A Brief History Of: Dennis Bergkamp

[Music] check out the athletic for free for seven days see the link in the description to sign up now like every other dutch boy who grew up in the 1970s dennis bergkamp was captivated by the flair and flamboyance of johan cruyff but he was also fascinated by geometry and glenn hoddle and when he learnt the game on the streets of amsterdam he played with soft touches and angles in an environment where the pavement and the parked cars were just problems to solve it was the first chapter in the story of one of the most elegant players that football has ever seen [Music] bergkamp's formative years would come at iacs and were spent between two of the club's priests of total football cruyff of course but also louis van gaal the better relationship was with cruyff it was under his management that a 17 year old berg camp then a wickedly quick right winger would make his debut at the end of that first season in 1987 iax would win the cup winners cup with bergkamp coming on as a substitute in the final a year later he would come off the bench again as ix reached the final once more this time they'd lose and in any case cruyff was already gone having fallen out with the club's hierarchy his departure in 1988 left iax in flux and burke camp between a transient cast of coaches over the next few years he would fall in and out of favor before his ascension began for real this time under the watch of van gaal now croyf and van gaal had the same basic faith in total football but with a key difference cruyff believed in empowering his players under van gaal however the system was the only star nevertheless it was he who would give bergkamp his identity van gaal pushed him in field behind the center forward into the number 10 role and eventually up into the game's stratosphere iacs were bold disciplined and intense and burkamp scored goals by the dozen with artful chips powerful drives and precise placements he created them too with passes that spun and checked cut lines and turn defenders by 1990 he had won his first cap for the netherlands in 1991 his fellow players voted him dutch footballer of the year and in 1992 iax would win the uefa cup 12 months on he would finish second behind roberto baggio in the ballon d'or voting after catching the eye of every major club in europe including into milan who would pay a dutch record 8.8 million pounds for him in the summer of 1993. now unfortunately that move placed bergkamp in the middle of a footballing culture war the inter he joined wanted to evolve away from caution and catanaccia but without really knowing how initial attempts to modernize were quickly abandoned and bergkamp often found himself playing into the teeth of a five-man defense and without the attacking numbers his abilities needed in support inter's 93-94 league season was nearly a disaster with the side finishing just a point clear of relegation and yet they won the uefa cup with bergkamp as an unlikely talisman and top scorer but that would be a false dawn he would score just three goals in serie the following season and in july of 1995 he would join bruce riock's arsenal who were at the beginning of their own revolution arsenal were transitioning away from being the dower side constructed by george graham and bergkamp gifted technical and the caliber of name that the premier league was starting to attract was a perfect emblem even if he did have his quirks for example burkamp was afraid of flying the result of too many bumpy journeys to serie away games on rickety propeller planes arsenal would have to do without him for some away matches while for others he would set off days in advance and drive the journey with longtime kitman vic akers but he still set an example at his new club british football was clinging to its drinking culture and too often post-game recovery still involved fish and chips on the team bus and a few pints down the local pub but burke camp was different he would prepare his own meals and brought a new nutritional sophistication despite this 1995-96 still started slowly he would have to wait until september to score his first goals for the club in a home game against southampton but his and arsenal's season was encouraging enough and he was also the perfect foil for ian wright and while still a work in progress reok's side attacked with five or six players rather than the few numbers the inter had been willing to commit but his future and arsenal's changed for good the following year with arsene wenger's arrival from japan burkamp's signing had marked the club's first steps towards the title but under wenger the rest of the cast started to assemble patrick vieira joined in 1996 to sit ahead of one of the best defenses in the country and emmanuel petty mark overmars and nicolas anelka arrived in 1997 to provide resilience pace and goal scoring fire for the first time since leaving iax bergkamp had the right tools at his disposal he wanted the ball quickly and he needed runners knifing off and beyond him in every direction wenger provided him with both and arsenal won a premier league and fa cup double in 1998 and bergkamp collected both player of the year awards it was a season in which he decorated english football with his ability most memorably with a dazzling hat-trick at filbert street against leicester it was also a season which ended at the world cup in france and what probably remains his signature goal you see his international career was a success but at major tournaments burke camp and the netherlands always found adversity or an unlikely obstacle in 1992 they'd been upended by the danish miracle at the european championships in 94 they might have gone further than the world cup quarter-finals had rude hullet not withdrawn from the squad and in 1996 the squad that goshidink took to england was strained by racial tension and eventually the expulsion of edgar davids there would be no world cup win in 98 but bergkamp produced the moment of the tournament with almost the final kick of the quarter-final against argentina he dragged frank de boer's 60-yard pass out of the sky took a touch around roberto ayala and put the dutch through burkamp would retire from international duty in 2000 having won 79 caps and scored 37 goals but never was he better than in marseilles now back at arsenal he would once again be the bridge between eras freddie umberg arrived in 98 thierry henry in 1999 and one year later robert perez lauren and silvan wiltord all joined in the summer of 2000. 12 months later sol campbell moved from tottenham on a free transfer becoming the last significant piece of the invincibles jigsaw again talent was being gathered around bergkamp and again his abilities would make it work likely never with more class than in december 2001 when he took his revenge on italian football facing up four juventus defenders at the end of a champions league tie he toyed and teased them on the edge of the box before picking out umberg with a picture of an assist to seal a 3-1 win he and arsenal would win the premier league in 2002 and again unbeaten in 2004. more than the trophies or the records though it's a period remembered for the attacking football that still might not have been bettered in england and of which berkamp was the conductor all the brain of the team as arsene wenger described him in the years since frank rhaegar referred to bergkamp as the beauty of the game years after his own retirement thierry on reclaimed him to have been the finest player that he'd ever played with and given that that list includes zidane messi and ronaldinho that's quite the accolade wherever he ranked though bergkamp retired in 2006 with the legacy of being his positions ideal he was the quintessential number 10 all elegance and craft vision and flair a player of perfect technique in total harmony everyone watching this can now get seven days of the athletic for free join us in reading the brilliant journalists each dedicated to 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Id: NDDTxWoiE_g

Length: 9min 9sec (549 seconds)

Published: Wed Feb 10 2021