OK, so as there is once against precisely feck all going on – not entirely a bad thing I might add – I thought I’d turn my attention to a player who is dividing opinion amongst Arsenal fans at the moment. You guessed it; Nicklas Bendtner.
In the couple of years I’ve been writing this blog I don’t think I’ve seen as much animosity be directed at an Arsenal player by out own fans. I’ll admit that Emmanuel Adebayor has copped his fair share, as did Alex Hleb and fall-guy Philippe Senderos before their moves and of course recently-demoted captain William Gallas. But nothing has come close to the stinging criticism that Bendtner receives after almost every match he plays.
Now I will readily admit that Bendtner has been struggling a little bit of late. He missed a few clear opportunities against Burnley midweek and didn’t exactly cover himself in glory when first-choice pair Robin van Persie and Adebayor were unavailable. I can understand that his confidence bordering on arrogance and his almost smug body language – apparently fairly typical Scandinavian behaviour, I might add – can grate, but does that mean he should be written off as a player or a person? I say ‘no’.
After all, the guy is 20 years old, 6’5 and has a confidence in his own ability that many players would love to have. He acts like a world-beater on the pitch and although his skills and ability can’t back that up just yet I feel that given time that’s exactly what he’s going to be.
Once he can raise his game to match his level of confidence then I feel we’ll have a player of almost Zlatan Imbrahimovic-like quality. I’m not suggesting that he will be able to do with a football the things that Ibrahimovic can but merely indicating that I feel he has the potential to be just as effective a player.
I realise that this is a highly-conjecturable statement but in time I think it will be proven correct.
The previous criticism I’ve heard (expletives excluded) aimed at Bendtner include; he’s too slow; he has a poor first touch; he’s over-confident; he can’t finish; he’s not strong on the ball; and he’s not a team player.
But in my eyes he’s not that slow for a 6’5 player; his first touch can be excellent when he’s in form; his extreme confidence makes him a dangerous player; his strength on the ball will only improve as he is taught how to use his body; and he’s far more of team player than van Persie. I realise that these are overly-simplistic positive comparisons but in my eyes they contain some merit.
I think it’s important to remember that Arsene Wenger clearly sees something in Bendtner as a long-term player at this club. It’s the reason why he is getting so much game-time and why the manager is persisting with him so consistently. Wenger has a pretty good record with bringing through strikers and I think in time Bendtner will pay back the faith that the manager has put in him.
So as a final thought I’d encourage you to do what I’ve done and stop worrying and love the Bendtner. Dr Wenger knows what he’s doing and you’ll see that soon enough.
Anyway I’ve said enough. Let the onslaught begin!
Have your say on Nicklas Bendtner by leaving a comment.
r u on the wacky baccy
Agree!
He’s defo smoking something
by your way of looking at it
hes really crap
all he has to do is be really good
Vela younger and better in every way sorry hes not 6.5
and if it height u want i prefer diaby
please do a new page on how good Denilson is your insight is God like
Thank you for some intelligent insight at last. Poor Nic has been targetted as he hasn’t produced at a time when we’ve been in desperate need of some goals.
It’s not his fault all the rest of the team are lacking in confidence.
If he was 20 at the time of the “invincibles”, we’d be saying how in a couple of years he is going to be a great stiker. What’s different today?
At 20 I knew nothing! (Still don’t come would say). At 24, Nic will be a great striker, mark my words.
Yes you may be right that he may turn out to be a topclass striker if he keeps improving and given time to mature. For how long do you think ? Arsenal wouldn’t have the time to nuture slow learner and if he is as good as he think himself is he should be topclass now. At 20 years old he is not that young. Cesc is topclass at 17 years, so is Pele, Cruyff, Rooney, Ronaldo and many many others. Watch out for Ramsay and Wilshere these two will prove to Bendtner that 20 years is too old !
I think,Bendtner unlike others,has no role model in football .Surprising!!!!!
he is far from my expectation as an Arsenal player. He has been given more than enough chances to play and he can’t convince me he deserves to stay as a regular 1st team starter. He just doesn’t fit into our system with his skill.
I agree with SF. Cut the boy some slack, he scored alot of important goals for us in the past and he is 10 times the player Ade was when he was his age. Just give him some time to work on his game
Love the title!!
I have been critical but in the end I trust Wenger 100%… I personally feel like Vela could have been a better choice in a few of those matches but Arsene knows what he is doing…
Even though I agree that Niklas has some obvious skills, his lack of commitmnent or even interest of being involved in the game was blatant for all to see. Arsene must see some long term plans for him to be involved in which could only be rewarded if Bendter puts in 100% commitment each time he is picked & not take it for granted. Wearing the Arsenal jersey should be an honour not an asumption. He has scored some important goals & made some great performances in some higher profile games. His consistency needs to improve. There is no doubt he believes in himself but hasn’t yet scored 20 odd goals a season to prove his worth. Time will tell which path he will go under the eyes of Le Boss, he couldn’t have a better teacher to guide him.
Sorry, I think he is rubbish (by our standards) he has enough chances, move him on and buy some one who can score fom one on ones !!
Maybe in the future he will be a great player, but it seems you agree that he isn’t yet. So the frustration is due to the fact that Arsene picks him when he has Vela/ Walcott who can play that position. Both are ready and desperate for a chance to show what they have got as forwards.
