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Premier League Marvels: Dennis Bergkamp
We bring to your memory some of the finest players to have plied their trade in the Football League in England. The first player in this series of articles is a certain Dutch master, Dennis Bergkamp. Atishay Agarwal elaborates...
11-Jul-2008 10:29:14 PM
Often
referred to as the greatest foreign player to have graced the English Premier
League, the non-flying Dutchman, as he is also known, lit up English stadiums and
the English League in general like no other player.
The early Bergkamp was a more prolific goalscorer, and with his hunched run and superb technique, could create goals out of nowhere. His goals for Ajax were what attracted Inter Milan to him, and they obtained the two-time Dutch Eredivisie Player of the Year’s signature in the summer of 1993. What the Italians didn’t realize though, was that Dennis wasn’t an out-and-out striker. He was no target man, not the kind of striker who would always remain in the box and wait for some service. Bergkamp’s position can best be described as ‘inside-forward’, someone who plays behind the forward line, but ahead of the midfield. At Inter, he also found it difficult to deal with the press, and had a few problems in the dressing room with his teammates, which led to his departure to Arsenal in 1995.
On his first day at training in London, his teammates bowed down to him and collectively said, “We are not worthy!” It was true. Arsenal never had a footballer like Bergkamp, and they never will. Watching him play was almost like observing an artist give the final touches to his newest creation. His movements and general play on the pitch resembled a painter’s precise brushstrokes. Also, he would slip into positions and find spaces that even a television viewer couldn’t spot, and that made him almost impossible to mark by defenders.
It was during his time at Arsenal that Dennis had his best years, both for club and country. His signing was quite significant for the club too, as his arrival coincided with the time when Arsenal lifted themselves from mid-table mediocrity to being genuine heavyweights. Arsene Wenger was quite the perfect manager for the Dutchman, and knew how to use him very well. Bergkamp excelled in his role as the supporting striker behind Ian Wright, and never more so than in 1997-98 season. He was named the Player of the Year for that season by the PFA as well as the Football Writers’ Association, as his passes and goals provided Arsenal, and English football in general, with some much needed magic.
Bergkamp was a player of moments, one who would go 89 minutes without influencing a game much, and then produce a moment of sublime skill to win the match for his team. He never had much pace, but he made up for it so beautifully with his intelligence, and this is what separated him from the rest. Dennis often said that he would visualize how to score a goal even before the pass was made to him, so that he would know what to do, and stay one step ahead of the game. It weren’t always his goals that grabbed the headlines, but his vision, which won Arsenal many a game in their successful league campaign in 1998. He was criticized in Italy for not being prolific in front of goal, but Arsenal fans soon realized that there was something more exotic about the man from Holland.
Also, when he did score, it was the quality and not the quantity of the goals which amazed one and all. The hattrick against Leceister City in 1997 comes to mind instantly. All the three goals he scored that night live on in the memories of football fans in England, and it was the only time till date that a player has finished first, second, and third in BBC’s ‘Goal of the Month’ competition. He finished the season with 16 goals and many more assists, and then went on to help Holland secure 4th spot in the World Cup in France.
At the tournament, he scored one of the greatest goals of all time to win the quarter final against Argentina. Frank De Boer sent in a 60-yard lofted pass from the left wing, which Dennis brought down with a great touch from his outstretched right boot. He then calmly turned the ball inside Roberto Ayala with the sole of his boot, and then finished pass the keeper from a tight angle to score the winner, and send his country into the last four. And due to his exploits for club and country during the season, he was voted in 3rd place in the World Player of the Year award that year.
And then there was “THAT” goal at St. James’ Park against Newcastle early in 2002. Bergkamp, with his back to goal and a defender marking him closely, received the ball at his feet just at the edge of the box. With one flick of the heal, he chipped the ball around his marker and went around him the other way. With the defender zapped, Bergkamp got to the ball first and calmly slotted home past a bemused Newcastle goalkeeper. It was one of the most surreal goals one would ever see, and another piece of ridiculous skill from the Dutch master.
As the years went by, and his pace reduced, he smartly shifted to a more withdrawn position on the pitch and chose to create goals rather than score them, and its benefits were enjoyed by the likes of Henry, Pires, and Ljungberg, with whom he had an almost telepathic understanding.
