I'd vote for Bergkamp too. OP, it looks like you are in the tiny minority here. Both in their peak .. I'd go for Henry but only because of the position he played, not because he was a better player, we'd get lots of goals. But I would still say Bergkamp was the better player. We can't ALL be wrong. Bergkamp was capable of doing things nobody else could do and I mean nobody.
Having watched Arsenal since the early 80's I have seen many great players. For me Bergkamp was the best player to ever wear the Arsenal shirt. Wright, Anelka, Henry all said at various times that their job was made easier by playing alongside Bergkamp. Henry was a great great player and will always be a legend, but Bergkamp was an all round technically better player. His vision and touch were arguably up there with the best players of all time.
Arguably ? Absolutely definitely. The only players I put on a par with Bergkamp are the likes of Hagi, Scifo, Baggio etc, these players all did it on the greatest stage too, the World Cup.
Bergkamp's former strike partner Thierry Henry praised the Dutchman after his last game for the club: "Dennis is the best player I have ever played with as a partner. It is a dream for a striker to have him in the team with you."
I should know better and not get involved - BUT.... Dennis was a team player without equal - Thierry was a bit me, me, me.... (and the side played better when he went !!).
Dennis was the most gifted player we have had alongside perhaps Liam Brady who was a legend of a player. I don't agree Henry was selfish, he created loads of goals and was unselfish to his detriment at times I felt, would have won more goal scoring awards if he had been more selfish. Top for me is Dennis then - Henry - Brady.
Cool anecdote lifted from Wiki: "One night last year some legends of Dutch football gathered for dinner in an Amsterdam house. Around midnight conversation turned to an old question: who was the best Dutch footballer ever? Dutchmen have been voted European Footballer of the Year seven times, more than any other nationality except Germans. Yet Jan Mulder, a great centre-forward turned writer, chose a player who had never even threatened to win the award nor, at the time, a Champions League: 'Bergkamp. He had the finest technique', said Mulder. Guus Hiddink, the great Dutch manager, nodded, and so the matter was settled."[
Henry was a winner, always wanted the ball so he could do something. There is a difference between greed and someone who wants to be involved. Henry was the latter. Bergkamp was probably the best player to wear an Arsenal shirt, one of the best ever in the Premier League. He's my personal favourite player (Which is a bitter pill to take as a Pool fan)and just some of technical ability would make players look foolish. He made players around him look special with his passing, movement and all round playmaking, plus he could score. A striker with Silva's ability. Pretty much sums him up.
Henry had an aura about him too! Both awesome, both at their peak would turn our seasons around. Right now I'd take Henry at his best as I think he'd suit us more right now (pace/arrogance/finishing/commiting players) but I shan't lie, I wouldn't be upset if I turned up tonight and a young and healthy Dennis was in our starting line-up! Ah... I'm sad now as that's not going to be the case.
I wouldn't say Henry was selfish but he started to get a bit stroppy with the players around him, when he didn't receive the ball. This is the 'greed' I think others are referring to. I didn't like that side of him at all and I think that is the reason we played better when he left, the younger players played in fear with Henry.
............why has he not been brought into the arsenal setup with the view of taking over from wenger at some point. i would have thought he would be a natural manager for your lot. ( i'm a canary who admires the gunners by the way).
No evidence of his managerial ability as of yet. People were saying Keane would be the next manager of man utd too but his career hasn't panned out that well has it?
......i didn't mean make him manager right away, but get him into the system to learn for a couple of years as an assistant to wenger and rice to see if he has the potential.
he is assistant manager at ajax, has previously stated that he does not want to be a manager and is happy to be in the coaching set up rather than the main man.
Bergkamp's game was about the little moments in time. He won't do a Maradonna and dribble round all of a team's defenders before scoring, he'll collect a long range pass with one touch, take another to get it past the defender and then he'll score with the next. It wasn't amazement merely at what he could do, it was amazement at the fact that he thought to do it.
The (non) Flying Dutchman for me too. Remember him playing for Ajax in the late eighties early 90s. Pure class he was then too. Most of his goals were brilliant but he made them look easy.