I think we should give him time, as he will improve. However, for the moment I would prefer his role to be as a ‘super-sub’, thrown on at the 60 minute mark when we are one down to use his height and allow the players the ‘long ball’ option.
Anyway, RvP and Ade are back now, with Eduardo on the mend. Therefore, I have a feeling we may not see much more of your man this season.
Let’s hope that next time we do, he’ll make Zlatan look like Glen Helder.
We would not win any trophy with Bentner, Densilon and Silvestre regularly in the first 11. These players are third choices calibre.
jay simpson the other night made me realise. Arsenals biggest problem over the last few seasons has been our wingers.
pires and ljunberg where amazing players and both match winners. they both where very fast and could score out of nothing especially pires. nasri is a player i love and will be world class, but he slows play down and doesnt track back ( being a little harsh i know).
nasri is two times as good on the right flank , the position he was bought to occupy then the left . rosicky is a player we miss. he is practically are best and most experienced midfielder. we seriously miss the goals our wingers created. we need a winger like jay simpson someone fast and powerful with a big build. he looked terrifying running down the wing.
In january do we need any strikers ? no way? i expect simpson and vela to go out on loan with eduardos recovery. do we need any wingers? debatable its a 50/50 but on the whole if rosicky is back and fit before january then no. do we need a defender? no. do we need a central midfielder to defend ? yes. imagine our team with someone like mashcerno or de rossi!
yep…i agree with your attitude on bendtner, but as to the “dr.”….i don’t think so buddy….actualy he may know what he is doing but i feel that he is not meeting the tagets he set with his poor assumptions….that’s it …and i know bendtner will be a great striker…i am 100% sure, and that’s why clubs like milan are sniffin’ around
We have kept a clean sheet in 7 of the 9 games Johan Djourou has started this season and won one of the other two.
Games started (i.e. ignoring sub appearances):
FC Twente (A) CL 2-0
WBA (H) FAPL 1-0
FC Twente (H) CL 4-0
Sheffield U (H) CC 6-0
Fernebache (H) CL 0-0
Wigan A (H) CC 3-0
Dynamo Kiev (H) CL 1-0
Other games started:
Chelsea (A) FAPL 2-1
Man City (A) FAPL 0-3
Bearing in mind the whole team was rubbish against Man City my point is having a tall, mobile central defender brings the best out of our remaining defensive players. Not suggesting Djourou is a long term solution just that it makes it obvious the sort of player we need at the back. Given that no-one can be signed until January (and even then not sure of the wisdom of buying in January) I suggest he is given a run… mistakes and all… because he’s certainly no worse than the others we’ve got.
Nope not smoking anything. Bit of a wild headline though I must admit.
Bendtner = not good enough for Arsenal
wah wah wah hes only 20
“if theyre good enough theyre old enough” A Wenger,
too bad hes not good enough
could forgive his lack of first touch & finishing but hes got no team work
hes got nothing hope we sell him and get Kalou
Very bullish about Djourou .Bendtner im afraid is a big NO NO. If only he was half as good as he thinks he is.
he may be ok for our reserves but stay the hell out of our first team
loan him out some more
as some have said before ‘as good as he thinks he is.’
you have to be like as good as original Ronaldo to pull off pink boots (even then risky)
Pink boots! What a jerk!
Totally agree with simba about Djorou…I wouldn’t read too much into the stats but I think he offers our defence that little bit of something else that we don’t have when two from Gallas, Silvestre and Toure are paired up.
I also agree with Spanish and his comments about Bendtner. Come on guys he is an Arsenal player and wants to succeed at the club. I feel sorry for him when he scores and players seem to force celebrating with him. We’re all in this together. It wasn’t that long ago that he won the North London derby for us with his first touch – one of the biggest jumps I’ve seen on a football pitch and powerful header to go with it. He is inconsistent and his touch lets him down a lot but I’m absolutely certain that there are a lot of top flight managers would love to have him as an option in their squad. We should appreciate that we have a young talent at our club who could be a very powerful CF in the years to come.
TDP he was unmarked
players dont want to celebrate with him coz hes not a team player
“lot of top flight managers would love to have him as an option in their squad”
then sell this liability
And for those who still think AW should be sack, answer me this. Do you think another manager is going to get more out of some of those players? Do you think the frugal board is going to starve wenger of cash, hang him, get a new manager, in and then throw 100m at him for players? Wake up. We’re not man city. I’ll agree AW has made mistakes, but his hands are tied. I think Peter Hillwood is full of crap to be honest. His own failure is patience. Eboue, Bentdner, Diaby, Denilson….they have too many chance and dont seem fazed by repeatly failing to make the grade unless we’re a few goals up….some of the younger players vela etc couldn’t do any worse. So its time to get lazy players of the holes and start working for the place in the team, and there by default becvause we don’t have anyone. I know the youngsters aren’t world class players but whats the point in them not getting a first team game again until the carling cup next year when the ‘stars’ are stale. Bendtner’s pink boots says it all, he’s more concerned of how he looks on the pitch, rather than what he does on it and he is not the only one.
I like this comment from James Syme, Highbury, London in the Football365 mailbox:
“I like Nicky Bendtner. I like him because he is unpleasant. I like his aggression and desire for the ball, even if it doesn’t often come off. I like that, when he loses the ball, he would rather go in with studs than pout, strop, shrug or whinge. I like that he doesn’t care what people think. I like that he celebrates his goals by ripping his shirt off and pounding his chest rather than with some carefully rehearsed dance. He makes me both understand what Chelsea fans see in John Terry and remember what we used to see in Ian Wright.
