Nicklas Bendtner, all footballers need an air of arrogance about them to succeed but the big Dane oversteps the mark more than John Terry on Chelsea’s version of ‘Wife Swap’. The striker has become a ridiculed figure after numerous, well lets not beat around the bush, remarkably egotistical comments about his ability and ambitions. ‘I’m very sorry to see Adebayor injured as we need him fit and to be playing in the league. But it does not really matter to me who is fit and available I should start every game, I should be playing every minute of every match and always be in the team.’ (four four two)
It is one thing talking the talk but walking the walk is a totally different matter and as of yet Bendtner’s progress at Arsenal has been more of a slow burn rather than a red hot inferno lighting up the Emirates and despite this the Arsenal man continues spouting absolute gems, such as “I want to be top scorer in the Premier League, top scorer at the World Cup and, within five years, I want to be among the best strikers in the world.” (mirror football) Ok so not the most ludicrous thing for an up and coming forward to say, however this was Bendtner bragging after winning Danish Player of the Year, with all due respect, what was his closest rival? A pastry.
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Even among Arsenal fans, Nicklas Bendtner will never top the popularity charts at the Emirates. I mean even Robbie ‘Everyone hates me but I don’t care’ Savage is embraced and loved by his own fans. Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that Bendtner is the same man who missed a sitter in the final moments of Arsenal’s second leg clash against Barcelona costing them a place in Quarter Finals of the Champions League but goes on to justify his enormous weekly salary by saying “There is a price to pay as well for us players…the biggest thing I miss because of football is that I really, really love to go on a skiing holiday but as long as I have my career, I can’t do that because of the risk of being injured.” (The Hardly Normal Best eleven) Comedy gold right there; I’m sure in his retirement there will be enough in the bank to enjoy the odd ski trip but one thing is for sure Bendtner will no doubt be a pro on the slopes, well at least he will think he is.
This next bit is just so brilliant it sounds like it should be made up, in a recent psychological ‘self-percieved competence’ test at Arsenal, the Danish international scored 10, on a scale that only went up to 9, Bendtner is so assured of his ability, he scored off the charts, quite remarkable but probably oh so accurate, especially when you read in an interview from the end of last season with regards to Bendtner’s goal drought a journalist asked Arsene Wenger how would he boost the player’s confidence. The journalist added at the end: “Not that he needs a boost, of course.” The thing is with Arsenal’s ‘homegrown’ forward is that he is not a bad striker, he is just not nearly as good as he says he is. “If you ask me if I am one of the best strikers in the world, I say yes.” (Daily Mail)
Rant Over…kind of, despite his obvious arrogance in abundance, does the self proclaimed Great Dane really warrant the ‘abuse’ I have directed his way in the previous paragraphs? Well yes. The Danish international has been at the North London since 2004 and the signs were promising; with prolific performances in the reserves and impressive showings on loan at Birmingham, which subsequently forced his emergence into the first team squad in the season of 2007/08, Bendtner appeared to really have ‘the bit between his teeth’. But as Arsenal’s team have evolved, it has become apparent that their players need to be versatile, something which Bendtner is not. He is very much a specialist player, who can only offer one thing to the Arsenal side and that, coupled with squandered chances, an innate inability to beat players one-on-one and his lack of aerial prowess considering his height, really means that Arsenal should cash in on any move Bendtner creates for himself with his own media hyperbole.
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