If that was an emotional time for me, it was a happier one for the new signing billed as my replacement. âAll the best Dennis,â I said. âHope everything goes well.â Looking back now, safe to say that the lad did OK in the end. Seventeen years later the 42 year-old Bergkamp cuts a contented figure as he walks into the canteen of Ajaxâs training ground, back at the club where it all began. His glittering career for club and country included 11 years at Arsenal that reaped three Premier League titles, four FA Cups and countless personal accolades. Arsenal, who travel to AC Milan for the first leg of their last 16 Champions League tie on Wednesday, have not won any silverware since Bergkampâs departure in 2006. The Dutchman refuses to blame manager Arsène Wenger for the trophy drought but believes there are fundamental problems in the squad and in the playersâ mentality. âI feel there are a lot of similar players there at the moment,â he reasons. âIt needs to be more diverse. "You need a few strong characters who can get the team going, in training as well as matches. "You also need a few players who can make a difference in terms of scoring goals. I donât feel there are enough of them. âYou look at the midfield and compare it with ours. "We had Freddie Ljungberg, Robert Pires, Ray Parlour â when it wasnât working for one of the big names, one of these could step up. "You canât only depend on one or two players. When theyâre having an off day, you need someone else.â He refers, in the main, to Robin van Persie, who has even surprised his compatriot by scoring so many goals as an out-and-out frontman. âTo be honest, I would still prefer to see Robin play a bit deeper behind the main striker so that he could pick his moments the way I used to. "I think he could be even better in that role, but the way heâs playing now you can hardly blame the coach for putting him there.â Yet not even Van Persieâs heroics have quelled the rumbling discontent. Many supporters would probably nod in agreement at the following thoughts. âSometimes you need more of a winning mentality than a passing mentality,â Bergkamp argues. âIâm not sure Arsenal have enough of that in their players, when the attitude becomes more important than the ability just to pass the ball. "I donât know if the English mentality is missing a little bit. "We had it with the back four, of course, who had the mentality of thinking, âOK, this game is ours now.â âSometimes I see their games and itâs always the same way of playing, a bit too predictable. "They are all fantastic players, that must be said, but sometimes you need a bit more of the other side.â And what of Wenger? Under the circumstances, can Bergkamp see his old boss staying at the Emirates much longer? âYeah, I think so, because the way I know him, heâs a winner. He canât just let go. "He would think he hasnât finished there yet. He would want to finish on a high or at least do something that makes the team successful again. "So I think he will wait and push as hard as possible to achieve that before he leaves. âIâve worked with Arsène for 11 years and it goes up and down. "You do well, then you need some time to rebuild, then you do well again. But the thing now is that he isnât winning any trophies. âThatâs what I was talking about earlier. Sometimes you just need to win something by showing a certain attitude to get the team going again. "That isnât happening at the moment so it is a bit of a struggle. "But I wouldnât say thatâs down to Wenger because he has been fantastic and he still is fantastic for the club. "He brings in young players and sells them on for more money. Financially, heâs doing great.â Perhaps there are comparisons to be drawn here with the situation at Ajax. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/fo...ays-Dennis-Bergkamp-ahead-of-Milan-clash.html
I think they are all valid points that Bergkamp raises, but at no point does he say that we are 'Weak and lacking a winning mentality' Your OP reads a bit like a misquoted strap line from the Daily Star.
He doesn't say we are weak and lacking a winning mentality - word for word but he does say we are weak and don't have a winning mentality. He said we don't have enough strong characters which infers weakness. He said we don't have enough of a winning mentality, we have a passing mentality. He said we are too predicatable in our play. These are things Jayram has said on numerous occasions when people jump on him for, funnily enough, being correct. The truth hurts.
Why mention Jayram?!? loads of people have said that, and i'm sure 99% of arsenal fans know it I swear jayrams going to become a cult leader!
Nah, I think Jayram gets stick for telling us we are **** when we are winning games But that aside, Bergkamp does make some valid points, although I don't think he is saying we are 'weak' at all and the 'winning mentality' he refers to the English side of the game and as opposed to playing a passing 'mentality' - which also ties in with us being predictable at times. I don't really read Bergkamps comments as being particularly critical as the OP's title suggests, more of an honest observation.
Piskies point is valid. The post should be deleted or changed. Strictly speaking it is defamatory and probably libelous. The only thing in your defense is that very few people read, or care, what you write.
To be fair, the Telegraph (Torygraph) have a similar strap line. But I don't really think it's an accurate representation of what Bergkamp is saying. A bit like the Vermaelen story about him being upset at playing LB the other day, the whole interview is far more revealing and not at all like the few words in the strp line to grab the readers attention.
But they don't put quotes round it. I actually thought Bergkamp was not being that derogatory when he answered he questions. He was trying to say that they needed a bit more confidence rather than that they were bad.
It reminds me of the Tevez story in the media yesterday.The headline was "I was treated like a dog".If you read the full story you realise that Tevez is talking about the incident in Munich and that alone
I mentioned him because he gets grief for saying the same thing and those same people are/have no doubt read this article
Bergkamp's comments repeat the very things that many of us and pundits have been saying for years. Arsenal lack leaders. Arsenal lack quality, Arsenal don't have a Plan B, Arsenal lack steel/will/determination to win. Dress it up how you want but that is what he is saying but when others vopice these opinions they are quickly jumped on.
That's the trouble with your argument. People aren't jumped on for saying these things, they are jumped on for saying we are ****, useless etc, when we aren't - In fact most people actually reason their arguments quite well and point out that there are areas for improvement. It's the absolutes - like 'always' 'never' '****' etc that are rightly pulled up for being too extreme.
Except you once again turn "lack winning mentality" into "lack steel/will/determination". One is something that comes and goes and the other is a permanent attribute. Its the difference between saying someone is a loser and saying that someone just needs to get a few wins under their belt. Massive difference. You are the one dressing it up how you want.
Not much wrong with what Bergy says, he pretty much mirrors what most of us think. He is just being polite as he doesn't want to insult/be bad towards Wenger. But he does contradict himself by saying it's the players fault for lacking mental strength and playing the same way, yet says Wenger is not at fault?!?!?! Pretty obvious isn't it....
"lacking winning mentality" is a nice way of saying, not having the balls to do it. He is just being polite as not to insult Wenger and Arsenal....
But at no point does he say we are 'lacking a winning mentality' He said " sometimes you need more of a winning mentality than a passing mentality' - which in the context of him talking about English players, to me means having the 'win ugly' mentality, which I would argue we are starting to do.
Describe it how you want, the fundamental points are not a million miles away from the problems highlighted frequently on this forum. Most posters don't simply say "we are ****", I think that is a gross misrepresentation.
Most don't, you're right. But those who do are rightly pulled up for it And that's the point really. We are not ****. I think we all recognise where we can improve we and argue the issues reasonably (as does Bergkamp in the interview) It's when people try and extrapolate a negative meaning from someone's words, which were never intended - with the intention to form an absolute and misrepresented opinion from it in order to unfairly run us down which is a problem. For me, that's the most damaging type of mentality around Arsenal at the moment.
I think what this does show, is that DB clearly has the brains to become a top coach/manager in years to come. And I for one would love to see him at Arsenal, sooner rather than later. (Infact maybe as a replacement to Pat Rice).
