The lament of Nicky Bendtner

Hopeful Gooners, exasperated by his play and carelessness but hopeful that the potential was still there, grew frustrated at the lack of development. Indeed, I doubt Bendtner is any better now than he was in 2008. Steve Bruce seemed to have been one of the few people to get through to Bendtner, in his loan time at Birmingham, and that relationship ended rather fractiously when Bendtner was caught sleeping with the boss’s daughter. On his return to Arsenal, he picked fights with Adebayor and dropped in and out of contention.

After a few seasons as rotation striker, showing the occasional flicker of immense talent and then showing his ability to miss the easiest of chances, he departed on loan to Sunderland and last summer, in the most delightful turtleneck, to Juventus. Neither loan spell was in any way a success. So, you may rightly wonder, why do I like Bendtner so much? Well, firstly, I always liked his style of football. Perhaps it is my own realisation of my mechanical limitations, but his cumbersome and ‘square’ style of playing football always really endeared him to me. I also thought he had an excellent touch for (insert cliché here) and I thought he had masses of potential. And besides, who doesn’t love a player whose first ever goal decides a North London Derby in our favour?

But it was more than that. He was genuinely exciting, a fantastic athlete in a team of deft touches and intricate passes. His enormous self belief and mental determination showed in the incredible amount of late goals he contributed to the cause, especially in the seasons between 2009 and 2011, and the way he often kept us in the match. His performances against Ipswich, Wolves, Stoke and Porto are as memorable as the bad ones versus Burnley or Roma.

His use on the right wing, whilst ultimately unsuccessful, was an interesting experiment, and it shows to this day in the thinking of Arsène Wenger, who today still often players centre forwards as wide, inside forwards. I guess it might just be that the side of me that was so enthusiastic about Project Youth turned a blind eye to the failings of these players, like it did with Denilson and Djourou, with Fabianski and with Merida. But I was convinced that Bendtner could have become a very good striker, good enough to play regularly for a title winning side.

Last summer, I said we should keep Bendtner and perhaps dump some of the other striker options. That ship, sadly, has now sailed. Not only has Nicklas burnt the bridges with comments and his behaviour (like refusing to negotiate with clubs he considered beneath him), but the club is looking at bigger and better things. He is on at least 50k per week and we would do well to be rid of those.

And yet, and yet, there is a remaining tinge of regret. Was Bendtner, in his prime, that much worse than, say, Giroud, is now? Were there moments last season where we could have used his knack for scoring late winners? Most certainly. But both the club, and the player, caused that to be an impossible situation. Perhaps it is good to be rid of him. His behaviour off the pitch has always been a bit of a worry. Writing off cars, drunk driving, fights in bars, fights with players, and getting caught in other compromising positions never did his chances at the club much good.

Arsenal and Wenger are notoriously loathe to have any of such misbehaviours happen on their watch, and perhaps they too signed his death warrant. Either way, his arrogance and overconfidence are attributes the club has no need off, and with his misdemeanours getting him in more and more hot water, it might well be for the best. Don’t feel too much for the man, though. From all the stories I have read, especially from Denmark, he is a man who is very much happy with his life. Perhaps that was where it went wrong, too. A lack of focus on football is always problematic, and when that focus gets shifted to the spotlight it is definitely a problem. His relationship with a Danish Baroness was much publicised, and their subsequent breakup was all over the Danish press for weeks.

His new girlfriend is the vapid and talentless Julie Zangenberg, a horribly irritating Danish actress, but he seems very happy with her in their public life, and enjoys the cosmopolitan comforts of Copenhagen. I think all is well this way: he can find a new club and continue to hit the front pages of Danish tabloids, and Arsenal can focus on replacing his 50k per week with much better players.

I have always been convinced that in Germany or Italy, Bendtner could be a 20+ goal per season player. He still can be. I wish him good luck, yet, ultimately, all things considered, good riddance.

If you don’t agree, or have a different view, why not write your own response?