The Curious Case of Arsenal's Nicklas Bendtner

Nicklas Bendtner is a player who has divided opinion among Arsenal fans, let alone football fans. There seems to be so much of potential in the lad, yet he has never performed as consistently as a player of his talent should.

Even media experts have had very different takes on Nicklas Bendtner and have struggled to describe the mercurial talent. After some very glaring misses at the Emirates against Burnley last season, he scored a hat-trick against FC Porto in Arsenal's very next mid-week fixtures. This made The Sun, a UK newspaper, issue an unreserved apology to Mr. Nicklas Bendtner.

Nicklas Bendtner has been at Arsenal from a very young age and was awarded a spot in the Danish national team at the age of 18. The Denmark international was loaned out to Birmingham city by Arsenal where he made a great contribution. After the loan spell, he returned to Arsenal to fight for his place.

He has had off-field controversies and has often been criticized for his arrogance. He is a confident young man, but his interviews can be interpreted as arrogant. He was once asked if he feared that adding a striker to Arsenal's ranks would increase his competition for a place in the eleven. To that, he replied that he had no need to fear because he felt that he had to play every minute of Arsenal's games that season (This statement was just after Arshavin had been signed by Arsenal).

He has himself said he is not over-confident and has just the right confidence in his ability. This season, he has certainly proved himself to be one with a lot of talent. It seems that Arsene Wenger's faith in the striker has not been misplaced. Arsene Wenger was quoted as saying that he would not just drop the striker or sell him just because the media criticized him. As a manager, he has seen the big Dane since the age of 16 and rightly, he has seen the ability of Nicklas Bendtner.

His faith is paying off and Bendtner certainly provided glimpses of his talent this season. Against Stoke, he converted Cesc Fabregas' cross through a quality header. He was, probably, the only Arsenal player who could have converted it. His confidence has meant that he never drops his head till the final whistle. That he was the one, who has popped in with a number of late goals, this season, is testament to the above statement. 

Nicklas Bendtner has some flaws in his game and has a lot of room to improve. His first touch is plain awful at times and has a tendency to be absconding for large parts of the game. He doesn't have the pace to beat defenders at times and doesn't prefer taking shots from long range. Moreover, he doesn't try too much to close down defenders and has to work on his overall game.

He was not great in the games against Manchester United and Chelsea, this season, but that should be attributed to rustiness after injury and not much should be read into it. His performance against Barcelona in both games was above average and was able to score in the return leg at Camp Nou. He always posed an aerial threat from crosses and set-pieces.

As Arsene Wenger himself said, Nicklas Bendtner is Arsenal's plan B because if creative, attractive football does not work, then you have the option of playing direct football with Bendtner being the target man. He is strong in air and wins many a header. In a team dominated by short, talented individuals, Bendtner is an exception and is made to look slow because of the pace of the play from the technically strong, smaller players. But Nicklas Bendtner is an opportunist and gets into the right positions at the right time. His hat-trick against Porto showed that his positioning helped him score goals.

His statistics this season has made everyone take notice of his talent and his contribution to Arsenal this season has been immense. Besides this, his International record (12 goals in 35 matches) for Denmark has been pretty good and has made him a very important player. Daniel Agger, the Liverpool defender, was quoted as saying that Nicklas Bendtner, starting for Denmark would be a real boost to their confidence and hoped that he would make it for Denmark's opening encounter.

Bendtner has had his share of injury troubles but is looking to put it behind him and start afresh, this season. At 22, he is one of the most talented strikers and is a key for Arsenal, this season. With Eduardo still not in form and Robin van Persie having fitness issues almost every season, it is time for Nicklas Bendtner to step up and produce the goods, this season.