Veteran's View - how bad is Nicklas Bendtner? (Updated)
By Samuel Mowbray
Virtually 26 years to the day, Arsenal signed whom I consider to be one of the worst players I have ever seen grace the red and white shirt.
His name: Lee Chapman and the fact that he then went on to win a Divison One Champions' medal with Leeds shows you how much I know about football and footballers.
Stop reading now if you want - as I am sure many readers from my generation have their own differing views (about our worst ever player). According to records, he played 23 games for us and scored 4 goals. He cost the very princely sum (in those days) of £500,000.
I don't mention all of this as a rant against Terry Neill, the manager at the time who signed him - but the fact that I'm writing this after returning from the Twente FC match - and I think I have seen a player who runs him close.
Yes, stand up Nicklas Bendtner!
Checking records, we took on Spartak Moscow at Highbury on September 29, 1982 in the first round of the UEFA Cup. I was there. We had lost the first leg in Moscow 2-3. Creditable.
In those days, for reasons, I don't think I have ever know, the home teams played in their away strip.
Someone that year had decided our away strip was green and blue. Yes, green and blue. Far worse than any concoction of yellow and blue - and we know there have been some bad ones in my time - which at least have been associated with our away strips.
I won't go on.
I have always loved European football. If I read the stats right, it was our first at Highbury for four years.
We lost 2-5. Somehow playing in green and blue shirts made the defeat even worse.
I don't recall the scoring sequence. But I do recall the fact that Lee Chapman was dreadful. Dreadful. Even though he scored one of our goals.
At least, last night we won.
Bendtner scored too. I rest my case.
If this player ever scores 20 goals in a season for us, I will gladly write again on Arsenal Addict that I know little of football and footballers after watching for 45 years.
I truly hope he does - and proves me wrong.
Does Arsene (always) know?
Samuel Mowbray responds to comments:
Fellow Addicts. I never suggested NB was the worst ever player I have seen play for our team. I suggested, on the evidence of last night's game, he was running Lee Chapman, on his current form, close.
Evidence?
Put through by Cesc in a pass of sublime vision and precision, he failed in a relatively simple one on one. Watch his assist for Theo's goal, and it is clearly a fortuitous stumble/mis-kick. Unlike many I have never and I will never leave a game early or boo an Arsenal player. I just don't think he is a talented enough player in a small squad to win us the title
Of course he will have his moments. He is a professional sportsman. An international. He's young. We didn't pay much for him. These shouldn't be excuses - they highlight part of our dilemma.
I truly hope I am wrong but I doubt he will ever score 20 goals for us. If he does, I will post on AA out of joy - and humiliation. It will be a pleasure. But I don't see what Arsene sees him - any more than I ever understood what he saw in Aliadiere.
My opinion.
David Alexander
Reader Comments (147)
Opinions like this give us old fools a bad name!
Bendtner is a far more clinical finisher than Adebayor and has the potential to be absolutely top class in a couple of years time.
He is already an extremely useful squad player.
Moronic article - a sepciality of this site.
He had a poor night, but:
Did you see the touch Bendtner took to get past the defender for the Gallas goal? It was stunning and it made the chance.
Did you happen to catch his turn in the build-up to his goal? It was cracking and took two players out of the equation.
He has everything he needs to succeed. Decent pace, a good first touch, good vision (he started the move for the goal against West Brom), powerful physique and a good eye for goal.
Something these young guys need is support. I thought one thing the fans would learn this week is that when a young player has a bad game, it doesn't mean that's it - career over. They're all improving, and you have to let them learn from their mistakes.
A fine 12th man you are.
You'll be eating your words very soon. Adebayor will be off and bendtner will be our first choice target man. He will easily hit 20 goals a season and will start within the next couple of years.
Are you forgetting that joke of a striker that we paid ridiculous amounts for, and he couldn't buy a goal for nearly three months (even against a Hartlepool team who'd had their keeper sent off), so that the opposing fans were constantly chanting "what a waste of money".
Based on a better justification that the one given in the article, Dennis Bergkamp is, therefore, our worst ever player.... ;-)
I'm assuming you just want to stir shit up... Really pointless post.
What is crap like this doing on Newsnow?
while is would appear that at the moment our strikers couldn't score in a brothel, we have to take into account that Brentner s only 20 and still finding his way even though he does tend to be caught too easily when he breaks towards goal with the ball at his feet. Personally I am more concerned with with RVP's apparent depth and width perception problems and ADE's constant losing of possession.However they are our players and Arsenal are our team and club. They are what we have for this season and it has only just begun so stop all the negative crap and this malcontented rubbish about worst players etc. I remember when the idea of winning any trophy was a pipedream. When playing in europe was a luxury and when being an Arsenal supporter was like being at Custer's last stand and not wearing warpaint. Be thankful for what we have and what we have achieved under AW both on and off the pitch.
Look at his finishing in preseason, he will come good. I didnt think he had such a bad night last night TBH, granted a lot of things didnt come off, but he has UNBELIEVABLE TECHNIQUE, just look at the Goal Gallas got, it was Bendtner that made that and it was a good save by the keeper to deny him. Main thing is he was involved in a helluva lot more than sometimes Ade gets. In fact the only reason Bendtner may have looked poor was because he was seeing so much of the ball - winning headers, dropping deep, running off the last defender and generally linking play well.
I would have thought after your dinosaur years of watching football you would be able to tell the wood from the trees!
