Carling Cup - Wenger points finger at Bendtner

Eurosport - Wed, 03 Dec 13:39:00 2008

Arsene Wenger cast doubt over the future of Arsenal's young forwards after criticising his off-form attackers as a series of missed chances enabled Burnley to claim a famous 2-0 League Cup win at Turf Moor.

2008-2009 Carling Cup Burnley-Arsenal Nicklas Bendtner - 0

Two goals from Scottish midfielder Kevin McDonald, who rejected moves to Liverpool and Celtic to join Burnley from Dundee in July, secured the Clarets' place in the semi-finals.

But a catalogue of poor finishes, most notably by Danish striker Nicklas Bendtner, led to Arsenal's quarter-final exit and manager Wenger admitted that too many of his forwards under-performed.

"We played quite well, but we had six one versus ones and lost 2-0, so that sums it up," he said.

"We just did not have the right focus in front of goal and that made the difference. We lost a game we should never have lost.

"We had plenty of chances but when you do not score, you have to ask why. You can praise their keeper but also question your own strikers.

"Many of my players were not fazed by the game, though, and that is a positive from the game.

"So many of them gave absolutely everything, but in front of goal, you have to be much more clinical than we were and I think we were a bit naive in taking our chances.

"Had we scored at any time, then the complexion of the whole tie would have been different, but it was always us chasing the game and them playing on the counter-attack. That's the easiest way to deal with the game."

Burnley proved too energetic and hungry for Arsenal and the Championship club deservedly added Arsenal's scalp to those of Chelsea and Fulham, who they defeated in previous rounds.

Manager Owen Coyle, whose team will learn their semi-final opponents in Saturday's draw, now insists that his team can go all the way to final.

He said: "We will enjoy the semi-finals. It doesn't matter who we get. We've got a great chance.

"There was a lot of talk of Arsenal and the young players they have, but we've shown that we have some good young players ourselves."

Danish goalkeeper Brian Jensen was a star performer for the home side and he has backed Coyle's team to progress beyond the last four.

Jensen said: "It was always going to be a massive task for us so full credit to the lads because we are there.

"All the cameras were here so they must have known there could be an upset. We are in the semi-finals now, so why can't we go on and win it? Let's see how far we can go."

Arsenal had the opportunity to strike first when Fran Merida's precise pass released Bendtner on five minutes, but Jensen set the tone for an impressive performance by saving well from his fellow Dane.

Less than a minute later, the home side were ahead after Arsenal's failure to clear a Chris Eagles cross left McDonald with a tap-in from six yards.

Despite their impressive first-half display, Burnley would have known that Arsenal would come back at them strongly after the break.

And Wenger's team almost equalised in stunning style on 49 minutes when Merida jinked past three Burnley defenders before sending a right-foot strike inches wide.

Burnley matched Arsenal's attacking intent with their own, however, and Coyle's team pushed forward in search of the second goal that would as good as seal the game.

It came on 57 minutes when Eagles's quick throw-in released McDonald in the Arsenal penalty area.

The former Dundee midfielder ghosted past Mark Randall before hitting his right-footed strike into the far corner.

AFP

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  1. BENDTNER FOR THAT REASON AM OUT!! I MEAN YOUR­ FIRED!!!!!!!

    From Wilson-M, on Thu 4 Dec 11:20PM

  2. Wenger - PLEASE get rid of Bendtner, hes a liability,­ seen him miss some sitters recently, dont trust him at­ all, its like he plays against Arsenal when hes on the­ pitch. My heart sinks when he comes on coz i know hes­ gona mess up again when he should be scoring 4 us, easy­ goals.... !!!! Maybe he'll get back to form in time­ but u shouldnt be relying on him to get results,­ especially at a time like now!

    From sweetie, on Thu 4 Dec 1:12PM

  3. wenger seems to sell better players and remain with­ some @#$% like bendtner,look at alidiere,bentley.Tha­ tall dane should just go.Period.

    From masindemasika, on Thu 4 Dec 11:53AM

  4. isn't wenger only pointing out what gallas was­ talking about and lost his captaincy for it? no the­ problem is not the players but the manager. can­ somebody contrast to mr. wenger the team fergurson­ assembled against blackburn and what our good professor­ put up for burnley to whip? tevez, nani, anderson,­ nevile, all that. arsenal is going to be a joke for a­ very long time untill wenger wenger will wake up from­ his stupor. gooners, wake up. you can't join wenger­ in his selective amnesia and hope that any silver ware­ is coming this season. coming from where? me thinks­ there are more serious and worthy teams and managers in­ the league than our team. too bad.

    From Sylvester, on Thu 4 Dec 10:17AM

  5. No mention of Wenger pointing finger at Bendtnar . So­ headline is sensationalism. Is Eurosport now become the­ Dailysport of the sports media world? Me thinks­ Yes!
    The carling cup is not worth risking the first­ team.Its comes behind the Prem, CL, FA cup and even a­ top 4 place in the league. There are too many­ "internet cafe fans" out there who dont have­ a clue about football. The sack Wenger brigade should­ go and support Man City they are gonna buy every­ mercenary in the football world next season.
    Comon the­ Gunners!

    From NLondonisred, on Thu 4 Dec 9:52AM

  6. Where in Wenger's comments does he specifically­ single out Bendtner or question his mettle? Eurosport­ articles seem do be going towards this sort of­ sensationalist rubbish lately

    From macca2eb, on Thu 4 Dec 9:09AM

  7. I have been saying for months Bendther is a Mut, he­ always fumbels in front of the goal, absolutly not a­ good sign for a striker, all that he has going for him­ is his hieght but no talent, period...tell him to go­ back to Birmingham, for Free and do us all a favour...