Throughout his career, Bergkamp's appearances had been compromised by his infamous fear of flying. It all started in 1994 when he was on a plane with his teammates and some journalists. The plane was taking some time to take off, which prompted one journalist to say that he suspected a bomb was planted in it. This provoked panic among passengers, and in particular Bergkamp. The incident reminded him of how a plane crash killed many Suriname-Dutch players when they flew to Suriname for a game. Ever since, Bergkamp had a lot of difficulty playing in Arsenal's European away games. Most of the times he skipped them, and if he did play, then he would usually miss the following league game as he had to travel by road. This fear, called aviophobia, also forced him to retire in 2000 from international football. According to him, he couldn't fly to Korea and Japan in 2002, and it would be unfair if he played all the qualifiers and not in the tournament. As it turned out, the Netherlands failed to qualify, which has been attributed to Bergkamp's absence.
In his last season (2005-06) as an Arsenal player, which was also Highbury’s last season, the club paid tribute to him by announcing their home game against West Brom as “Dennis Bergkamp Day”. A 36-year-old Dennis came on as a substitute with the scores locked at 1-1, and then set up the crucial winning goal for Robert Pires. But there was always a touch of romance, a dream-like quality about Bergkamp, and he showed everyone why, by scoring a beautiful 20-yard curler in the dying minutes, and doing justice to the day’s name.
He retired from football at the end of the season in 2006, and had the honour of having the first game at Arsenal’s brand new Emirates Stadium played for him. His testimonial saw several former greats of Arsenal and Ajax come together, to celebrate the player and man that is Dennis Bergkamp.
Lastly, I’d just like to post excerpts from an article by Simon Kuper of the Financial Times:
One night last year(2005) some legends of Dutch football gathered for dinner in an Amsterdam house. Around midnight, the conversation turned to an old question: who was the best Dutch footballer ever? Dutchmen have been voted European Footballer of the Year seven times, more than any other nationality except Germans. Yet Jan Mulder, a great centre-forward turned writer, chose a player who had never even threatened to win the award or, at the time, a Champions League: “Bergkamp. He had the finest technique”, said Mulder. Guus Hiddink, the great Dutch manager, nodded, and so the matter was settled.
Atishay Agarwal
The early Bergkamp was a more prolific goalscorer, and with his hunched run and superb technique, could create goals out of nowhere. His goals for Ajax were what attracted Inter Milan to him, and they obtained the two-time Dutch Eredivisie Player of the Year’s signature in the summer of 1993. What the Italians didn’t realize though, was that Dennis wasn’t an out-and-out striker. He was no target man, not the kind of striker who would always remain in the box and wait for some service. Bergkamp’s position can best be described as ‘inside-forward’, someone who plays behind the forward line, but ahead of the midfield. At Inter, he also found it difficult to deal with the press, and had a few problems in the dressing room with his teammates, which led to his departure to Arsenal in 1995.
On his first day at training in London, his teammates bowed down to him and collectively said, “We are not worthy!” It was true. Arsenal never had a footballer like Bergkamp, and they never will. Watching him play was almost like observing an artist give the final touches to his newest creation. His movements and general play on the pitch resembled a painter’s precise brushstrokes. Also, he would slip into positions and find spaces that even a television viewer couldn’t spot, and that made him almost impossible to mark by defenders.
It was during his time at Arsenal that Dennis had his best years, both for club and country. His signing was quite significant for the club too, as his arrival coincided with the time when Arsenal lifted themselves from mid-table mediocrity to being genuine heavyweights. Arsene Wenger was quite the perfect manager for the Dutchman, and knew how to use him very well. Bergkamp excelled in his role as the supporting striker behind Ian Wright, and never more so than in 1997-98 season. He was named the Player of the Year for that season by the PFA as well as the Football Writers’ Association, as his passes and goals provided Arsenal, and English football in general, with some much needed magic.
