Arsenal Focus: Will The Real Nicklas Bendtner Please Stand Up

Nicklas Bendtner cheated death one fine Sunday morning.

A week later, he scored a goal that proved he was very much alive and kicking.

The 21-year-old Dane's spectacular strike against Blackburn Rovers last weekend demonstrated not only his safe return to action after a life-threatening car crash, but also his determination – and ability – to make an impact for Arsenal.

In more ways than one, it was a goal of landmark importance.

Bendtner, he of the pink boots, dropped trousers and nightclub outings, had been given a shock warning about life.

His life. And football.

"I believe somebody held his hand over me," he recalled, speaking about the crash. "I don't know what, or who, but looking in a broader perspective I simply felt somebody assisting me.

"I believe fully that this was just not my time. It was not time for my life to end."

Nor his stop-start-stop-start football career, a learning process that has seen him spluttering to life and reaching full speed as smoothly as his now-shattered Aston Martin, before losing grip and direction and spinning off into blind alleys.

On the surface, it might be the story of an Arsenal star from the pre-Wenger era, when bad habits such as drinking and and gambling occupied non-training hours.

In this professional era, and under the guidance of football's most esoteric professor, Bendtner is something of a throwback – a genetic maverick. And his shocking collision with concrete, trees and grass banks was a sign that it was time he took real stock of his life.

Not quite the Great Dane | Bendtner needs to grow up

Born in Copenhagen, his blood fizzes with typical Danish energy (remember their fans' chant from the 1986 World Cup finals? 'We are red, we are white, we are Danish dynamite!') and endeavour.

That has been manifest since he joined Arsenal as a 16-year-old in 2004, but it is now time for the young stallion to concentrate on proving he is a thoroughbred.

The goal against Blackburn, and the accident, can help.

Bendtner is the only natural centre-forward of the old school in Arsenal's first-team squad, but he is still learning the game. That is why Arsene Wenger has used him as a wide player when selected in the current 4-3-3 formation.

At 6ft 4ins in height, with his power in the air, body strength and decent pace, he has all the physical ingredients required and needs only to add more technique and, perhaps, a calmer and more consistent temperament to his game to prove he belongs.

He knows his own weaknesses and he works hard to rectify them and improve.

After being photographed with his jeans pulled down outside a nightclub earlier this year, he admitted: "My actions were a poor error of judgement and something I deeply regret."

When he switched his squad number from 26 to 52, because it meant something personal to him for family reasons (and because nine was unavailable, having been taken by Eduardo), he offered to cover the costs of his fans who wished to change their replica shirts for new ones.

"Yes, I will cover the costs for anyone who goes to exchange the shirt in the official Arsenal shop," he confirmed. "I am glad to have 52 now because I never felt 26 was really for me.

"I wanted nine, then 99, but I couldn't have them. But I am at home in 52 and it feels good."

Now, having done the wild-boy routine in front of the paparazzi, crashed his car and found the shirt number that gives him home comfort, it is time for the real Nicklas Bendtner to stand up.

He has scored important goals before – against Tottenham Hotspur and Dynamo Kiev. Now he must become an important goal-scorer.  

He has to heed his lessons, improve under Wenger's tutelage, become a two-footed central striker, the focus of the attack and challenge Robin van Persie for his place in the starting side.

If he does that successfully, then one day, as he has said, he might be able to turn the prank he played at the pre-season photo-call – when he pinched the captain's armband – into a realistic ambition.

But not just yet.

First the impact substitute with wayward tendencies needs to repay someone for the divine intervention that, he believes, saved his life.

Commitment, determination and hard work are the currency for that – and a potentially long and lucrative career with a great football club.

Tim Collings , Goal.com UK