I forgive him his naivety both on and off the pitch, because he is 20 years old. He is not as good as Adebayor, because Adebayor is 25 years old and has had hundreds of games at the top level. That naivety, though, doesn’t extend to headbutting team-mates, sitting down during a game or humiliatingly bad diving. When he gets caught by an opponent, he just gets up again instead of needing a kiss-it-better from the physio. He, alone in the squad, has the toughness, courage and aggression that English football demands.
I particularly like him because, when we were creaking at home to Spurs last season, the score 1-1 and them having just missed a penalty, he came on for a corner and then proceeded to shove man-beast Tom Huddlestone away, leap in the air and bullet the ball into the Spurs net. The winning goal in the North London derby with his first touch of the game, while still a teenager.”
Kis R – I can see your point but I genuinly believe he can be useful as a squad option as he showed against Spurs last season. I’ve been shouting at the screen watching him just as much as anyone else; he has been very poor for much of this season granted, but he won’t be a starting player while Ade is around. If we are willing to accept the inconsistencies of the likes of Walcott and Nasri then surely we should give Niklas the same treatment. He shouldn’t have had to play as much as he has done this season, but he can only get better.
Nicolas needs to gain a better first touch – If Eduardo had been fit this season, we would have have been better off points wise.
However, he is only 20 so we have to remember that. Wenger must see something. Thats what im clinging onto anyway!!
Must say though, how many chances did he want against Burnley!
eboue doing way better this year than last year – diabys always helped the team more than hindered
everything else i totally agree
We should all know better. Getting on his back isnt going to make the ball hit the target. Look back at Theo when he first came on his touch wasn’t great and he chose the wrong pass but we cheered and sang his name. Why? Because it gave him confidence and we wanted him to suceed. Why should we not do the same for Nick? Is it because his not from this country? Confidence is a great thing, it worked for Theo, why not Nick. We should get behind him. Yes he’s got the swagger etc etc but he can do a job for us we just need to help him. Thats what supporters do isn’t help their team, not hinder.
I was at the Tottenham game where he saved us and it was a great moment, but I feel it only backs up my original comment about his best use right now being as a ‘super-sub’.
To go slightly off-topic, I totally agree with ‘realist’ above that the wing is the key to a succesful modern Arsenal team. I believe that when Rosicknote returns, the idea of him and Nasri on the flanks with Walcott being another option will actually lift our game to a new level. I really hope he is the player he was and that he can recover fully.
If needs time to grow he should be sent out on loan. He isnt good enought atm. And we cannot rely on him for goals. However he scored v Kiev and I forgot all about his previous games and thanked him but v Burnley he did 1 piece of class and then missed 3 1-on-1s and that is not world class.
SF – U no a lot of people are gonna agree with you, but then a lot of people are not. You may have hit the nerve in the squad.
he is absolutely appalling in my opinion. infact, i’d rate him in the same league as Eboue! I would rather watch one of the youngsters struggle in the first team than watch bendtner, simpson would addapt much quicker and prove to be a better option all round.
im actually going to go one step further and suggest that Wenger should get shut of Eboue, Bendtner, Walcott and Denilson. Then bring in some experienced replacements, and give the likes of simpson, ramsey, wishere some much deserved first team football.
Spanish Fry…i must admit i have lost a little bit of respect in your footballing opinion.
What on earth are you on saying Betnder has the potential to be as effective as Zlatan.
His CRAP.
Yes his young and his 20…but his not a player you want in your side if you are aspiring to win big trophies.
Yes he can have a good touch now and then but what do you expect his a professional footballer. They are ment to have good touches. And his are shit 60percent of the time. And when his against good defenders his got nothing.
Yeah he can work hard. But he has to cause his not that good. His finishing is average.
Sorry man i think you got this one all wrong. get off the crack
it will be better if wenger can sell him and replace him wit experience strikers likes martins,yakubu and santacruz
loan him out 2 a club like westbrom and replaced him wit another worldclass striker and if he wishes 2 stay he need 2 work wit his first touch and must learn hw 2 b clinical
I for one will defend my countryman.I believe that Bendtner will come good allthough he is wasting as many chances as Aliadiere used to at the moment but apart from Anelka and Henry who used to bang them in all the time, they all miss big big chances.Ade,Van Persie etc.Remember how frustrated we all were with Van Persie during Fenerbahce at home some even called for him to be sold and then he scored two against Chelski.It would be a big mistake for Wenger to sell Bendtner,remember he is only 20 not even Henry were an accomplished striker at that age.
Decent header of the ball and some nice upper body control but the rest of the package is worthless. Useless defensively, 60% of passes go astray, slow in the feet and even slower in the mind (like Denilson). Send back to Birmingham where he belongs.
