The DB10 interview, wants to coach Arsenal
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/arsenal/1036 5349/Dennis-Bergkamp-reveals-he-want-to-return-to-Arsenal-to -work-on-the-clubs-coaching-staff.html
Dennis Bergkamp reveals he want to return to Arsenal to work on the club's coaching staff
Former Arsenal icon Bergkamp has been inspired by the performances of Mest Özil and believes he can play a role in helping the club to major honours
By David Winner11:00PM BST 08 Oct 2013
This season just gets better and better for Arsenal supporters. They are top of the Premier League and their Champions League group, and playing some of their best football in years, inspired by the arrival of Mesut Özil. And now Dennis Bergkamp has revealed he wants to come back.
In an exclusive interview with Telegraph Sport, Bergkamp said that he hopes to come back to Arsenal one day, but as a coach and not a manager.
He also says it is time for Arsčne Wenger to break his eight-year trophy drought and revealed his admiration for Özil, observing the similarities between the two.
âThe feeling Johan Cruyff has had for Barcelona, I have the same with Arsenal,â says Bergkamp, currently assistant coach at his boyhood club Ajax.
âAt Arsenal it was a good click. I always enjoyed it. I never had a bad day there. It is always on my mind. It is part of my ambition to come back at some stage.
âI canât really plan ahead. I know I will be here [at Ajax] for at least another three or five years and then I donât know. I donât see myself being at Ajax for the rest of my coaching career. I donât see myself as a manager.
"I see myself as being part of the coaching staff. I really enjoy that role, especially the individual training with the strikers.
âIâve spoken to or have heard about others [former Arsenal colleagues] who would also love to come back.
Steve Bould is there now which is excellent. Iâve spoken to Patrick Vieira and Thierry Henry would love to come back to Arsenal one day. Tony [Adams] is a big option as well.â
Bergkamp, who won two Doubles and was one of the âInvinciblesâ with the Gunners between 1995 and 2006, knew as soon as Özil started to make his mark at the Emirates that he would be asked to make the comparison â and he is prepared.
âI donât like comparing. Weâre all unique. But I do understand the similarities people see and I believe he can be very important to the team.
"It is still early days. He is a tremendous player with a lot of effective skills like controlling the ball, making creative passes and assists, taking the right position in the field every time. And heâs extremely experienced.
âPutting all that together I think youâve got a player who can be the missing link in the Arsenal team, a player who will make a striker score goals, who will link up in Arsenalâs position-game and who will score goals as well.â
Thoughtful, skilful and decisive football has always been Bergkampâs credo.
âBehind every pass there must be a thoughtâ, as he puts it. And Arsenalâs new assist-meister is clearly a fellow-believer.
âÖzil knows exactly how to control the ball in what kind of space to give himself time. Thatâs the difference between the players and great players. With his intelligence and his touch and his skills, he is trying to do something right with every ball.â
Özil lit up Arsenalâs September with piercing passes and perfect assists. Bergkamp picks out the ball up the line to Olivier Giroud which set in motion the move that led to Jack Wilshereâs equalising goal for Arsenal at West Bromwich Albion last Sunday.
âWith that pass it seems like Özil was already calculating what the next pass should be. So he puts the ball on the side which means Giroudâs only option is to pass it to the third player. The point is that there is a thought behind that pass. You see that with his control and his movement and thatâs what I like.
âWith all the respect to the other Arsenal players, I think he is the one who can make a difference. The other players are good in midfield. But you need someone of a high-level you can be good in all areas of the pitch.â
In Bergkampâs book Stillness and Speed, Patrick Vieira describes how he used to make attacking runs because he knew Bergkamp would find him.
When Bergkamp was off the field he would not bother because others did not see the pass. Bergkamp sees something similar now.
âIt looks like itâs a relief to the other players. âOh yes this is what we wantâ, âOh this is a great ballâ. They are adapting to Özil, and moving into spaces where before maybe they didnât do that because maybe they werenât expecting the ball.â
Özilâs form was no surprise â Bergkamp had seen him playing for Germany and Real Madrid.
âWe played a few times against him with Ajax, so I got to see him close-up.
"At Madrid the problem was there were all those big names so he was more or less the fourth or fifth big name in that team. He deserved more. He deserved a free role on the pitch offensively. He is a creator.â
Former strike partner Ian Wright said Bergkampâs arrival at Highbury in 1995 helped transform âBoring Arsenalâ into the total-footballing Invincibles. He said his influence changed the culture of the club permanently.
âBut it worked the other way as well!â Bergkamp says now. âEnglish football changed my DNA too.
"It made me a better player. I played at Arsenal for eleven years and the warmth of the players, the staff and the fans ... I must have done something right. In Holland people always ask me about âmy teamâ meaning Arsenal.â
Bergkamp was appalled that some Arsenal fans abused and insulted Wenger when their team were beaten in their first day of the season by Aston Villa.
âThe things some of the fans were saying to Wenger were quite shocking. Arsčne is a decent, normal guy and Iâm sure heâs the first one who wants to win trophies.â
Bergkamp still calls Wenger âThe Bossâ and cannot believe that people doubt his ambition.
âHe wants to win trophies of course. Itâs in his nature. There are probably more reasons why Arsenal hasnât been successful over the last few years than we know of.
"For a lot of years Arsenal has been a healthy club with a fantastic big stadium, and good football. But now we all feel that itâs time that we leave that story behind us.
"You know, paying for the stadium, playing good football, bringing up a few good players. Now you feel âOK, now itâs time to get going, to really make an effort and win a trophy.
âAt some point the club was like: âLetâs get Champions League again for next year, and weâll get the money in again and build up and hopefully win a trophy.â
"But that didnât happen so now there is more pressure than ever. Can Arsenal go all the way and win that trophy? The signs are good.
"I still feel up front there should be a few more goals. Maybe in the winter transfer window they might look at that. But I think there is a chance to get to a higher level with the team.â
Dennis Bergkampâs book âStillness and Speedâ, written with David Winner and Jaap Visser, is published by Simon & Schuster.
As long as it doesn't involve flying.
Re: As long as it doesn't involve flying.
:hehe:
i'd love him anyway, though)
pure class, bergkamp :bow:
