The Bendtner we all loved
A Good Friday just got better.
It’s that time of the year where the workaholics get to take time out to be with their loved ones to celebrate the reason for the season, Jesus Christ. š
Just like the way a van Persie can be described as a perpetual goal scoring machine of the first kind, a Diaby can be described as a player thatās synonymous with injuries of all sorts.
The lanky bloke has been with Arsenal since 2006 and he can only boast of a meager 110 appearances for the club averaging 18 games or so per season. In his first season at the club, he made 12 league appearances before suffering a horrific ankle fracture following a horrendous challenge from Sunderlandās Dan Smith.
That injury cost him a place in the 2006 Champions League final (he won’t have played anyway) as well as the 2006 European Under-21 Championships with France U-21s. As the years progressed, Diaby countless injury worries piled but there was still time for him to kick “racism” out of football in theĀ 2007 Carling Cup final.
Kick it Out
As expected, Diaby was out for all eternity this season and he made a comeback against Liverpool only to last for 26 minutes. This clearly shows that his globetrotting antics to the ends of the world to solve his injury problems have been a waste of time but Diaby insisted that he isn’t a Ā fragile player.
Diaby went on to say that his problem is ābiomechanicalā and blabbed about how good he is physically and mentally. With all the talent available at his disposal, Diaby cannot be banked upon to give his services on the pitch, as he tends to spend an eternity off it. This tweet epitomized what Diaby stands for at the moment.
ā@Arsenal_RTs: Good match for Diaby to make his annual appearance! See you in 2013?
While in his recuperation, Diaby got some minutes on the pitch and even got on the score sheet in a recent Reserves fixture but he’s still miles away from full fitness. Diaby believes that he’s not unlucky because other fellow professionals have fared worse.
However, Diaby has stated that he wants to repay the undying faithĀ Arsene Wenger has shown to him and he intends to live up to his “massive potential” billing. Let’s face it, on his day Diaby can be a force to be reckoned with but what’s the use of having such an asset when it turns out to be a liability?
In yesterday’s brilliant post by D’ Sun, he made a very fair point on Diaby and I quote:
I donāt want to sound cynical but Diaby is just a minute away from the next injury. Can we rely on him to deputize for Song as our defensive midfielder for the whole of next season? In fact we should be happy he has made his annual Arsenal appearance
I won’t shed a tear if Diaby leaves the club this summer but I’m pretty sure that most folks would prefer the bloke to be around.
Nicklas Bendtner is widely regarded as the self-proclaimed world’s best striker. Arsenal snapped him up from obscurity in 2005 and offered him a chance at top-flight football. With limited opportunities for the great Dane, he was offered a learning route through Birmingham City in the Championship and the Dane hugely impressed there.
In subsequent campaigns, he featured in Cup ties as well as some league fixtures but his big break arrived in the 2009/10 campaign, when the red-hot Robin van Persie was sidelined for a lengthy spell following a rash tackle from Italy’s Giorgio Chiellini in a meaningless friendly match.
Bendtner became the centre of attention and he scored some vital last-gasp goalies with the games against Hull and Wolves being the most notable. There was even time to get a first hattrick in Arsenal colors against Porto.
The return to full fitness of van Persie relegated Bendtner as well as Marouane Chamakh to the bench, and his chances of featuring were few and far between. Wenger offered him a new role on the right flank but the Dane was rightly dissatisfied in that playing position.
Shortly after his loan switch to Sunderland, Bendtner reveiled that his omission from the starting line-upĀ in the Carling Cup final played a key role in him leaving the club. The Arsenal loanee has notched up 25 games for the Black Cats, netting seven goals in the process.
With the season reaching its climax, Nicklas Bendtner is unsure about what his future holds beyond the conclusion of his Sunderland loan spell. He has two years left on his 60,000 per week deal at Arsenal and has declared that the final decision rests with him.
Say what you must about Nicklas Bendtner but everyone is entitled to his/her opinion and I’m about to share mine on this issue. I won’t mind having Nicklas Bendtner back at Arsenal for the following reasons:
- Ā His goal-to-game ratio at Arsenal is quite impressive, considering the fact that he’s not a first team regular. In every season he played for Arsenal bar his first (where he was away on loan at Birmingham), Bendtner closed in on double figures and he surpassed the mark twice with 15 goals (2008/09) and 12 goals (2009/10)
- He has never said anything negative about Arsenal, its manager or his fellow teammates even securing a move to Sunderland. Yes, he has some off field issues but he doesn’t seem to have any problem with teammates or anything too disruptive (think Balotelli).
- Last season, he scored nine goals and raked up five assists despite playing on the wing, and usually playing only the final 15 minutes when the team was already losing. Ā He is way better than Chamakh, and I’d take him over the Moroccan anyday, anytime.
Food for thought guys:
If Nicklas Bendtner returns back to Arsenal and Robin van Persie is faced on a spell on the sidelines,
Who would you replace him with?
Marouane Chamakh, Park Chu-Young or Nicklas Bendtner.
Sayonara.
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