Arsenal FC: Nicklas Bendtner Is Gunners' Most Underrated Player

Nicklas Bendtner underrated??

Exactly.

Many football fans including several Arsenal fans see Bendtner as a waste of space, a liability, a player with mediocre skill but with a hugely inflated ego.

In my opinion, none of that is actually true except maybe for the last point, to a certain extent.

In his time with the Gunners, Bendtner has garnered his fair share of critics, those who doubt his ability to play like a club of Arsenal’s stature. Some of his performances against the likes of Burnley in the 2009-10 season would have done nothing to silence his numerous critics, irrespective of the fact that he went onto score a hat trick in the very next game. And that also in the Champions League against Porto, as Arsenal clawed back from a first leg deficit in scintillating fashion, they rode on Bendtner’s hat trick.

There is no denying that he does tend to ooze arrogance and his extreme faith in his own ability does tend to go overboard at times.

But should that discount the fact that behind all the arrogance is an extremely talented player who has been unlucky to play in a team that employs a single striker and already has a certain Robin van Persie, undoubtedly one of the world’s best strikers?

Bendtner is the perfect case of being called “overrated” so many times that his inherent talent and ability is often lost amidst all the scathing criticism, very similar to what has happened with Park Ji Sung in Manchester United except in a reverse phenomenon.

It surprises me to see that several people tend to call Bendtner overrated, when I think he is far from that.

Arsenal fans often lament the fact that Wenger has failed to successfully replace Togolese striker, Emmanuel Adebayor after the striker left for Manchester City in the summer of 2009. For maybe half a season, Maroaune Chamakh looked to have replaced the void left by Adebayor but it looks pretty obvious right now that Chamakh lacks the ruthlessness in front of goal to be as good.

While it may sound farfetched to call Bendtner as the replacement to Adebayor, and while there is no doubt that right now Bendtner is not top quality, I still believe that Bendtner if given playing time will fire and can be extremely successful for both club and country.

But playing time has been the problem for Bendtner at Arsenal. When fit, van Persie starts ahead of the Danish striker and Wenger has been known to prefer Chamakh to Bendtner, often moving Bendtner into the wings.

When Arsenal fans think of Bendtner they think of a cocky young striker. And an iconic image that flash across their minds is Bendtner missing the chance that would have allowed 10-man Arsenal to conquer the mighty Barcelona and progress to the quarterfinals at the expense of the La Blaugrana.

They forget his brilliant hat trick against Porto, that helped the Gunners progress in the Champions League in 2010 despite missing van Persie and Fabregas. Or his goal-scoring spree in 2010 when the Gunners desperately needed someone to step up and bear the scoring burden. People tend to overlook the stunning goals he scored last season including one of Arsenal’s best goals scored last season against Ipswich, or his hat trick against Leyton Orient that ensured smooth passage into the quarterfinals of the FA Cup.

And it is this very lack of playing time that has seen him on the doorstep of leaving the Emirates. After playing no role in the preseason and with Wenger confirming that the Dane is looking for a move away from the club, Bendtner’s exit is all but guaranteed this summer. Or at least that is what we thought. Wenger hinted on Monday that his exit was not guaranteed and might even play a part in Arsenal’s crucial Champions League tie.

From a financial aspect, the Gunners are in no need to sell him. With debt at an all-time low and with the sale of Fabregas and potential sale of Nasri sure to generate plenty of cash, keeping Bendtner would not harm the club.

But some fans see Bendtner as a flop, an underperforming player who should be sold, in order to uphold the high standards of the club.

Arsenal fans won’t regret him leaving especially when you consider some of the other players leaving the club this season, namely Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri. And that is understandable. After all Bendtner has never performed at the top level like the two midfielders heading out of Arsenal.

But does that mean he is not capable of performing consistently. Definitely not.

The 2009-10 season was the best example of his value, when he not only consistently performed but also at the end of the season, when his side most needed him, he scored vital goals that sustained Arsenal’s title challenge.

Goals against Hull City, Stoke, Sunderland, Barcelona, Porto and Tottenham, all when his side needed him most should have endeared him to the fans but that didn’t happen.

A reason for that might be Bendtner’s inconsistency, making a transition from Sunday league material to world class in a matter of games. The best example was the way he responded to his horror show against Burnley. Against Burnley, he was auditioning against himself for the miss of the season. But against Porto a matter of days later, he was instrumental in the Gunners’ 5-0 demolition with his first hat trick, a feat he repeated against Leyton Orient last season.

With the addition of Chamakh last season, Bendtner fell even further down the pecking order, and even when he was played, it was out wide, a position that he just isn’t suited to playing. Bendtner lacks the technical skill and prowess to be successful in the wings although I feel he did far better than most people give him credit for. He didn’t make a fool of himself and did well in some games, cutting in brilliantly from the right and even putting one of the best crosses of last season by an Arsenal player for van Persie to score at Elland Road.

Bendtner is exactly the kind of striker who requires playing time to make an impact. Give him ample playing time, give him a free rein in the centre forward role, and he will thrive. However, asking him to make the same impact after coming off the bench is asking too much. But even when he has come off the bench, he has performed well, adding a bit of unpredictability and physicality to the Arsenal attack.

He might lack the technical ability or the ruthlessness of van Persie, which to be honest few strikers in the league have, and he might lack the heading ability of Chamakh; but what he has is a hard-working attitude, a fact often missed out people. Bendtner offers far more physicality in the box and while his header lacks the punch of Chamakh, he makes the best out of his height, scoring some solid headers with a real stunner against Stoke.

But van Persie will always start ahead of Bendtner and with Chamakh in the starting lineup, playing time will still be less, although I feel that Chamakh’s edge over Bendtner has diminished.

The best move for Bendtner is to go on loan, a move extremely good for the Gunners as well. It will give the Gunners the perfect opportunity to judge Bendtner and it will also give the player much needed playing time.

Bendtner is an immensely talented player whose capabilities have gone unappreciated and whose skill is always doubted.

When shown faith in and when given playing time, he can blossom into a force to be reckoned with. But whether that happens with Arsenal remains to be seen.