@ Spanish- you’ll not be surprised to read that I totally disagree with your opinion on the dodgy dane. You are right that at 20, he’s young. But this is the 3rd season we’ve seen him playing for the first team and I’m afraid I don’t really see any improvement. His first touch hasn’t improved at all, nor has his ability to hold up play or shield the ball with his body. You mention about him taking time learning to do this, but this is quite a basic and fundamental skill for a striker, and one that most gifted players can grasp pretty early on. With his physical size it should not be difficult to shield the ball. OK, learning to read the game, time your runs and learning to draw defenders and create space are more complex and will only improve with experience, but he simply hasn’t got the basics. A good first touch is largely something you’ve either got or you haven’t. Being able to control a ball played to you at pace is gard enough- it’s doing it when under pressure by one or more defenders, or doing it when running at pace yourself that marks out the best players. Bendtner can’t control the ball when he’s stationary and on his own, that’s the worry. He’s baan at Arsenal long enough now to know not to make runs directly into the space that supporting players are heading for- usually out wide, but it’s something he continues to do regularly. It has been reported more than once that his arrogance and over-self confidence have caused friction in the camp. This may or may not be true, but it’s a fact that he and Ade aren’t on each other’s Christmas card list. You might be right about him getting better eventually, though I really doubt it- let’s have this same conversation in 2 years time. Perhaps my real problem is the fact that Wenger has him learning his trade in vitally important first team games. I wouldn’t mind seeing him running round like a headless chicken in Carling Cup games or CL games when we’ve already qualified, or even coming on for 20 mins if we’re 3 up, The problem is, we’re relying on him to keep our season going and he has palpably failed to deliver time and time again. Perhaps it’s Mr Wenger I need to moan about, not the hapless Dane.
I may have been the first to have said that Bendtner isnt good enough to be part of the Gunners squad, Honestly he is not good.I think all of us as well as myself really react emotionnaly based on all of those late results(including our defeat agst burnley).I think the case of Song and Bendtner are the same at the moment.They both need more match plays, and they arent just the right players for Arsenal’s current situation.But the comment of that guy here about Flamini the other day when I criticised Song so much, were actually right, and reminded me a lot of things.Flamini were also very slow when he started as well as our FAB-ULOUS Captain and I even used to scream at them on my TV screen everytime they loose the ball.I think Flamini and Fab were just lucky during the time they started at the Emirates as they were surrounded by the likes of Viera, Henry, Toure,Pires etc….And people couldnt really pay much attention on their mistakes, but look after 2 years, by the 2005 season both players have become the heartbeat of the gunners.I personnaly think that after these Looong years of coaching, AW is not a fool on his judgement concernin every players that he wants to be of his squad.There must be some qualities in Bendtner that we dont know and I think Time will defntly tell us more.Ofcourse He s just 20, he wears a pink boots like chiks, lazy on the pitch and misses a lot of opportunities like yestday agst burnley but nobody can tell us what s really in his guts and what has he restored for us in the next 1 or 2 years.He is tall which is very important for any strikers nowadays and he always wants the ball which means a lot of confidence, so may be thats the reason why AW keeps him there.Who knows??? and thats already good for a 20 yrs old plyrs. He is just not good enough for our situation right now, according to me, AW shouldnt even play him from now on,excpet during an already won game, last 10 minutes!!!!??? Why not??? and I think that he deserves to get some match plays when we play agst small team as he has also saved us in many crucial games.All of you really know what would have happened to Arsenal if he didnt score the late goal agst kiev.So please guyz lets just stop talking sh**t about the guy, all the injured players has now recovered and all of you know that AW would never play Pinky instead of Ade or RVP.
As a Birmingham City fan who rather enjoyed the splendid talents of Nicklas Bendtner on loan two seasons ago, I must admit feeling a little saddened by both his current plight and also those who are lining up to fire volleys of reactionary ignorance. I can surmise that the likes of Pete Andersen doesn’t watch very much football, or at least watch football outside of the narcoleptics convention they call The Emirates, because the Bendtner he bemoans in ten steps is as far a cry from the one we saw at St. Andrew’s as William Gallas is from being a high-functioning adult male of the species.
Bendter was superb for Blues, the best player in the division by a long stretch. He had outstanding one-touch control, was great both on the floor and in the air, could shoot with both feet, manipulated the ball like mercury and possessed a weight of pass not incomparable with a young Denis Bergkamp. He’s an arrogant son-of-a-gun, and he did alienate our support onoccasion with his attitude. If you possess the emotional maturity not to be offended by the moronic posturing of young multi-millionaires, however, and judge them purely on their ability to play the game, then it was clear that Bendtner improved our team by roughly 407%.
What’s happened between then and now I’m not sure. Perhaps we at Birmingham have bred all of this goodness out of him by transplanting him from the’hole’ in which he seemed most comfortable, putting him back-to-goal and making him pluck impossible balls out of the air for 80-odd minutes a week. Perhaps we’ve misled Arsenal into thinking that he’s merely a piece of meat with eyes to win those flick-ons so despised by their acolytes, rather than a player with the kind of nascent ability to find space that can’t really be taught.
Perhaps enduring a season’s worth of turgid hoofball has stunted his growth irreparably. Either way, Gooners will rejoice as one (raising the mutest of whispers) to learn that they can blame those scoundrels at St.Andrew’s for ruining their season once again.
Mean, nasty Birmingham.
But I digress. I’ll admit that some of the accusations levelled at him do ring true. No, he doesn’t have a trace of confidence right now. He can be selfish, although this is a characteristic often desirable in a forward. His pink boots are, quite frankly, embarrassing. But he more than any other appears to be both scapegoat for and embodiment of Arsenal’s stuttering run, and is nothing like the talentless hod-carrier that some of their spoilt support appear to have mistaken him for. If Wenger can make a footballer out of the lump of clay which became Emmanuel Adebayor, then there’s no reason to discard Bendtner so soon.
