Nicklas Bendtner - "I want to be known as a world class striker."

Nicklas Bendtner is the 22 year old Danish striker who plays for Arsenal, if you didn't already know. The young player has boasted of his plans for the future in interviews such as this one with The Guardian back in October.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2009/oct/31/nicklas-bendtner-interview-arsenal-tottenham

"Within five years I want to be the top scorer in the Premier League and I want to be known as a world-class striker. And it will happen. Trust me, it will happen. I look around at other players, I see my own ability and I can't see anything that tells me it won't happen. I'm sure people will think 'What is he talking about?' But as I have done before, and as I will do again, I will sit at the other end and laugh at those people when it is all done."

An outsider who knows nothing of football would agree that the person who made this statement is just a little full of themselves. If I was a footballer, a reasonably good footballer, I would never make such a bold statement, you would look stupid if you never did become 'a world-class striker.' In 117 appearances for Arsenal since his move from FC Copenhagen Bendtner has scored 33 goals in all competitions. Hardly the tally of a world class striker.

http://www.arsenal.com/first-team/players/nicklas-bendtner

To be fair in his first season he hardly played but since then he's started playing more and scoring a few goals. He has been injured, having a hernia operation late last year and since making a return in 2010 he has made an impact. His three goals in the Champions League clash against Porto sent the side through to the Champions League Quarter Finals and he won Danish Player of the Year for his goals which helped Denmark qualify for the World Cup 2010.

Nicklas Bendtner is an average striker, he has his good days and his bad. I don't think he'll ever be a world class striker or the top striker in the Premier League but he has scored when it

counts.

Image Source - Flickr Rob TM

For a task we were asked to find images from the website Flickr that had been licenced by Creative Commons.

This image is what I found for Journalism. Journalism can be print or broadcast and finding a picture to cover the whole area of Journalism was difficult so I chose a news desk.

Source : Flickr - Samantha Decker

This image is what I found for Sports Journalism. This reporter is interviewing an American Football player, a small part of Sports Journalism.

Source: Flickr Bernzilla

The Credit Crunch has hit the UK hard and this image of a scrunched up tenner shows how times have been hard for a lot of people.

Source: Flickr - Adebond

I really like this image of a cupcake, the Olympics are quite general but this image is simple and shows the Olympic rings.

Source: Flickr - Clevercupcakes

This image depicts Football Hooliganism. These fans are in the city of Barcelona after a game at the Nou Camp. Clambering street posts and drinking beer have become a regular scene after football matches.

Source: Flickr - Greg Robbins

This image is of the Media Factory at UCLAN. It's a modern building and offers good facilities for the students

Source: Flickr Amy Ferguson

What are Arsenal's chances of winning the Champions League?

Well they clearly have some form of a chance as they are still in the competition unlike Chelsea and Liverpool but can they really win the trophy?




They are currently in very good form, thrashing Porto in the Champions League 5-0 in spectacular fashion but not everything has been so rosy this season. They lost 3-0 to Chelsea, something I myself was surprised about and then there was the tragic leg break of Aaron Ramsey.

With the return of the not so modest Nicklas Bendtner, who actually scored a hat trick against Porto, things seem to be improving for Arsene Wenger. To win the Champions League you need to beat the best sides in Europe and I have doubts whether Arsenal can really show up on such a big occasion.



Thomas Vermaelen, the Arsenal defender, believes his squad can win the title. After being written off by many he wants to have the last laugh.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/mar/10/arsenal-champions-league-thomas-vermaelen

After visiting a forum from The Daily Telegraph it seems that the nation is divided. Even some Arsenal fans dont want to believe they can win, they seem to be pessimistic.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/leagues/premierleague/arsenal/7409181/Arsenal-5-Porto-0-can-Arsenal-now-win-the-Double.html

Arsenal are known to play flowing football and it to be 'attractive' but when they come to face Barcelona or Manchester United do they have the winning edge. I have my doubts.

How does Shaun Custis compare to Henry Winter?

Shaun Custis is the chief football reporter at The Sun. As he writes for a tabloid clearly the language and style differs majorly from the work of Henry Winter but he still gets all the facts down which are required. Some people may say he exagerrates what he writes from time to time but all in all its a pretty interesting read.

I browsed the internet trying to find out what other people think of him as a writer. I found an article on the Newcastle section of football fan site Vital Football. The short piece was far from complimentary, portayed the writer and his brother who also writes for The Sun very negatively.

http://www.newcastle.vitalfootball.co.uk/article.asp?a=85788

In comparison Custis has been regularly nominated for Sports Journalism Association awards, showing that people do recognise and likes his work. One of his more recent articles, a match report reflecting on Arsenal's 5-0 thrashing of Porto focusing in particular on striker Nicklas Bendtner, is a prime example of what Custis does.

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/football/2885696/Arsenal-5-Porto-0.html

His writing is often comic and witty yet informative. Like Winter you can tell Custis has his opinions but his writing is balanced and you believe he's well informed.

Is he a better writer than Henry Winter? I don't think so but I did enjoy looking at how his writing varied.