Nicklas Bendtner: A Defense

By: Martin | May 18th, 2009

I’ve been thinking of writing something like this for a bit, but it really hit home on Saturday, when I was watching the Arsenal-Manchester United game at my local pub. As usual, the Arsenal fans were outnumbered approximately 20-3. When Nicklas Bendtner entered the game as a late substitute, the United fans cheered, the clear implication being that Bendtner was no threat to score and they were happy to have him in the game. It’s also been on my mind a bit recently as the Adebayor transfer rumors swirl around and everyone says that if we sell him we have to go out and bring in someone else, because we don’t have any worthy in-house replacements.

This season, even Arsenal fans have been critical of Bendtner. He hasn’t always had the most wholehearted support of the fans at the Emirates, and I’ve seen him criticized time and again on blogs, websites, and message boards. But why?

Pop quiz–name the top scorers in the Premier League this year under the age of 25. Take a second. Okay, here’s the top 5:

Cristiano Ronaldo, Manchester United,(24 years old)–18 goals (in 31 starts)
Wayne Rooney, Manchester United,(23 years old)–12 goals (in 25 starts)
Gabriel Agbonlahor, Aston Villa, (22 years old)–12 goals (in 34 starts)
Nicklas Bendtner, Arsenal, (21 years old)–9 goals (in 17 starts)
Stephen Ireland, Manchester City, (20 years old)–9 goals (in 33 starts)

Can you honestly say that you had Bendtner on that list? I bet most of you didn’t. Furthermore, I included the number of starts each player made because I think that’s really important–Bendtner only started about half the number of games of the other players on the list, so, on a goals per minute basis, he’d be second only to Cristiano Ronaldo. (In fairness, I would point out that Bendtner has made 13 substitute appearances, but the fact is that almost all of those come after the 70th minute, so even if you add up all the minutes from those starts, he’d still be far behind the other 4 players on that list).

Statistics don’t lie, and the fact is that Bendtner has shown himself to be one of the better young strikers in the Premier League this year. So why does he come under so much criticism? I think it’s two things.

First, anyone who has watched Arsenal consistently this year could tell you that his finishing has been ~~inconsistent~~ ~~lacking~~ absolutely fucking abysmal at times this season. There have been a lot of great chances that he really cocked up–there’s really no other way to sugarcoat it. If he’s ever going to be a top quality striker he simply has to improve his finishing and composure. But I do feel like there was an interesting double standard at work with Arsenal this year. Whenever Adebayor, van Persie, or God knows Theo Walcott got themself into a great position but botched the end product, the fan reaction was a groan and then brief clapping, followed by something along the lines of “good play to get themselves into that position,” etc. But with Bendtner the reaction was always completely negative. I never quite understood it.

But maybe that brings me to point two, which is there just seems to be something a little unlikeable about the guy. He just kind of seems like a punk. He goes to the media and says he can be one of the best players in the world, he gets caught being kicked out of a nightclub at 4 a.m. with his pants down around his knees, he’s got the world’s worst haircuts this side of Djibril Cisse, he wears pink boots, etc.

But I’ll say this, in his defense. (A) All strikers need to have a healthy ego bordering on arrogance–humility is reserved for center backs and holding midfielders, guys that do the dirty work; and (B) he just turned 21–can you honestly look in the mirror and say you didn’t say and do some truly stupid things when you were that age?

The main thing that strikes me, though, when I watch Bendtner play, is this–he’s got a fire inside him. Unlike Adebayor, he always seems to be running around trying to make something happen–next game he plays watch him chase down defenders with the ball to try to rush them into making a bad pass. Unlike so many Arsenal players this year, he’s not content to just pass the ball back and forth around the perimeter–he wants the ball, and when he gets it, he’s not afraid to take a shot or get the ball and take a man on one on one. The fact that this usually results in a goal kick or him getting dispossessed seem to faze him not at all.

As of now, his confidence far outstrips his actual ability. But he’s 21, and he works hard, and I think he really wants to be a world-class striker. Make no mistake–he’s going to get better. And when his finishing and ball-handling improve, and his body starts to fill out and he gets a bit stronger (and he will–remember how skinny Adebayor was when he was Nicky’s age), he could very well be a real danger both in the air and with the ball at his feet.

Now, to clarify–I’m not guaranteeing that Bendtner is going to be a great striker. No one was more critical of him early on than I was (on my old site), I even took to calling him “Frankenstein’s striker.” But I’m saying that I think there’s a chance, and that the numbers show that he’s already a pretty good one. And he and Arshavin showed a great understanding as a classic big-little strike pair on the few occasions they started up top together this year. He was very nearly our leading scorer in the league this year (Adebayor had 10, van Persie had 9) in much less action than Adebayor or van Persie–extrapolating from his numbers, it seems reasonable to assume he would have had at least 14-15 goals had he been in the first team. So I’m not sure why he catches so much flak, both from Arsenal fans and fans of other clubs.

If Adebayor goes this summer, I think I’d be fine with “The Great Dane” stepping into the first-team striker role. Having van Persie and Bendtner start up top, with Eduardo and Vela and reserve and Arshavin rotating around between striker and midfield roles, would make for a pretty effective group of attackers. And I think if he continues to work hard to improve, and gets more playing time next season, the days of other clubs’ fans cheering his entrance into a game may become a distant memory soon enough.