I guess some people are just blind
I too am old enough to remember how poor l chapman was for us and still remember the vision of both him and T woodcock together on the front of a match day program both looking to do the damage on the pitch!!! sadly Lee was crap for us but he proved himself at stoke before he came and after at leeds. When strikers find their niche they find a style of football they are comfortable with and get the run of games a service to go with it, they often score more with the confidance they get. Bendtner is a very good footballer who is a team player and has better control than ade but we all need convincing about his ability to score 30 a season. We need to give him a chance....
I have noticed that when he sets players up for goals, they dont rush to him for thanks and when he is in a good position the passing is poor or he is not picked out as qiuckly as he should be. Maybe there is a clash of personallities or outfall from the adebayor incident but I feel sometimes he may feel he is on his own out on the pitch and when he does gets the ball, he needs to justify his presence on the pitch by holding on to it too long-something is not right.Its almost like he is having to win over players in these situations. ha ha or maybe its just me ha ha!!!
Those who criticize Bendtner and Walcott are probably the same ones who used to criticize Henry in his first few months with AFC when usually he couldn't hit a cow's arse with a banjo. Sorry mate. Neither he nor Chapman were the worst players to wear the red and white. Remember Hankin, Ceasar etc? The truth is you expect our players to be the ronaldos, ronaldinhos, agueros etc and the simple reality is that they are not. You want to watch those type of players? Go to watch Real, Chelsea, Barca etc. I do not agree with Wenger knows Best because some of the selection beggar belief........like Eboue as a central midfielder. Or dropping Djourou for Toure versus WBA when the former was playing quite well and did not deserve to be dropped. Djourou played against Twente in both legs, against WBA and in all 3 games AFC kept a clean sheet and Gallas had decent to good performance. Any coincidence since neither Kolo nor William are the typical beastly centrehalf.
Back to Bendtner. He may be awkward, yes. He may loose balls, yes. But as someone said before me....compare his minutes on the pitch and his assist and scoring ratio. Its better than some of our attackers no? And he is only twenty. Were you the complete person at twenty? Even now I still don't think you are. The most important thing to take care when you are analysing a player is not what you expect him to do but see his strengths and weakness and what he does to the team.
this just shows what you know about football,there always seems to be people who pick holes,i was there to and even though he didnt have a great game he stuck at it created one goal of gallas and got one him self ,he didnt let his head drop when things were not going for him,i know some strikers would have just given up.
YOU ARE A DONKEY AND THIS ARTICLE STINKS OF SHIT
this just shows what you know about football,there always seems to be people who pick holes,i was there to and even though he didnt have a great game he stuck at it created one goal of gallas and got one him self ,he didnt let his head drop when things were not going for him,i know some strikers would have just given up.
Ridiculous. For his age Bendtner isn't awful, he's actually excellent. His goals to minutes played ratio must be amazing. Horrible article, don't give up the day job, cunt.
NB has bags of potential. He is a useful player and can only get better with time.
I have to admit, that one came out of the blue. I suppose the same could be said about Adebayor at the beginning of last season.
I would rather have Nik than Abe ok not his best game but think he needs a run in the team
On present form i would drop both Van Persie and Abe and play Nik and Vela
Vela has all the makings to be world class and needs to come into the starting eleven now
Mate, you should stop wasting your time watching football, try bowling or something less technical as you clearly haven't got a clue about what you're talking about.
Bendtner has had very little playing time but has scored and looks the business. He's got pace, is great in the hair, has excellent touch, links play and scores goals. On top of that, he's only 20 years old.
Mark my words, this guy will be leading the Arsenal line within the next 3 years, WELL!!!
Not sure if he is the worst ever (there have been a few bad ones), but the author has a valid point. He was crap yesterday. His passing is abysmal, he can't even seem to do the simple things correctly. I don't care if he is 21 or 31, whether he cost, £65,000 or £65,000,000, whether he plays infrequently or every day, if he isn't ready / good enough he shouldn't be playing, simple. No excuses. He has had enough chances. Arsene is doing what he did with Senderos, Cygan, Hoyte, etc and giving them chance after chance, when it's obvious they don't have what it takes. Sorry.
you don't know f**k all about fooball, do you say things as a wind up he is a danish inter and at the moment twice the player rvp is. what is it with you i've going over the arse since the 1950s there are maybe 20/ 25 shit c/f and he is not one of them,you are the same muppets who boo ady you have only had sucess you want to see some of the shit we have had over ther,
Idiot.
There should be aptitude tests before they allow people to set up football blogs. The boy is...
20
years
old
.
He has huge potential. If you're not prepared to wait for players to blossom then you're forever going to be frustrated by football.
Anyone got an e-mail address for suggestions to rockynewsnow to filter a site out? This one is one I can do without.
Luzhny, Senderos, Grimandi, Stepanovs.
How is Bendtner as bad as them??? terrible
what a load of crap
Another negative cunt. Moan Moan Moan Moan Moan. That's all you fuckers ever do.
Last night Nicky B had a night mere !! period !
he hung on to the ball to long far to many times,
he could and should have played a couple of quick breaking 1-2's with Nasri and Walcot in the free flowing Arsenal way,
I do how ever think we still have not seen the the best of Bendter, he has a good first touch but needs to make the correct pass not hold on to the ball to long,
As for Lee "the joke" chapmen I concur !!
i went to Arsenal when i was about 10 yesars old and remember him beeing booed by everyone
nearly as shocking as the green and blue kit
as well as Raphael Meade !! is he the worst player ??
Gus Ceaser ????