Morning all.
On this very day twenty years ago, Dennis Bergkamp arrived at Arsenal for a British record of £7.5 million. He went onto make 423 appearances for the Club between 1995 and 2006, scoring 120 goals – including some absolute classics.
Marco Van Basten: ‘If Ryan Giggs is worth £20 million, Dennis Bergkamp is worth £100 million’.
He’d be worth a lot more in this day, maybe as much if not more than Messi, he really was that good.
Dennis once said ‘Behind every kick of the ball there has to be a thought’. He said many other things too and his book was a very interesting read. Finding out what made him tick in the game was incredible but then so was Dennis. A truly remarkable and gifted man….
Arsene Wenger didn’t sign our Dutch genius but he sure benefited from having such a quality footballer in his squad and together with other really high skilled footballers who Wenger did sign, success was almost imminent.
He’s been talking about his own managerial position….
If you consider the average lifespan of a manager is 12 months, then I was so lucky to have 35 years so far. So I push on. I am not naive enough to believe I will be forever on a football pitch! At some stage I will have to do something different.
But as long as I can, I want to be on the pitch. That’s where I’m happy, that’s where I get my satisfaction, that’s where I feel I can be useful.
I love football and I love to try to help the players to be better. I love as well that players feel they can become a better player at this club. I think that’s an important part of the job. I started at the age of 31, now I am 65 and I’ve never stopped. Never, not for a day. So I have spent 34 years on the pitches every day. It has been my life and it will be my life as long as I can do it.
It’s quite incredible that nineteen of those thirty-five years have been at one club. Despite not winning anything for a huge chunk of his Arsenal career, the owner/board have always stood by Arsene Wenger clearly backing him to bring us back to glory whilst around the world of football and especially here in England, other managers have been axed at the drop of a hat.
But I guess that’s because whatever goal was set out by that clubs board/owner was not being met although sometimes and perhaps in many cases, some of the managerial sackings have been an absolute joke. Real Madrid’s latest change is almost laughable. Rafa Benitez?
Back to Arsene Wenger. Clearly he has achieved all that was set out by the board each year, especially during our move to The Emirates and the years that followed. A Champions League place for the big money was needed and that’s exactly what he got until the last two seasons when an FA Cup Trophy was thrown in too. Nice!
But now the aim must be higher, a lot higher. I’m sure it always has been to be fair but now it’s really achievable. The players have learned what it’s like to win together, they must want more trips to Wembley, they must want more medals around their necks….
Signing Petr Cech, if we do, brings a guy into the squad who has won more. He’s won it all in fact, barring the World Cup and Euros but that’s ok, we’ve got Ozil and Mertesacker to brag about that… lol
That’s one of the main reasons I think signing Cech would be a great move and of course that he’s a top class goal keeper who still has 3/4 years at the top of his game. He’ll be hungry for more silverware that’s for sure and that kind of mentality soon becomes infectious and that’s the kind of player we need imo. Players who smell silver and go all out to win it!
Maybe that’s why he’s set to become our highest ever paid goalkeeper earning £100,000 a week according to reports and that’s more than he was earning at Chelsea, but not as much as if he decided to move to PSG!
Still, that’s the price he has to pay if he’s to stay happy and settled in London….
Other Gossip:
- Arsenal have tabled a £28.5m bid for Lisbon midfielder William Carvalho – but might need £8.5m in add-ons to trigger his release clause. (The Sun)
- Arsenal and Tottenham will fight it out for Monaco’s £25 million-rated French midfielder Geoffrey Kondogbia (Daily Mail)
- Paris Saint-Germain midfielder and Arsenal target Adrien Rabiot has handed in a transfer request – via his mum. (The Mail)
- Manchester City will offer £40million for Arsenal’s Jack Wilshere if they fail to land in-demand Paul Pogba from Juventus (Daily Star)
- Arsenal’s Spanish star Santi Cazorla is determined to stay at the club, and has rubbished rumours that he could be set to return to La Liga and Atletico Madrid. (The Mail)
- Manchester City will launch a stunning £40m bid for Jack Wilshere if Paul Pogba rejects a move to the Etihad.(The Star)
- No-one wants Arturo Vidal now because of his little car accident which means Arsenal are free to snap him up…..
