My mate Nik Bendtner

Imagine you are in the pub having a quiet drink in the corner on your own. An Arsenal player walks in and seeing your scarf/shirt asks if he can sit down at your table and have a chat and a few beers. After the initial shock and the thought  “Is he trying to pick me up?”, you settle down to an enjoyable evening drinking and chewing the fat. My question is which player would you choose to join you?

This is inspired by the discussion about Cesc and his potential to upset the dressing room on his return to THOF. Would he? Could he? Has he the strength of personality to influence the dressing room? And from there my thoughts went to “how do we know what Cesc is like” or any of the players? Does their pitch performance give any indication of their personality ,and if so who is the player I would like to know?

This has nothing to do with who is my favourite player, it is who would I like as a friend. For example – Sagna. Would he be the sort of chap whom I could empathise with? Sadly not –  the blonde braids  rule him out. Gallas? – looks a bit surly to me and doesn’t smile much – the sort of bloke who likes to start a fight.

I have narrowed it down to four …. Eboue, Arshavin, Rosicky and Bendtner. I think these three could be really entertaining company. All good for a laugh, and in Arshavin’s case highly intelligent. Eboue has a fine sense of the dramatic and when he smiles, he lights up – plus he is the joker in the squad, however I struggle to understand his English, so I would have to rule hím out. Arshavin has a degree and a life away from football. His website is hugely amusing and he appears to be a rounded personality. A family man and a rebel – an attractive mix. Rosicky is another intelligent man and clearly has an eye for the ladies – have you seen his wife!. He smiles and laughs on the pitch and yet can be steely and determined.

But it would have to be Nik. A man who can destroy an Aston Martin and the next day go to work in his second car, the Porsche; a man who at the age of 22 is dating a stunning Danish Baroness (and one of the richest women in the world); a noted beer monster, and a guy always up for a party. Plus, he can be serious and speak intelligently about a range of subjects. You know you would have a laugh with Nik.

Who would you choose?

47 Responses to My mate Nik Bendtner

  1. Gooner no1's avatar Gooner no1 says:

    hahahahaha

  2. Ashley Dods's avatar Ashley Dods says:

    Johan Djourou

  3. irish gooner's avatar irish gooner says:

    armand traore

  4. Ben's avatar Ben says:

    Arshavin! No doubt!

  5. Tommo's avatar Tommo says:

    Very good question… Um I really wanted yo pick someone different but I’d have to say nic too. He seems very intelligent and I bet he has a really crap sense of ironic humour, which I always find hillarious.

  6. Evo In oz's avatar Evo In oz says:

    Aussies robbed last night!

  7. RockyLives's avatar RockyLives says:

    What a great question. Leave aside the obvious drawback that every modern professional player would immediately turn on his heel if he entered a bar and saw a fan wearing his club’s shirt, as a fantasy it’s fun.
    I would have to go for Arsh, for his sense of humour. And I could vouch for him being over 18.

  8. SharkeySure's avatar SharkeySure says:

    Van Persie or Clichy for me.

    Both seem like well rounded individuals, with some sense of moral values.

  9. Rasp's avatar Rasp says:

    Afternoon all,

    It’d have to be Arshavin for me too, the accent alone makes me laugh.

    Sharkey, RvP is much more of a party animal than you may assume – I have inside information 😛

  10. Rasp's avatar Rasp says:

    I always think that Arshavin should take to the pitch with a satchel on his back. Sometimes I confuse him with the kids that walk out with the players and wonder why he’s still around when the whistle blows.

    There’s a hell of a lot of talent compressed into that small frame, I hope he is free to express it next season surrounded by the right players and without injury.

  11. RockyLives's avatar RockyLives says:

    Rasp, I reckon Arsh is going to be the PL Player of the Year next season. Just a gut feeling.

  12. Rasp's avatar Rasp says:

    I really hope so Rocky. He took a lot of stick last season unfairly I think. He was asked to play up front on his own and was carrying various injuries. He is the closest to a footballing genius we’ve had since DB10 and should be given a free role behind the strikers.

  13. neil's avatar neil says:

    it would have have to eboue cuz be a laugh or even wenger the guy is genuis

  14. RockyLives's avatar RockyLives says:

    Neat goal from Paraguay.

  15. TEST@123.com's avatar TEST@123.com says:

    test2

  16. SharkeySure's avatar SharkeySure says:

    Test3!

  17. SharkeySure's avatar SharkeySure says:

    Test post from my mobile above…please ignore.

    Gracias amigos…

  18. Rasp's avatar Rasp says:

    No worries Sharkey,

    Italy a goal down to NZ – the bookies must be loving this WC.

  19. Big Raddy's avatar Big Raddy says:

    Traore. that was very droll

  20. Rasp's avatar Rasp says:

    Lesson of the world cup so far …. good ‘teams’ are winning, not necessarily sides with good players.

  21. Big Raddy's avatar Big Raddy says:

    Italy have to cheat to score against NZ. I hope they get dumped out early.

    They were the worst WC winners ever in ’06, and they are worse this year.

  22. LB's avatar London says:

    What a fun idea for a post, I would go for Fabregas and beg him to stay.

