"I love the sense of satisfaction that I get when I’ve done a swimming workout or race, and know that I gave my whole being and heart to God in every moment of the swim. It’s the best worship I can offer him."
Stillness and speed
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Dennis Bergkamp, London, Simon and Schuster, 2013. ISBN 978-147112-951-3
The book has an unusual structure but it works well. It largely consists of questions and answers – questions to Dennis and his answers. There are also questions to other people about Dennis and Dennis’s reaction to their comments.
My own best memory of Dennis was a piece of unbelievable ball-control from a game between Norwich City and Inter Milan. I was therefore totally in agreement with the statement: “No one in the history of football has had a touch quite as soft, precise, masterful and elegant as Dennis”. Bob Wilson says: “It was his total mastery, total mastery, of the ball. He was like a juggler on stage, except people were kicking him”.
What I had not realized was that the period at Milan was such a disaster for him that he contemplated giving up playing: “And by the summer of ninety-five I had a lot of doubts in my mind. What kind of footballer am I? Do I still want a career? Do I want to stop at twenty-eight? Because after Inter I’m just fed up with this, I really don’t enjoy this any more”.
Guiseppi Bergomi is quoted to the effect that Dennis’s star status in England was due to the fact that “in England they weren’t used to seeing players of such great technical quality like Bergkamp or Zola... who gave a completely new interpretation, a new perspective of football”.
Former Arsenal vice-chairman, David Dein said: “the combination of Arsene and Dennis definitely changed the culture of Arsenal Football Club”.
Dennis was initially shocked about the diet of footballers in England. “The first evening I went for a walk with my wife and saw eight or nine Arsenal players sitting outside a pub, drinking beer. I thought: ‘This is unbelievable! You’ve just had two hard sessions to prepare for the season, and now everything you did is going down with the alcohol!’”
Bergkamp gives some remarkable insights into his own approach to football. He asked players to hit the ball hard at him during games: “Yes, always give me a strong pass because I want to challenge myself by controlling a difficult ball. You have to keep pushing and testing each other”.
Thierry Henry adds that even in training Dennis was a perfectionist who sought perfection with every touch of the ball.’
On taking penalties he says, “I never suffered from nerves. Anyway I liked that pressure of having to take a penalty, of walking to the spot with the ball under your arm, feeling the tension but not seizing up. You know you’re about to do something you’ve mastered. You’re close to scoring a goal, all you have to do is execute a well-rehearsed routine”.
For a player with such skill, it may be surprising that he got four red cards at Arsenal. This is discussed in a chapter, “The dark side”. There is a fascinating section where Bergkamp explains how he had to change his behaviour with regard to going down when tackled. He observes that it was expected in Italy but regarded as cheating in England.
Another surprising chapter is “The joker”. He tells a story of the kit man talking to two girls when Dennis sneaked up behind him and pulled his shorts down. Everyone laughed so much that he adds:“You know, I’ve won some trophies. And I’ve scored some nice goals. But this maybe the highlight of my career.”
A very readable book.