Unless it’s to us, of course, in which case go right ahead. January is fine by me.
Where’s ur comment Taygoon??
We just have to remember that our 5 consecutive defeats were not totaly caused by pinky, ofcourse there were times that he was really lazy (or may be closedown by defenders??? dont know!!)when we played agst 1 or 2 smaller teams but the real cause of our defeats is pure and simply the LACK OF A STRONG DEFENSIVE MIDFIELDER.
@ SF – Im in the middle of making my own blog. Its exciting stuff but still a little hard because I cant everything how I want it. Can you give me some tips??
Question not relating to this discussion directly… If we sign a CB (like we should) does that mean either Gallas or Toure are gone? I would assume neither one of them want to stay on the bench most of the time… Who would leave?
Spanish-
Just wondering why you think RVP is not a team player? I have heard this comment from some Arsnal fans as well as some Dutch National fans. Every interview I read/hear RVP is always going back to the team and he seems to pass/link/ and celebrate w/ other players? What makes him less of a teammate than Bendtner??
Timo Hildebrand is officially a free agent. Great leadership, commanding in the air, great shot stopper- I would love if Arsene picked him up in January.
Brumfan said it all with this…
“If Wenger can make a footballer out of the lump of clay which became Emmanuel Adebayor, then there’s no reason to discard Bendtner so soon.”
Did anyone honestly think Ade had the goods to be a starter for us when he was 20 years old and still at Monaco?
I’m also sick of everyone crying for Vela. He’s got bags of talent but is even younger and less experienced than Nik. There’s a reason he hasn’t seen much time in the EPL. Vela didn’t exactly tear it up either in the latest CC match.
Wenger can find AND develop talent. Unfortunately he’s a bit stubborn and arrogant and can’t quite see when his side could use some more experience and depth.
Hate to break it to you but every young player can’t and won’t be a Cesc Fabregas.
Fabregas: My future belongs at Arsenal FC
– Captain rubbishes reports linking him with a move to Milan.
http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/fabregas-my-future-belongs-at-arsenal-fc
God, I love our new captain 🙂
Toure, Djourou and Eboue are available for Wigan but Galls is not. Also Eduardo’s return seems imminent. “As soon as possible he will play now,” confirmed Wenger. “He is joining in full training matches but he needs games now.”
@Radads RSA; I was going through the comments before posting mine and I came across yours. I live in the US so I am always late to read this blog. In weekdays, i have to get some work done in the office before taking a break and read some news. My response to you is that you are wrong about Bendtner, but before I say why, I would like to pay some tributes to a good post and outlook by Spanish Fry. You always do a good job (that is why I keep coming back), so I have always found it unnecessary to say it everyday, But today is different. Good Post.
Also, @ brumfan; You are right about the talent that is Nicklas Bendtner, but dead wrong that he has not improved. He is twice the player he was when @ Brums.
I have been involved with the technical aspect of the game from when I could walk. Being a son of a highly technical coach, my dad would always take me to his sessions and even involve me in some drills that a 4 or 5 yo could do and I had the benefit of him explaining the stuff in detail on our walk/drive home. I have coached/trained players myself as a player/coach/trainer. When it comes to runs, distribution, and ball handling, I tend to see them in a different light so-to-speek ,as they were my primary focus.
Now, after saying that, Bendtner is a very good player. The tail-end of Last season saw Bendtner and Denilson learn and adapt to new facets of their games. RVP has been going through the same transformation Bendtner is going through now, beginning at the start of last season and is just struggling to put finishing touches to it after he came back from injury. His Player of the month for November will unleash a monster that is the Best striker in the EPL. WORLD YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED. Denilson’s transformation is almost complete. But since this is about big Nick, let’s talk about big Nick.
As a Center Forward, his options were limited due to Adebayor being favored last season. As a CF, being a burly, arrogant, selfish served him well. But he had to learn to be a supporting cast(same as RVP) and this new role means being more of a team player, more running and less selfish. Having been used to people working for him to score, he now has to work for others to score. It takes time to learn and adjust to and more mental effort put into it since it isn’t natural to him. More mental efforts spent on adjusting takes away from available mental resources to do other things and the more he concentrates the less sharp he looks. That is why his touch seems to have deserted him. When faced with a scoring opportunity, he now has to think about a possible team mate who might be in a better position(as all support casts do) and that takes a few seconds away from him. Case in point is the ball to Denilson in the chavski game. The old Bendtner would have tried to take on the shot himself and probably could have beat the defender for a shot, but the new Bendtner had to look for someone open and pass the ball. It is true that good strikers should take these kind of situations in their strides, but in Nick’s case he just started learning the stuff this season with very limited opportunities and a hoard of “ungrateful” fans on his back which put more pressure on him, which further steals a few seconds from him. Just like the Walcott situation, laying off his back will allow him to do well. I have seen Ibrahimovich, and technically Bendtner could surpass Ibrahimovich by a country mile in a very short time period. We would be World Class Idiots to let him go.
