacked of arrogance.
Ever since our Veteran, Samuel Mowbray, wrote about the failings of Bendtner, I’ve been keeping a closer eye on his appearances....
To be fair to him, he did well against Sheffield United, when everything fitted into place for the team.
When Bendtner comes off the bench, as he did against Kiev and Ch*vski, he brings energy and a new dimension to the team, taking advantage of tiring legs and helping to create threats.
Last season, late goals against Aston Villa and T*tt*nh*m underline the substitute impact he can make.
Apart from that? I disagree with those who said he had an outstanding performance against M*nure and don’t think he has shown anywhere near the potential or talent of Carlos Vela, who is some way behind him in terms of experience.
Bendtner had an early chance to give us the lead but never looked confident of taking it and was then put through soon after the home side had taken the lead, scuffing his chance once again. Missing two one-on-ones as an international striker against a second division goalkeeper is inexcusable.
Of course, some praise must go to Burnley keeper Brian Jensen but even our youngsters should not be losing to a side of Burnley’s pedigree.
Bendtner was one of the senior and most experienced players in our team, and if he is one of our top strikers, he shouldn’t be missing the chances he has done, such as the sitter at the end that Vela created for him.
Even Jay Simpson had more presence about him when he came on, and the fact that he is about to sign a new contract suggests Wenger may be re-thinking his opinion of our young forward who so impressed against Wigan.
He has something of an old-style centre forward about him and I hope he gets his chance again, perhaps on his return from a loan at Norwich which has been reported this morning.
Arsène Wenger talks of the Carling Cup as being a learning curve, as much for him as for the young players – and if he learnt one thing last night, it was that Bendtner simply is not good enough to start matches for the Arsenal.
And those pink boots suggest he thinks he is better than he is - no wonder reports have circulated today about his departure!
Our Mexican starlet has less experience but more talent, and who would you bet on to get us 20 goals a season at some time in the future? I know who my money is on and his first name isn’t Nic.
DA
Reader Comments (15)
yea hes fuckin shit..wasteman of the century..id score more goals than him..rela talk
*BENDTNER THINKS HE'S BETTER THAN HE IS!!! HIS ATTITUDE AND BODY LANGUAGE OF LATE HAS SHOWN,
*HE'S GETTING AHEAD OF HIMSELF! HE HAS NOW TAKEN THE ADEBAYOR SYNDROME AND NEEDS 5 CHANCES TO SCORE ONE GOAL.
*THE PINK BOOTS MKES HIM THINK HE'S EVEN MORE SPECIAL!
*HE'S NOT AN TYPICAL ARSENAL PLAYER AND WENGER NEEDS TO SELL HIM IN THE JAN WINDOWS FOR A NEW FOX IN THE BOX OR JST SWAP HIM FOR KENWYNE JONES (IN MY OPINION).
I agree, Bendtner is shocking. He loses the ball far too often, his first touch is non-existant and why does he always have to go away from goal every time he recieves the ball. In last nights game in the second half particularly, he lost the ball 99% of the time he had it. I say we have him of the bench until the end of the season and cash in!!!!!!!!!!
Bendtner is a good 4th choice striker. I'm happy with him in that respect. He's scored crucial goals and, regardless of what you say, works really hard. And he's shown some amazing touches of class, yesterday's flick to Randall, and so many through balls and great passes to Adebayor and RVP against Bolton, West Ham and Sunderland.
And as for Vela being more talented... most likely but they're completely different players. What could Vela have done alone up front against Man Utd and Aston Villa? Neither is a target man but Bendtner, whether you like it or not, has more of a physical presence and therefore would be more likely to succeed in a game like that than Vela ever could.
I was disappointed when he started ahead of simpson last night, and my disappointment was justified....he clearly thought he was too good to be playing in the carling cup side and his body language spoke volumes. Jay simpsons obvious enthusiasm for arsenal was clear in his energetic cameo last night, where as bendtner trudged around looking like he wanted to be anywhere else but on the pitch.
sorry nic......simply not good enough
i hate to knock any player in the red and white of the Arsenal,i never really thought much of bendtner when he was at birmingham,that appeard to be his level of football and given his age did well.he came back to the Gunners and must say was not impressed however i gave him a stay of execution when he scored the winner against tottering hotsh**s,but since he has been really poor when starting and was surprised when he got the shout against burnley another poor performance jay simpson must be gutted.........................good bye nic
He's not exactly pele is he.
I agree - unfortunateley Adeybayor and Walcott are the same - Arrogant, no control, more interested in their appearance, but effective off the bench.
I wanted to have a closer look on simpson the few minutes he came on made me yearn for more. Am sorry for Bendtner may be he had a bout of malaria that it ran down his legs and affected his muscle movements to such an extent that he could not control the ball.
Let me hope he will recover.
Nik's a good 4th choice striker - an Ole Gunnar Solskjaer if you will.
The main problem is with Adebayor, and RvP - despite the fact that they are both unbelievably naturally able, they have both got poor attitudes and so are inconsistent. Therefore our 4th choice needs to play more often than you'd like..
Walcott will eventually be a striker too - don't forget, and Eduardo is back soon.
If everyone is fit I think you'll get the most consistent return from Eduardo and Adebayor as a partnership. With RvP coming off the bench to unlock stubborn teams. I love Vela but he's not ready yet. If you're playing bullying teams, there's an argument for Bendtner AND Ade - with fast wingers - this would help with set pieces and still leave you with pace and guile up front - if only they weren't at loggerheads.
i disagree that vela couldnt play up front on his own as someone said
first of all its not like hes weak, hes actually extremely strong, and imposes himself more on defenders than bendtner ever has, eg, he almost injured the defender (and gallas) in the game against kiev in midweek
i was a little disappointed with him in that game, and it was a bit of a wake-up that he needs more experience but hes gna be a far better play than bendtner, far better than adebayor actually imo
as *for* bendtner i believe he has the talent to make it, dont see why him not being a typical arsenal player is such a bad thing, we need somthing different on occassion, also no ones counting that against jay simpson atm.
niklas really needs a change in attitude on the pitch, hes just so up and down its frustrating. Iv seen him have some great games, for instance when he was bullying a slightly weakend german defence for denmark, before hed even broken into arsenal, but also some terrible ones which everyone knows about
Bazza, I totally agree, wish people would wake up to that, especially about walcott
adebayor does work hard without the ball at least, but only on certain days
Bendtner is a substitution player not suppose to be in arsenal starting eleven either carling cup, FA cup or any other cup.
i am Bendtners biggest fan and i dont think he sjould be sold..yet. oK he aint consistent but what 21yr old is. if we were to sell him i wouldnt sell him to a premierleague team coz if he played against us he would tear us apart with his physicality. as for vela well he's good but he still has roo for improvement. lets get behind ALL the boys yh. please?
He took his chance very well. He successfully prevented the young guns from playing further in the carling cup and thus, they won't have chance to show that they are better than him. His place will be more secured for the time being. Good plan Bendtner!