Dennis Bergkamp

Dennis Bergkamp was one of the more fascinating Premier League footballers – a seemingly diffident player touched with genius, but a genius best appreciated by his fellow footballers. As they tell it his touch and weight of pass was unrivalled in the Premier League, even Thierry Henry deferring to him as the finest player at the club. By the end of the book you’ll probably have the impression that he was Arsenal’s Cantona, though of course he lacked the Frenchman’s obvious volatility.

Stillness and Speed takes the usual jog through his career and augments it with interviews with Bergkamp on the period of his career covered in the chapter. For British fans the main fascination will probably be the Arsenal section, where he found his footballing home. It can’t be denied that it’s a fine chapter, an insider’s view on a period in Arsenal’s history rivalled only by Hebert Chapman’s teams. This account’s at its best when canvassing the opinion of none-more-British types such as Tony Adams and Ian Wright, seeing how Bergkamp integrated into a then still parochial footballing culture and how the club developed. The quiet revelation here is also how Arsenal’s rise under Wenger was quietly fuelled by a significant injection of cash from Danny Fiszman; the talk of Arsenal being morally superior to United, City and Chelsea rather evaporates in that line. It also makes sense (along with paying off their stadium debt) of why Arsenal haven’t quite been able to fund a side genuinely competing for the title since time caught up with the Invincibles.

Equally worth the time though are the sections on Bergkamp’s development, the Cruyff influence at Ajax. Bergkamp came through when Ajax was still renowned as one of the finest developers of youth in European football and looking at these methods is a rare glimpse into overseas youth development – it also serves well as an outline of the methods Cruyff would later implement at Barcelona which ultimately resulted in one of the all-time great club sides.

I’m not quite sure the book gets to the heart of Bergkamp – perhaps he’s too reserved, too wise to let himself out, or perhaps he’s simply too cool headed to be overly drawn. Still, it’s a superior example of the football biography, even if at times only Bergkamp’s characteristic modesty saves it from hagiography. If nothing else it’ll make you want to go back and see how good he really was.… (altro)