I like the look of Vela with only one reservation. He could use some time on the left wing to get used to the EPL. The problem there is it seems AW does not want to show us the candy lest we want it more while he has immediate problems with Nasri, Diaby and Rosicky on that side. When fit, I would have Rosicky over Nasri anytime. Since Vela is a newbie, he can wait a bit more patiently for his chance. I doubt if Adebayor will stay for 3 more seasons with us and I think he will be surplus by the end of next season. Vela can bide his time for that long. For a team, as we have seen with Gallas and Cescs’ appointments as captains, can either demoralise or galvanise the side, so some decisions are made to keep the harmony of the side and not see 2 or 3 good players wanting to leave. I could see Flamini and Hleb leaving as early as December last year (I posted a comment about it and got a lot of criticism) because of other things including “morale”. When Gallas was confirmed as Captain for this season(before the season) I commented that this will be his last season with us. (time will tell). The acquisition of Sylvester is a very good one for the reason that it allow us to have a reasonable backup and get Senderos(our best defender) a break from the same “ungratefull” fans for some time. Since everyone is usually crying for good players from other teams(you don’t have to look far, if you have ever said “we should buy this player, or that player, I am talking about you), allowing Senderos quality expressed somewhere else, would leave us(you) saying “we should get Senderos back”. It is happening already, I guess it is a case of you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone, crap. Some do (AW)
@ TayGoon – I still dont want Senderos back! I still think he crap! But Niklas can come good, its just fans expect straight away because you play for arsenal, they dont think any players learns any new skills and it may take time to learn it.
@ jay-jay; In time, man. He hasn’t exactly had the chances at Milan to change a lot of people’s minds. But some are retrospectively looking at his previous performances now that he is not here and realize that he wasn’t bad.
I wouldnt swap anybody for Sanderos,i still wonder why in the world did they send him on loan???he is one of the best.
Fry, Dr Wenger DOESNT always know what he’s doing, thats what some of you need to get through your heads.
Did he know what he was doing with Cygan? Or with Senderos? Wenger always has one player in the squad that is horrible, that makes you wonder how they are even pro footballers. We got rid of Cygan and Senderos (hopefully Senderos for good) but now we have Bendtner.. All this he’s only 20 talk is complete rubbish!!!!! Walcott at 16 looks better then Bendtner at 20. Vela even looks better. It doesn’t matter about age unless we are talking about experience. It comes down to potential.. does Bendtner have the potential to be a world beater… the answer is no. As i have said before many times.. he is nothing more then another Jérémie Aliadière. I don’t even think Bendtner will be at the club within 2 years. He may even be sold in January if reports here are right that Wenger wants Giovinco. Besides, when Eduardo gets back, that muppet will never see any first team football anyways, unless Ade and RVP get hurt.
@ Taygoon – Senderos hasnt had the chances becuase he is shit. AC dont want to start him in the Serie A because to be a defender in the Serie A, you actually have to DEFEND!! Something he cannot do. I wouldnt mind him being an Arsenal ball boy, but thats as far as his career should go.
@ Demetrio – Agree about Senderos 100%
@TAYGOON,I just wanna refresh and make the point on your last comment about mine from the last blog topic.Nobody here my friend is trying to differ themself from the world opinion.I beleive the point of this blog is for all Arsenal fans to express their own opinion based upon what they think and know about the team.I used to write a lot about this “Arsenal must sign new players etc…GK,CB”,exctly the same as you guys think.This isnt repeating what the others have said, its actually analysing what others have said and trying to get what is the message that they want to transmit to you (Talkin abt AW).He is not preparing to sign any more players, thats what AW wants to tell you when he talks about the economic crisis.All you have to do is to figure out if hes actually right or wrong?? And what Ive concluded is:HE IS DAMN RIGHT!!!.This is what Ive written in my comment bcoz thats wht I personnaly think and have been always thinking.There is no stunt there my friend or any such.The biggets pbm in our squad is CDM,Denilson and Song’s job to be taken over by another strong player, and we already have lots of players who can do that.WHY SHOULD WE HAVE TO SPEND MORE MONEY TO SIGN NEW ONES AGAIN??? every club must try their best now to keep as much as cash money they can, to be safe from this crisis.You do know more than myself that the team is practically ok.Eboue will be back very soon, the full back is even overcrowded (This is where we have the option of our CDM)after the discovery of Djourou, Toure will be back very soon, Walcott is our only limping side, as its hard to replace him coz of his fast run but he will also be back before February and Eboue can do the job (Really miss him with his creative run),So tell me where would you fit a new players there apart from Almunia?And i also think that he is not really that bad as everybody think he is.And you must know my friend that all of these things has not been heard, I actually watched the interview myself, read the club’s website daily, and have the personnal biography of Mr Arsene Wenger.So these are not rumours, or repeating what others have said or stunting my comment by trying to differ myself.These are the result of my analysis and thats what I write.You may have failed to have this conclusion thts why you criticise those who do.
Back to Bendtner, You are actually saying exactly the same I did say abt him so Why did you mention i was wrong?? or may be you want to differ yourself.You cannot say Pinky is good now,I beleive you did watch the game agst Burnley, how many front goals did he miss? and he was all alone right in front of the beast and a gohst.He isnt a crap but he isnt good either for now and not good enough to save arsenal, but he s got brilliant future.This is what ive said.
