The Bendtner Thread

[mikey_gooner]

i was not comparing the two as players !! did henry have that impecabble touch at that age or was it nurtured ?

[ArsenesRedandWhite]

Two interesting points there mate.
Firstly, with the question of how long do you give a player, I'd say at least until they're 23/24 and if they mature before that, then great.
With regards to the names you've mentioned leaving the club, Kanu etc. I think those players were allowed to leave because of their age.
When it comes to young players there aren't many who were allowed to leave before the age of 22/23 and usually it was because there were just too many quality players in front of them.

My assessment of the Wenger policy is that he'll allow a player to reach about 23 before making a final decision on him. Between the ages of 17 and 23 the player will be thrown in at the deep end in all kinds of situations and often he'll sink rather than swim but it's a learning curve for the player.
He 'bloods' the youngsters as they say.
If you look at players like Aliadiere and Bentley they were fairly young but were allowed to leave because they either had too many quality players in front of them and weren't getting a game, or it became clear that were never going to raise their level beyond that of a squad player.

As for your second scenario, if Ade did his cruciate ligaments and was out for a year let's say, I would be tempted to buy another big target man to replace him because Bendtner isn't ready to replace the 20-30 goals that Ade is allegedly capable of.

On the other hand I'd be tempted NOT to buy a replacement as well because if Bendy started EVERY Prem game, maybe it wouldn't take all that long for him to overcome the psychological barriers/confidence problems he's struggling with at the moment?
Plus he's on 11 goals at the moment with quite a few games to go so it wouldn't be beyond him to reach 20 by the end of the season.
That's a difficult decision really and it would also depend when the injury happened to Ade.
If it was at the start of next season I'd feel more confident about using Bendy than I do now.

Yeah, I guess I forgot the players let go were older. And the others were tried and not really sparkling.

I'm with you on the scenario too. If Bendtner got all of those games he'd definitely become more consistent, and with 11 already like you said there's no reason he couldn't reach 20. With the rest of the guys we could hopefully make up the gap (if there was one) of goals between Ade and Bendtner, but there might not be much of one considering how he's done.

I'm agree on all of it


These are much better days than when spurs tried to boast having the best group of strikers in the league. We've got a pretty good one ourselves: van Persie, Adebayor, Eduardo, Bendtner, Vela.

I don't know if there's already a thread for this or if I should start one, but who'd you pick: Eduardo or van Persie to start when everyone is fit? both seem to be fantastic at times. who is better I wonder.

[damo1583]

Henry definatly had the raw qualities, but your right he did need nurturing from Wenger, his touch was always evident his main failing was he tried to do to much with the all and was a little predictble, which is why he failed to make an impact in Italy, he was too easy to read. I fully accept that you want to give Bendtner time but the problem is he is rapidly going to come to a crossroads with the fans and his performances will only get worse with stick he is undoubtablygoing to recieve, as we all witnessed on saturday......

[ArsenesRedandWhite]

When he came off he was applauded, though. The fans seemed to appreciate his effort. As long as he isn't starting while someone better sits on the bench I'm cool with it. As long as we win I'm cool with it. I know him not scoring could have been important, but it didn't end up being so it's more experience. I'd bet he'll not have a game like that again for awhile.

[mikey_gooner]

stan collymore and ian holloway on talksport now talking about the booing of young players , worth listening too

[Inchpräctice]

stan collymore and ian holloway on talksport now talking about the booing of young players , worth listening too

Listening to it now.
Can't believe people booed Agbonlahor? WTF?

He's part of the reason they've been in the top four for so long!

It's all going wrong in football it really is.

[mikey_gooner]

Too many impatient fans and people who think they can judge a player better then people like wenger or o 'neil .

[gzagee]

stan collymore and ian holloway on talksport now talking about the booing of young players , worth listening too

Listening to it now.
Can't believe people booed Agbonlahor? WTF?

He's part of the reason they've been in the top four for so long!

It's all going wrong in football it really is.

And they clapped when his number came up for substitution.

[Inchpräctice]

Too many impatient fans and people who think they can judge a player better then people like wenger or o 'neil .

Absolutely f***ing spot on mate.

I mean it's not as if Wenger or O'Neil have any history of spotting decent players is it?


If I was a Villa fan at the ground and I heard fans booing Agbonlahor I'd be so ashamed.

[gzagee]

I'm on a Villa forum and I can tell you they've had mixed feelings about him all season.

Now they're saying maybe Delfounseo should start ahead of him for the season of the season.

[Inchpräctice]

That's just weird.

[Fabrestuta]

Agbonlahor is a great player but I have hated him ever since the Clichy own goal, he ran around "shushing" the Emirates as if he had scored it. I hope he dies in a fire.

[whee]

Agbonlahor is a great player but I have hated him ever since the Clichy own goal, he ran around "shushing" the Emirates as if he had scored it. I hope he dies in a fire.

He's not a "great" player though.

[Cheese]

I'm not Bendtners biggest fan but I'm not a Bendtner hater.

When he pulls on the Arsenal shirt he has my full support.

I'm always looking at the Bendtner debate from both angles.

I can see what people are getting at when they say he's a better 4th choice striker than others in the prem.

But on the other hand it is frustrating seeing him miss chance after chance.

4th choice or not he's a striker and should be putting them away.

For me it's a case of I respect the fact he's young and he's our 4th choice but I don't ever see him being more than that (that's another problem - fans expect him to be a 30 goal a season player when he clearly isn't) so if we sold him at the end of the season I wouldn't see it as a big loss.

I try to only critise Bendtner when he deserves it and praise him when he deserves it too. I do think some fans do use him as a scapegoat which is wrong and unfair.

[Inchpräctice]

Good post AA.
At least you're keeping an open mind on the subject.

More from the boss on this subject:
http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archiv ... n-bendtner

Wenger - The goals will come for Bendtner

By Chris Harris

Arsène Wenger is backing Nicklas Bendtner to find the finishing touch in an Arsenal shirt.

The Danish striker made a significant contribution to Saturday's 4-0 win over Blackburn. He played a key role in Arsenal's opener and caused no end of problems for Rovers with his link-up play and powerful running. However, Bendtner was unable to cap a fine display with the goals he deserved after squandering three good chances.

The 20-year-old appears to split opinion among Arsenal fans but Bendtner's supporters point to his youth and argue that the Dane will eventually find the composure to match his excellent approach work. Wenger also believes the goals will come for a player who has made a big leap forward this season.

"I agree he had a good game [against Blackburn] but a bad scoring record on the day," said the Frenchman.

"What is interesting with him is that his performance improves. I’ve seen players miss chances before when they are young and then once they start to score they quickly get impressive.

"Just imagine if he had taken two of his chances [on Saturday], everyone would have said what a great game he had.

"He was not far away from taking two chances so let’s support him, be positive and encourage him."

[Tuesday, March 17, 2009]

Couldn't agree more guv.