  23. Big Raddy's avatar Big Raddy says:

    I’d pay for the beers if you succeeded London

  24. Rasp's avatar Rasp says:

    Cesc is staying now – I’ve decided 🙄

  25. Mayank's avatar Mayank says:

    I’m surprised there are such few comments to such a compelling post! 😀

    I have to say if I had to pick a friend it’d be Theo. Roughly the same age as me, seems intelligent and I’m used to being the joker in my group so that’s okay. Plus with the king of dosh he has he’d always pay for drinks. After that it’s be Nik.

  26. Shaun's avatar Shaun says:

    I’d probably take Fabianski just to tell him how sh*t he was. Oh and Almunia.

    Wouldn’t mind a beer with Sol I think he’s a good guy, but it’s gotta be Eboue. One of the only Arsenal players I see with a smile on his face all of the time, nice to see.

  27. dandan's avatar dandan says:

    nice one Raddy,

    Only one for me, the man himself would love a good dinner in a decent french restaurant with Arsene (somewhere like the Bleeding Heart) , I bet just listening to him talk about the wine list would be an education,let alone football. Intelligent, educated, urbane,cultured. what more could you ask for in a dinner companion?

  28. kelsey's avatar kelsey says:

    Indeed an interesting post Raddy, and personally I would find it very difficult to chose one single player,but most probably in the Wenger years it would be DB10,but if I was greedy it would be (don’t laugh) Pat Rice.He has been associated with the club for 40 + years and can you imagine the insight he could give you on the team he played in and also the various players that have come and gone during that time.

  29. RockyLives's avatar RockyLives says:

    Nice one Dandan. Wouldn’t it be great to have an open and honest conversation with AW.

  30. jawbreaker's avatar jawbreaker says:

    Eboue would be a laugh

  31. Big Raddy's avatar Big Raddy says:

    You are right AW would be a very interesting dinner companion, but as a friend, it is Nik for me

  32. Rasp's avatar Rasp says:

    Brazil 1 nil at half time. How good would we be defensively if we had Melo playing alongside Song – we wouldn’t need CB’s 😉

  33. Big Raddy's avatar Big Raddy says:

    Brazil are superb, what a 10 minutes of football. By far the best we have seen.

    Could we get a dream final – Brazil v Argentina?

  34. Big Raddy's avatar Big Raddy says:

    Well that was a super game, best so far. Loved all the diving and I cannot recall Drogba going down once – he must be protecting his arm!

  35. RockyLives's avatar RockyLives says:

    Some great footy from Brazil, but the amount of simulation – from both sounds – was just appalling. The second yellow for Kaka was pure farce and I hope the Ivorian player involved gets a three match ban for play-acting.
    One of the reasons I have found the last two WCs – and now this one – harder to enjoy is because of the amount of diving and injury-faking.

  36. RockyLives's avatar RockyLives says:

    * from both SIDES

  37. Phemchy_nigeria's avatar Phemchy_nigeria says:

    Wel for me its nasri

  38. […] My mate Nik Bendtner Imagine you are in the pub having a quiet drink in the corner on your own. An Arsenal player walks in and seeing your […] […]

  39. luke's avatar luke says:

    the verminator (with a nickname like that how can you go wrong).. he also seems very down to earth and loyal. or ofcoarse nasri he seems to have a cool ayre about him…

  40. Strange_Dog's avatar Strange_Dog says:

    Imagine having a pint with Jens Lehmann…

  41. ChärybdÏß1966's avatar charybdis1966 says:

    Morning all, bit of a late answer here, but for me the most interesting guy to chew the fat over with is the meerkat, my heritage and his share a common sense of melancholia and after the euphoric stage of drinking I would “happily” settle into the maudlin’ stage of drunkenness.
    I can imagine what we’d say then ”It’s a rum old world, eh?”

  42. SharkeySure's avatar SharkeySure says:

    “I’m surprised there are such few comments to such a compelling post! ”

    Mayank, its more than a surprise, its almost criminal. Raddy had a magnificent post on 30th May about ‘that night at Anfield’ and it barely caused a ripple.

    If you missed it, go read it, NOW !!

    Morning All

  43. LB's avatar London says:

    Angry football fan talks to his mate after Friday night’s game:

    “We couldn’t even beat that crap team……I’m ashamed to be Algerian”.

  44. Rasp's avatar Rasp says:

    New post ….

  45. 26may1989's avatar 26may1989 says:

    Am late to this one, but I’d be happy to share a drink with anyone other than Gallas. Am not sure about Fabregas, he seems to have become more of the big I am recently, but am willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.

    Faves would be Almunia, Ramsey, Eboue, Eduardo, Sol or Bendtner. And for ex Gooners, Thierry, Pires, Dennis, Paddy, Petit, Ooh Ah Ray Parlour, Michael Thomas, Alan Smith, Paul Davis, Keown, Kolo, Spunky, Charlie Nicholas, Pat Jennings or Liam Brady would be great. Obviously, TA and Merse but only if they were on OJ……

    But a drink with Le Boss would trump any of those!

  46. James 'Raul' Stokes's avatar Jay-Jay says:

    For me it would of been Mad Jens.

  47. Ryanfuss's avatar Ryanfuss says:

    Haha, nice post. Walcott for me, since reading an interview about his WC 2006 experience where he just spent his time as a tourist with his university girlfriend. (From what I have seen the only non-wag) And how well he took missing out on the recent WC, it seems he is level headed, can take a joke (Lennon over Theo? Seriously?) and has a fresh and committed approach to the modern game and his life off the field. Plus he makes a brilliant Lewis Hamilton doppelganger.

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