Ouch!! So much love(NOT) for Bendtner and Senderos me-senses from Jay-jay and Demetrio. LOL
@Demetrio, You VE GOT IT ALL WRONG MY FRIEND.Sanderos is one of the best,its just different football thats why him and flamini struggle to accomodate themself into the game, even Morinho said thais.Besides, To defend in the Serie A isn that hard as defending in the 1er league, This is the best and the toughest league in the world my friend,and this is where sanderos belong. serie A cannot even challenge with La liga if you look at football quality.Ofcourse the 2 san siro teams are good but not really that good as our 5 first team.Portsmouth # Acmilan was 2-2.Where does Portsmouth rank in the 1er league? juvntus is crap they only have del pierro as striker.i woudnt even swap Zaki (Wigan) with abramovic, I think that guy is overrated.
point 2- If you say he performs for his country. Well that striker who plays for Ireland also performs for his country (healy ?) and his also crap.
Bendtner is the type of player you would see play for west ham.
If your not a world beater at 20 then you wont become one. Especially if your shit.
Ronaldo and all you other negative cunts piss off and support another team. It’s tiresome to have rainy-day fans like you jumping on our players’ backs and looking for someone to blame every time results don’t go our way. Clearly all of you sitting on your thumbs know better than the manager who’s been doing his job to great success for decades? Even if a player’s not doing so well at the moment, no matter what as long as he’s wearing our jersey he should have our support, instead of conveniently writing him off as ‘shit’ or ‘crap’. Bendtner might not have had his best game but he did set up chances for the rest as well – and even Vela, Randall and Merida fluffed their chances but should we start asking them to pack up and leave as well? Tossers
@ TayGoon – I am sticking with you about Senderos. Big Nick is ok in one game and then very poor in the next. The thing about Big Nick is when he is poor he is really poor. He is young though, it took Song a while to get into the side and he shouldnt be playing as a reliable striker but a striker who is still developing.
this is going to be a long one. Hang on and might be worth a read…..
@ Radads RSA;
I think you missed my point on that post. Here it is in a nutshell;
1. If I aggree with what you have said, i will say “I agree with Radads RSA on …” and THEN may proceed to say WHY I do, and especially when the aggreement is not 100% I feel I have to say why the difference.
2. Saying someone is just “not good enough” is very vague and generalistic in scope it does not add extra knowledge/enlightenment to the reader who has also read it some else. I am not saying that, saying “not good enough” is bad, just that it doesn’t offer the additional insight that we all crave from reading others’ opinions.
3. It is OK to have a different oppinion to everyone who has ever lived in my book(in fact the world would be more interesting if that was the case). It just would be a tad more helpfull to describe/explain the idea otherwise people may not understand it and think you are from Neptune.
On Bendtner; I didn’t get to watch the whole game. I was in and out of meetings but saw the highlights. Even C.Ronaldo or Kaka have one of those days. It wasn’t his best performance, but if you go back to what I had mentioned in my first post of today, he has been learning a new role as a support striker. He wasn’t sharp on the day and a cummulative effects of losing a few seconds here or there decifering what role he has now(could be confusing at timesin our highly mobile teams) a sharp opponent can take advantage. And that is what happened. As he gets more comfortable in the roles, he will be putting most of those chances away.
On the subject of CDM/Song/Denilson/”all big teams”,
It is important to know that first and foremost AW is NOT a traditional English manager. If he were, how could he have transformed the English game?!?!? If anything, AW and Arsenal are known for innovation and change. This is how it plays out;
Everyone is clamouring for a traditional CF, Traditional DM, Traditional CD, Traditional Wide players and a Traditional way of English game (get stuck in, show passion, show courage, break someones foot(just kidding but you know what I mean), scrappy performance as long as results are obtained kinda performances, By comparing Arsenal to L’pool, Man U and Chelsea. What they can’t see or choose to ignore is very basic to the point it amazes me. Looking at the building of a squad i.e recruitment, the other teams buys players for their roles ie. a central defender for central defence, a winger for wide MF, or a CF for a CF. That is the traditional way. It works but it can reach it’s plateau and no improvement can be made. When that happens, there comes the need for innovation i.e “The Arsenal Way” or what I would like to call it “The Arsene Way”
@ Radads – We don’t have very much attacking power in Italy, because we DEFEND!!!!!! That’s the point with Senderos!! He is shit! He cannot defend if his life depended on it. Senderos will NEVER make it in Italy because Italy is all about defending, we don’t have all the flashy attacking in this league because if you did it you’d be kicked down every time. To prove you wrong, Senderos started in the PL, Senderos could even go to Spain and start for of of those lame ass teams, but in Italy he sits on the sidelines where he belongs because he isn’t up to compete with the level of defending that goes on in Italy.
Flamini doesn’t start not because he isn’t good enough or not use to the style of the league.. he doesn’t start because there is these footballers named Kaka, and Ronaldinho, and Pirlo, and Gattuso. Falmini is way down the pecking order on the team, even under Ambrosini. He will have to sit and wait for his time to come as he did at Arsenal.
Yes the PL may be the better league, BUT Italy is the better National team. The reason, our league is based around our countrymen. We hire Italians over foreigners which gives our players a better chance to develope. Where as in England, they hire more on the international level. I love the PL for that reason becuase it makes it more entertaining, so I’m ok with the Serie A being less entertaining because we have 4 World Cups to show for how the development of our players is going bu getting the chance to play in a top league for top teams.
Sorry guys! it was too long and got truncated. Here is the rest…..