Bergkamp was a player of moments, one who would go 89 minutes without influencing a game much, and then produce a moment of sublime skill to win the match for his team. He never had much pace, but he made up for it so beautifully with his intelligence, and this is what separated him from the rest. Dennis often said that he would visualize how to score a goal even before the pass was made to him, so that he would know what to do, and stay one step ahead of the game. It weren’t always his goals that grabbed the headlines, but his vision, which won Arsenal many a game in their successful league campaign in 1998. He was criticized in Italy for not being prolific in front of goal, but Arsenal fans soon realized that there was something more exotic about the man from Holland.
Also, when he did score, it was the quality and not the quantity of the goals which amazed one and all. The hattrick against Leceister City in 1997 comes to mind instantly. All the three goals he scored that night live on in the memories of football fans in England, and it was the only time till date that a player has finished first, second, and third in BBC’s ‘Goal of the Month’ competition. He finished the season with 16 goals and many more assists, and then went on to help Holland secure 4th spot in the World Cup in France.
At the tournament, he scored one of the greatest goals of all time to win the quarter final against Argentina. Frank De Boer sent in a 60-yard lofted pass from the left wing, which Dennis brought down with a great touch from his outstretched right boot. He then calmly turned the ball inside Roberto Ayala with the sole of his boot, and then finished pass the keeper from a tight angle to score the winner, and send his country into the last four. And due to his exploits for club and country during the season, he was voted in 3rd place in the World Player of the Year award that year.
And then there was “THAT” goal at St. James’ Park against Newcastle early in 2002. Bergkamp, with his back to goal and a defender marking him closely, received the ball at his feet just at the edge of the box. With one flick of the heal, he chipped the ball around his marker and went around him the other way. With the defender zapped, Bergkamp got to the ball first and calmly slotted home past a bemused Newcastle goalkeeper. It was one of the most surreal goals one would ever see, and another piece of ridiculous skill from the Dutch master.
As the years went by, and his pace reduced, he smartly shifted to a more withdrawn position on the pitch and chose to create goals rather than score them, and its benefits were enjoyed by the likes of Henry, Pires, and Ljungberg, with whom he had an almost telepathic understanding.
Throughout his career, Bergkamp's appearances had been compromised by his infamous fear of flying. It all started in 1994 when he was on a plane with his teammates and some journalists. The plane was taking some time to take off, which prompted one journalist to say that he suspected a bomb was planted in it. This provoked panic among passengers, and in particular Bergkamp. The incident reminded him of how a plane crash killed many Suriname-Dutch players when they flew to Suriname for a game. Ever since, Bergkamp had a lot of difficulty playing in Arsenal's European away games. Most of the times he skipped them, and if he did play, then he would usually miss the following league game as he had to travel by road. This fear, called aviophobia, also forced him to retire in 2000 from international football. According to him, he couldn't fly to Korea and Japan in 2002, and it would be unfair if he played all the qualifiers and not in the tournament. As it turned out, the Netherlands failed to qualify, which has been attributed to Bergkamp's absence.
In his last season (2005-06) as an Arsenal player, which was also Highbury’s last season, the club paid tribute to him by announcing their home game against West Brom as “Dennis Bergkamp Day”. A 36-year-old Dennis came on as a substitute with the scores locked at 1-1, and then set up the crucial winning goal for Robert Pires. But there was always a touch of romance, a dream-like quality about Bergkamp, and he showed everyone why, by scoring a beautiful 20-yard curler in the dying minutes, and doing justice to the day’s name.
He retired from football at the end of the season in 2006, and had the honour of having the first game at Arsenal’s brand new Emirates Stadium played for him. His testimonial saw several former greats of Arsenal and Ajax come together, to celebrate the player and man that is Dennis Bergkamp.
Lastly, I’d just like to post excerpts from an article by Simon Kuper of the Financial Times:
One night last year(2005) some legends of Dutch football gathered for dinner in an Amsterdam house. Around midnight, the conversation turned to an old question: who was the best Dutch footballer ever? Dutchmen have been voted European Footballer of the Year seven times, more than any other nationality except Germans. Yet Jan Mulder, a great centre-forward turned writer, chose a player who had never even threatened to win the award or, at the time, a Champions League: “Bergkamp. He had the finest technique”, said Mulder. Guus Hiddink, the great Dutch manager, nodded, and so the matter was settled.
Atishay Agarwal
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