Stillness and Speed: My Story (22 page)

Perhaps there’s a child-like innocence to it as well?

‘Yes’.

There’s a lovely story in Rogan Taylor’s book about Ferenc Puskas when he was a boy in Budapest. He wouldn’t take the tram to school; he’d run alongside the tram,
dribbling his football, doing tricks.

‘Ah, that’s fantastic. I like seeing clips of Maradona at Napoli, like when he scores direct from a corner and jumps up and down like an eight-year old. Bianchi probably told him to
do that, eh? My favourite is the warm-up he did with the music in the stadium. I think it is Napoli against Bayern and the song “Live is Life” [by Opus] is playing . . .
naa nan a
na naaa
! He’s there with his Pumas, laces untied, socks down, and he’s got his tracksuit on. And while everyone else is doing the warm-up with sprinting and stuff he’s
juggling the ball
to the beat of the music . . . naa nan a na naaa!
And he kicks it in the air, like this, you know. I’m not sure if he’s singing as well. But it’s rhythm
and joy and it’s fantastic! You have to look that up! It’s really good.’

14

‘S
OME PEOPLE SAID
Dennis was too nice,’ says Patrick Vieira, hugely amused by the thought. ‘I can’t
agree at all. Dennis is not a nice sweet guy! I would not want to play as a defender against him, because he’s really clever. He looks like “the good son-in-law” on the field, but
he’s not just there to play football and the beautiful game. He has a nasty side which he can dig out when he needs it. He had a few red cards, you know. Not as many as me! But people know me
and they don’t know Dennis. He can be worse than me. He doesn’t like losing games, not even in training. He doesn’t like people making fun of him. And he doesn’t like being
kicked for nothing. He is a nice guy, a lovely guy. But if you need to go to war, Dennis you can take with you because he’s got this competitive, tough side.’

As Ray Parlour puts it: ‘Dennis had that little bit of . . . no one could bully him. You think, oh, he’s got all the talent and all the skill, but he was hard as nails, too. He
didn’t muck about. If someone did him, he’d get him back somehow, but he’d do it in a really clever way.’ Thierry Henry concurs: ‘Dennis was clever in everything. He
could be vicious in a good way on the field. And he was very brainy. Perfect. I mean, the way he played, there was never anything dumb about it. Nothing! Even when he wants to foul someone . . .
clever! Even when he got the red card he was always giving it [
makes innocent Dennis face
] “Who?
Me
? But I’m Dennis!” I loved it when he did that. If it was me,
I’d get two red cards!’

Sol Campbell recalls that before they were team-mates, Dennis was perfectly capable of giving him a hard time. ‘He was quite naughty sometimes. I mean, if he wanted to be naughty he could
be
naughty
. Like putting the foot in . . . big time! When he put his foot in, he put his foot
in
. And he was incredibly strong. Really good upper body strength. He could hold me
off quite easily.’

But Tony Adams remembers the problems Dennis faced when he arrived in England. ‘When Dennis first came he needed to be toughened up a bit. At that time, he wasn’t as physical as he
became later, but the English Premier League was very physical. At that time foreign players coming to England basically had a choice. You could say: “I just don’t fancy this,
it’s too tough for me.” I felt Vladi Petrovic was like that for Arsenal. Great talent but . . . There were quite a few foreign players up north – I don’t remember their
names – who just folded and went home. They couldn’t handle the physical side. But Dennis definitely could. He could get hold of it and go: “I can play bull as well here.”
He had a nasty streak in him in that respect. And I think he really benefited from us. In his first season he could be spiteful, reacting to things. He could get away with it because there
weren’t so many TV cameras on the go then. He wasn’t very strong. But he got stronger, and when you play with better defenders and better players, I think it makes you better. I’m
not talking about smashing him in training, but we made him play under pressure and do things early. Remember, until the mid-nineties the tackle from behind was still legal. I enjoyed it and
strikers had to deal with that. Back in the day I played against Kenny Dalglish. I’d tee him up and be waiting to go straight through him but, as the ball is coming,
he
backs into
me
.
Shoooooom
! I’m still going
aaaaaaargh
and he’s gone! Alan Brazil used to do that for Ipswich. That’s how it was then. The good support strikers knew
the defender’s going through ’em so they get it in first and then . . .
bang!
. . . they’re off. Sure, Dennis had that. Later on when the rule changed and you
couldn’t do that, you had to get intelligent. As a typical number ten, you make one run for the defender, then you come short. And if you’re a defender, you’re reading it. Is he
going to there or there? It becomes a thinking game. And, of course, Dennis could play both ways.’