The Arsenal way starts with recruitment. AW rarely buys players for what position they play(at least nowadays, the earlier days was a transitional period). He will buy a GK for goal, and that is the end of it. He buys midfielders, specifically Central Midfielders. Starting from the back, With the exception of Gallas, Sylvester and Senderos, who are CDs, Clichy, Sagna, Traore and Eboue have wide MF qualities, Toure, Djourou, Song are CM(DMs actually), Gibbs is a MF.
Going to MF; Rosicky, Nasri, Diaby, Denilson, Wilshere, Ramsay, Bischoff, Cesc, Merida, Randall(I’m not sure), Barazite, Coquelin, Lansbury are all CMs.
Strikers: He has pushed Walcott to play Wide MF, we know Vela can play there, He has pushed both Eduardo and RVP to play WMF, he is pushing RVP and Bendtner to play more like “floating” central MFs. Only Adebayor is the one encouraged to be a traditional striker because he lacks the skills required in CMF.
This, my friends, is the key to the attractive, highly mobile and passing football we play.
With the exception of Central Midfielders, all other players have a 180 degrees field of concern at most, CMs have a 360 degree field, which require them to have 360 deg of field awareness, i.e who is where, doing what, and what might be their next possible moves, and which ones are the more likely to be taken. By that requirement, CMs are usually the best players in a team technically and good on and off the ball. If they can adopt to a lesser field, ie 180 deg, ideally they can process information 2 times faster than normal since they are now having ½ the workload they are used to. The key is for them to be comfortable enough to do the new roles and you have yourself a team full of lethal assassins everywhere you look. This is why I don’t believe we need a traditional DM. The Arsenal way is just not the Traditional way, Period. AW is VERY close to pulling this off and the only problem is the supporters/fans harassing /not helping players be comfortable in their new “pseudo-roles”.
Bendtner = Worst Arsenal player EVER…
in 3 years nobody will remember his name because he will be back in Denmark…
(mark my words)
– – – –
UPDATE
Hildebrand is totally FREE since today, he finish his contract with Valencia today.
to further illustrate the point. All/most of our results have occured when AW tried the counter the traditional teams with traditional tactics ie, add height to counter height etc.
I knew this article would start some good conversation. I think I may just have stirred the little pot.
Remember, learn to stop worrying and love the Bendtner! 😀
Yes lets love Bendtner and HATE Senderos!! If Senderos comes back… i swear to God i have a snowball with Wenger name on it.
Senderos and cash for Zapata! Im desperate for January…
@ TayGoon – I play CM for my club but this season I have already played CM, CD, RD, CAM and upfront, I havent played on the wing yet but thats why I understand what your saying.
AW rarely buys players that stick to 1 role. Rvp played LW for Feyernoord. Vela played on LW for Osasuna. Nasri played across midfield. Baptista played upfront and CAM. The List goes on. Its Wengers way but when it goes wrong, thats when he is heavily criticised.
@ SF – Did you see my earlier post??
SF,
Brilliant observation….A striker with an attitude that does not (yet) match the skill set which he proclaims…I love it! I call that confidence which he sold to Wenger, and Wenger bought it. Remember Wenger could have chose Stokes (Sunderland) but he chose Bendtner (Birmingham) instead…Why? Reason…maybe an Ibramovich look a like. I began to like Bendter last year when he combined with Eduardo so brilliantly last year..Where I lost favor(immaturity) was the game last year against Everton when he was red carded. However, he keeps scoring. He should be nourished and kept…
@ Demetrio – “If Senderos comes back… i swear to God i have a snowball with Wenger name on it.”
Call of the day. Ahahahaha, you’re back in my good books again 🙂
@ jay-jay – Yeah mate, flick me an email with your questions and we can sort it out here. Arsenal banter plus computer technology chat doesn’t mix well :s
Its been reported that Gallas wants a January exit… If so we definitely need something in return… Shame because his career would have been different at Arsenal if he was never capitain…
@ SF – yuh I no lol, i will do.
SF: Do I sense some comic talent?
@Jay-jay; You should love the Denilson then as a CAM yourself.
@ Demetrio; Hey, It’s christimas, lets love the Wenger, and the Sendy while we are at it.
Having read SF’s recent posts I have to agree with most of his opinions on how to improve the team. However, there is one area in which I totally disagree.
What is the British fans’ obsession with 4-4-2 anyway? (I’m a Brit & I don’t understand it). Chelsea haven’t used it for years, Liverpool are twice the team when they don’t use it (ditto Villa)& Man U are flexible.
Arsenal do NOT suit 4-4-2 cos they don’t have any genuine wide players. Walcott & Nasri can do a job, but it’s largely a waste of their talents, & the succession of others played out of position (Eboue, Diaby, Ramsey etc) has been little short of embarrassing.
Of the so-called top 4 Liverpool have the best system (though the least talent), their flexible 4-2-3-1/4-3-3 providing the platform & support to allow Gerrard to get forward & dominate games (Fabio please note)in a way Fabregas can only dream about. What’s the point in having one of the game’s best playmakers being outnumbered & trying to plug holes in front of his back 4? Apart from freeing Fabregas, having midfield protection would allow the backs to get forward much more often. Adebayor would benefit from much better service.
No question Arsenal need a top class centre back & at least 1 (preferably 2) quality central midfielders. They’ll win nothing ’til they’re solid. Then, a little practice with a streamlined system, & find the duster for the trophy cabinet!
Oh my real player have to great you much,
who is this player is bentner
du er cool
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