    From ejazz, on Thu 4 Dec 6:58AM

  8. To be fair i dont think there is a disrespect towards­ the Carling Cup by Wenger. Arsenal have a pool of­ players who happen to be young and eager to perform.­ Like Mark Hughes once commented " I dont think­ there is a 1st team or 2nd team in the Arsenal­ squad" after watching the so called '2nd­ team' play against Blackburn at the Carling Cup­ game. The team that lost to Burnley is a good team­ worthy to play in the premier league its just that­ Burnley was the better team that night.....or is it­ Bedtner was baaaddd!!!

    From hisham n, on Thu 4 Dec 6:33AM

  9. It`s just simple...sell bendtner and buy or loan­ nicolas zigic....he has class,power and strength....and­ he`s taller than peter crouch...

    From mohd, on Thu 4 Dec 1:42AM

  10. queenlanis... since when has winning the league cup­ been a dream?.... do you really think wenger would keep­ playing the kids in it if he really wanted to win it...­ even when we made the final against chelski a few­ seasons ago he played the kids, you would've­ thought that if he really wanted to make "this­ dream a reality" he would've put the first­ team out for that match

    From doggs, on Wed 3 Dec 11:27PM

  11. 15 million euros**

    From omar.fahmy24, on Wed 3 Dec 10:27PM

  12. vela is better than bedtner. bedtner is more­ experienced in the arsenal side, but vela is more­ experienced in general (played almost every game at­ osasuna last season). vela can score at anytime, and­ scores beautiful goals.
    sell bedtner im pretty sure­ livpool would buy him for 15 euros (they're stupid)

    From omar.fahmy24, on Wed 3 Dec 10:26PM

  13. Poor Bendner he won't even make it in my local ­ BULAWAYO team BOSSO

    From ARSENAL FOR LIFE, on Wed 3 Dec 8:29PM

  14. i think its time wenger realises how much bendtner has­ costed us so dearly last season in the champions league­ against liverpool i still remember him blocking our­ winning goal the rest i dont want to be upset its time­ bendtner should be sold?
    wonder who is gonna buy :))

    From Christopher L, on Wed 3 Dec 7:54PM

  15. I am amazed. Has Arsene only just realised that­ Bendtner is useless ? There are more than 50,000 people­ at the Emirates who could have told him long ago.

    From Gussy Fink-Nottle, on Wed 3 Dec 7:18PM

  16. BENDTNER SHOULD GO SIMPLE AS THAT, HOP EDWADO RETURNS­ SOON.

    From Wilson-M, on Wed 3 Dec 6:57PM

  17. I totally agree with the sentiment about Bendtner &­ have so for a really long time. He's just too­ lackadaisical or maybe he needs to watch some Arsenal­ highlight videos to understand what is expected of him.­ What has he really done in the last 1 1/2-2 seasons?­ Nothing! Maybe Wenger isn't totally pointing the­ finger/blame right at him but I think it's clear­ enough and that he should listen to himself and put­ Bendtner up for trade. I can't imagine how much­ money we'd get for him but he's got to go. Vela­ has so much more fire, control, creativity, and hunger­ about him that really I can't understand­ Wenger's decision to repeatedly start the lad and­ give him so many chances, but I do strongly believe in­ Wenger. I'm sure Bendtner is a cool person but he­ is definitely not Arsenal material, not even in the­ quote unquote "young guns" category. Watching­ him you would think he is on the training ground the­ day before a game just going through the motions with­ zero heart. I want Fabregas, as captain, to put him in­ his place & make clear to him what the @#$% is up.­ God damn I miss Eduardo and Rosicky. It's such a­ damn shame about those two. They both have flare,­ vision, and respect for the work ethic required to be a­ Gunner and a Champion. Please hurry back you two but­ in the meantime Wenger please heed your own analysis­ and pick up someone in the meantime. I hear Yaya's­ possibly in talks to be a Gunner & I hope it's­ true and as far as strikers I really like­ rewardme23's suggestions: Aguero, Podolski, Guiza,­ & even better Saviola, probably the most underrated­ and underused striker in all of football. Obviously he­ doesn't gripe about riding the bench but I think he­ would flourish in a team that respects and supports­ him. "C'mon you Gunners"!!!

    From ali_r_stevenson, on Wed 3 Dec 4:22PM

  18. Post 52. Perhaps you're not old enough to remember­ 1987 & 1993 when we did win this cup. Possibly the­ last time we put a full strength team out for it too­ perhaps?

    From Nick, on Wed 3 Dec 4:21PM

  19. A poor performance by arsenal kids last night but, for­ me Bendtner has GOT TO GO! He clearly not ready for the­ Premier league or in a top 4 team. Wenger it’s time for­ u to start spending this money u always talking about­ but can’t spend. If u need help to what sort of plays­ u want 2 bring in here is a list:
    Strikers - Lukas­ Podolski, Mario Gomez, Vincenzo Iaquinta, Andrei­ Arshavin, Daniel Guiza, Miroslav Klose, Sergio Aguero,­ Javier Saviola,
    Defensive Midfielder - Ruben De la­ Red, Marcus Senna, Daniele De Rossi, Gareth Barry, Raul­ Albiol ( can play as a centre back), Yaya Touré,­ Alberto Aquilani, Miguel Veloso, Torsten­ Frings
    Defender- Matthew Upson (bring him back), Micah­ Richards, Cristian Zapata, Ezequiel Munoz, Daniel van­ Buyten, Richard Dunne,
    So, come on wenger guide us­ back to the silverware.

    From Richard, on Wed 3 Dec 3:40PM

  20. Pink boot , lovely styled hair £30,000k a week ....what­ do you want from him? lol

    From R G, on Wed 3 Dec 2:48PM
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