Dennis Bergkamp Talks Arsenal, Arsene Wenger, Premier League, Johan Cruyff, More

Former Arsenal forward Dennis Bergkamp has expressed his exasperation that Leicester City and Tottenham Hotspur are currently ahead of the Gunners in the race for the Premier League title. 

Speaking to his ex-team-mate Martin Keown in an interview with the Daily Mail, the Dutchman, who is now assistant manager to Frank de Boer at Ajax, opened up on a host of different topics. But talk naturally centred on his former side and what’s been yet another frustrating campaign for Arsenal.

“When you start a season you think, ‘OK, if we can stay on top of Man City, Man United and Chelsea, we will win the league’,” said the Dutchman. “Now there are two other teams in front of Arsenal. It’s ridiculous.”

Bergkamp, who won three league titles and four FA Cups as an Arsenal player, then opened up on why he feels the club have been unable to secure a Premier League title in the last 12 years:

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In Holland, we say you have to live like a monk. You focus on your job, you go home, you eat, you watch television, you go to bed. You get up, you go to training and you just live for football. For some people that’s more difficult than for others but there’s so much glory at the end. There’s a certain buzz that goes through the club and you have to cherish that.

Sometimes it doesn’t look like this current group has that. But once you’ve tasted success, then you know how it is. If you know how to win games it gets easier. When they won the FA Cup, they were in the flow and able to win it again. Now they need a championship and then with this squad they can stay there for many years.

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Arsenal seemed on course for a third FA Cup win in as many years this season before they were eliminated in surprising fashion by Watford in the quarter-finals. When you consider they were dumped out of the Champions League at the last-16 stage and are 13 points behind league leaders Leicester City ahead of Week 33 of the Premier League, it’s been a season to forget. 

“They’ve got tremendous players, and they should be able to win the championship, but one of the biggest problems is defence,” pondered the former Oranje star. “So many times the team have to react to going a goal behind or two goals behind. That happens too much.”

Subsequently a lot of pressure has come the way of manager Arsene Wenger, with fans holding up banners calling for the Frenchman to be relieved of his duties at recent games. Bergkamp thinks he still has a lot to offer the football club, though.

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“I still think he’s got that drive, and if he gets the opportunity to stay there, he will take it I’m sure,” said the Ajax coach. “He’s still a good manager, and you never know what you’ll get if you bring a new one in. That’s the problem. Look what happened at Man United when Sir Alex Ferguson left. You never know what’s better.”

After the club’s 3-3 draw with West Ham United last weekend, another former Arsenal man, Ian Wright, expressed his doubts over Wenger’s future, per BT Sport Football:

Turning to his own coaching career, Bergkamp spoke candidly about the effect Ajax icon Johan Cruyff had on his development. 

The former Barcelona player and manager died aged 68 last month, and his pioneering achievements in the game have been reminisced about since. Speaking about when he re-joined Ajax, Bergkamp revealed that Cruyff pushed him into emboldening his ambitions.

“When I was doing my coaching badges, my wife and I had dinner with him [Cruyff], and he was explaining how he saw the future of Ajax,” said the 46-year-old. “I was just coming out of football and was thinking I could coach a youth team, taking it slowly—but he wanted me to be a director! He was way ahead of other people.”

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Having someone like Bergkamp in the setup at Ajax, a man who is clearly a sharp thinker and was a tremendous player, is to the club’s immense benefit. And while this is the team where the striker came through the ranks and began his path to footballing immortality, you do wonder whether Arsenal could do with someone of his stature around the football club.

Not only did Bergkamp light up Highbury with his graceful playing style, he was part of a team that were serial winners.