Finally, Chile were on fire last night as they battered Bolivia 5-0. Alexis Sanchez was outstanding apparently and his goal was pretty good…
That’s it for Saturday, have a good one guys..
Great post as always Rico…
I wonder does the person or persons responsible for selling us Bergkamp and Vieira still wake up in cold sweats.
What kind of reaction they would have at Inter if we went back to buy another one of their players.
Morning all
Your up there with the best of them rico……….gossipers that is !
Morning Gooners.
Morning all..
Thanks Tai.
I do my best Micko… lol
Off out for the day so catch up later..
have a good one all…
Was he on less at the chavs as according to a few chav sites he was on the same money but then they would claim that wouldnt they lol
Morning all.
Dennis was the best we’ve ever had, the best the PL has ever seen and the best first touch in the history of the game, IMO.
Great post, Rico.
Joe
Bergkamp came from inter. Vieira came from AC Milan.
afternoon all!
Very hot here today!
Bergkamp said that Wright’s attitude was infectious , Wright said Berkamp’s was incredible . After Wrighty came Anelka and then Henry Just how many he would have got without Bergkamp to set him on his way is anyone’s guess. I would wager not as many as he did. I always thought that Brady was the best player I had seen at Highbury . That mantle passed to Dennis the moment he took Southampton to bits from 30 yards. Great player and a pleasure to watch , I told my son at the time “you are being blessed to see this ” he still has not forgotten.
Good Morning to The Lady of the House and all fellow Gooners in residence.
DB10 truly one of the games greats and a gentlman too. He will be remembered as such for many years to come.
Henry admitted that he would not have scored so many goals for Arsenal without the wizardry of Dennis laying them on the plate for him. Dennis scored some fine goals himself. My favourite was his against Newcastle wher he passed the ball past the defender on one side and he ran past on the opposite side to pick up his own pass to shoot and score. Classic!
Nice pos5
Goonered thanks it turns out he was at inter after we sold him silly mistake.
Ok it’s no football club in Milan will want to see Arsenal come to buy their players if their Arsenal careers turn out like Bergkamp and Vieira.
Evening guys…
Just watched a super end to what was a great one day series of cricket. Well done to both sides, especially England 🙂
Afternoon Rico…
Interesting post, that was a great summer, snapping up Bergkamp and David Platt…
Arsenal changed forever after those two massive signings…
Afternoon All
Hi Kev, glad you liked it… Lol
It sure was a great summer twenty years ago….. I was only six….
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-3132618/Dennis-Bergkamp-signed-Arsenal-20-years-ago-Bruce-Rioch-20-images-legendary-Dutch-striker.html
Been a long day so I’m off…
Night Kev and all….
Kev, Italy 1990, World Cup quarter final, Belguim, 120th minute winner, life changer, the difference between a headless chicken and one of the most expensive transfered players of his time !
Don’t knock it rico, my ole man was always telling me about how good Dennis was !
Nite Gooners, keep it real.
You know what Mick, his transfer to Arsenal has always been a bit overshadowed by the arrival of Dennis. But signing him, was a massive deal for us and smashed our transfer record, which was, if I recall, £2.5 million for Ian Wright (or was it Stefan Schwarz?), anyway £4.75 million was serious money mate back then…
Tbh, I think he owed us at least one more season before he fcuked off…
Rico, you seem to be getting younger and younger. What on earth do you feed your chickens? 🙂
🙂 Kev, anything that’s going….
Morning all…
Morning rico….can’t sleep thought I should keep you company 😀
Shniedrlin(spelling ) is back on. Silly season 😀 you just can’t make this up. Lol
Boy is it quiet around here???
Morning Goonster…
Think everyone else is asleep goonie..
New post up..