The Brilliance of Bergkamp!

By joining Arsenal in 1995, Dennis Bergkamp unwittingly managed to achieve something seminal. By just being himself, by bringing his prodigious talent to bear on the playing fields of England, he was largely responsible for a seismic shift in expectation levels, not just at Highbury but in the country as a whole. Once the princely Dutchman had started displaying his wares to disbelieving audiences up and down the land, once his incomparable skills became as much part of the scene as a crunching Tony Adams tackle, there was no going back for those privy to the pageant. The public wanted more. No longer would it settle for merely 'good' when it had seen what 'superb' could do to the pulse. Time had moved on and so had the demands, thanks to Bergkamp's brilliant machinations with the ball at his feet(see Bergkamp's Goal below)

A heavenly touch, extraordinary vision, a sublime range of passing plus a compendium of wonderful goals: who could settle for milk after this taste of ambrosia? Not Arsenal. Not Arsene Wenger. With the bar raised to an unprecedented height, anyone fancying a jump needed spring in his heels.

Bergkamp, to all intents and purposes, was the trailblazer at Arsenal. Without him, the likes of Vieira, Anelka, Overmars, Petit, Pires and Henry might not have been so inclined to head for N5. They had, after all, seen their predecessor arrive as the first genuine overseas superstar to be beguiled by Blighty. Before him, the feisty fireworks accompanying most tussles in this country, the muck and bullets attitude that has prevailed down the years, tended to discourage the so-called foreign 'Fancy Dans'.(Read More...)