* * *

I
T
’
S QUITE A SURPRISE
to realise how many cards you got at Arsenal. Four reds and 46 yellows. At one time, you almost
developed a reputation for diving, though Ian Wright says this was undeserved because you were adapting to a new country. In Italy you’d go down, because you’d get a free-kick. Some
English players didn’t like that.

Dennis: ‘In Italy you have two strikers against five defenders, so you have to find ways to protect yourself. You have to find ways of keeping the ball, doing your job properly and doing
it well. So if you are up against five defenders and you get the ball and you get a little touch, you go down. Is it cheating? In England it is cheating. In Italy it’s just part of the game.
So you adjust to the Italian game. It’s normal. And then you come to England and you realise, wait a minute, you can’t do that here. It’s not acceptable. I’m not sure . . .
I don’t call it cheating. I have seen players who cheated. It’s very difficult to say, but I sometimes used it. But I think most of the time I was honest.

Used it? Explain.

‘A lot of times you get pushed or you feel a little touch and that stops you reaching the ball. If you run on you won’t get a free-kick because no one noticed it. So you have to
react a little bit more. And then you get the free-kick. (You exaggerate a little to bring it to the referee’s attention.) But there has to be contact before I’d go down. I think
cheating is something different. For me, cheating is if you go past the defender, there is no contact then you roll over, you go down. The
schwalbe
, as the Germans say. That’s real
cheating. I didn’t do that. But if there is contact, it’s a matter of how do you exaggerate? If you don’t, you won’t get a free-kick. If you do a little bit, you might get a
free-kick or a penalty or whatever.’

But too much of that is also cheating, surely?

‘Yes, but it’s a really difficult area. For me, it’s not acceptable if you don’t get touched but go down because you still want a free-kick. I really don’t approve
of that. But where you are always battling with the defender and he’s touching you and you stay on your feet, you’re not going to get a free-kick. I think you have to act a little bit .
. . “Jeez, come on ref!” There are plenty of times where a foul is committed and you don’t get a free-kick. What do you call that then? That’s the other side of it. You get
pushed and the referee doesn’t see it. Is that cheating by the defender? That doesn’t exist, does it? It’s cheating. He’s cheating. The referee didn’t see it, but he
pulls you back. That is the other part of cheating, I feel. Doing something behind someone’s back and that happens all the time. I got really frustrated in my first season at Arsenal.
I’m definitely not a cheat and I don’t think people see me in that way.’

But you got away with things too. Like when you stamped on [Sinisa] Mihajlovic in the ’98 World Cup. Because of your nice-guy image you got away with that, but you should have been
sent off.

‘Yes definitely. But on the other side there was a moment against Coventry when I went across a player and he goes behind me and trips me. I’m past him, one-on-one with the
goalkeeper, I’ve got away from the offside, and this guy – Paul Williams, I think his name was – he brings me down! Maybe it’s an accident or whatever, but he really tripped
me. I want to keep going because I’m one-on-one with the goalkeeper. There’s no advantage for me to go down. So what happens? The referee gives a free-kick and sends the defender off.
But afterwards there was a lot of commotion about it because on TV, because of the camera angle, it looks as if he didn’t touch me. But I was there! It was just a little trip, but when you
are sprinting and both feet are in the air one little touch will bring you down, and that’s what happened. But you couldn’t see it on TV. And I was so upset with that because everyone
called me a cheat! So my only comment afterwards was: “What do you mean? I’m one-on-one with the goalkeeper, I’m away from my defender, so why would I go down? Why??”

You’re still cross about it.

‘I am! I am! So we get a free-kick outside the box – it wasn’t even a penalty! So why would I do that? “Yes, but it looks like . . .” Yes,
I know how it
looks
. I’ve seen the same footage. But I know what happened! That was a difficult moment., because I was aware of what people were saying about foreigners coming over and cheating. And
that’s exactly what I didn’t like! I love the English game! I love the honesty and the work ethic. I’m not going to go there to be a cheat.’

So you were getting criticised like Luis Suarez?

‘Not to the same degree, no, not at all. But I had a few moments and this was one of them. But I tell you now, that’s what happened. And I was really upset to be called a cheat. I
don’t want to be called a cheat. I don’t do that! There must be contact. And if I exaggerate the contact a little then OK.’

So, basically, it’s a sliding grey area, but for you it’s a moral absolute that you are not allowed to go down unless there has been contact?

‘Definitely that’s my opinion. There has to be real contact. It’s cheating where there is no contact at all and you’re just trying to get someone sent off.’

When do you decide?

‘It’s not just one moment when I make the decision. Suppose there is contact. To go down or not to go down? Do I have an opportunity to score? Is the contact such that it deprives me
of an opportunity to score? Have I lost a chance to make the pass or to score myself? Then I make the decision to make the most of it.’

Simon Kuper wrote that you often wasted energy reacting to provocations.

‘My wife always said: “I hope in the first few minutes you get kicked because then you change.” The biggest example was Southampton away at the beginning of my third season.
There was a left-back who was English but he had an Italian name and he really was acting as if he was Italian – shirt pulling, leaving a bit in after a tackle or after I’d passed the
ball. At one point, something happened again and I thought: “Jesus! I’ve had enough now!” I was really angry. I don’t remember what it was. When it’s a shirt pull or a
tackle, or even just a defender intercepting the ball, I can get frustrated if that happens. But this time it was a physical thing and I really got upset, and then within the next thirty seconds I
got the ball, and I think I held him off with one hand . . . I was so angry I turned around, facing the goal, taking the ball with me and smashed it in the back of the net. And the celebration was
fantastic because all the players came up to congratulate me . . . and our fans were close by and I went up to the defender and celebrated right in front of him. All the Arsenal players were around
him and he was in the middle of that, trying to push and get away.’

You turn into The Incredible Hulk?

‘David Endt [former Ajax team manager] calls it “boiling milk”. I understand what he means. But coming back to cheating, a lot of things happen between defenders and strikers
that you don’t see. And I would call that cheating. My comment usually to the referee is: “Watch the first foul.” They usually don’t see the first foul. They only see my
foul, the reaction. But maybe because they are watching the ball, they miss the first one from the defender. There are a lot of clever defenders.

‘Generally, I think the English defenders are honest. They are straight. They put their foot in but nothing nasty. I mean there is a difference between leaving your foot in after the ball
is gone and just going for the ball. Of course, some players are a little bit more nasty than others, but in reality and fairness most of them throughout my career in England were honest. You can
talk about Sol Campbell or John Terry. They were just there to defend, to get the striker out of the game, which is their job. Martin, Tony, Bouldy . . . all of them. Nothing nasty. Nothing. And I
must admit those are the most difficult defenders to play against – the honest ones who put their foot in, who’ve got pace, who’ve got strength, who read the game. And it’s
not easy for them because they always play with a back four, with one line, which means they have to defend the space behind. In Italy they have the
libero
, but the English have two
central defenders against two strikers, so they can’t really cover each other. As an attacker I liked that because it meant you could play in between. They can’t come off their line. So
I used that. It was my strength, I think. But, defensively, it takes a lot out of you.

‘Actually, I always loved playing against the best Italian defenders. I always had fantastic battles against them. You know, players who have a big mouth and make dirty tackles,
who’ll pinch you and step on your toes, and give you a kick off the ball when no one is watching. Maybe they’ll even give you an elbow without a ball near you. That got me going as
well. You would really try to have a good game against those players. Defend ers in general who would have the attitude: “Look at me, I’m fantastic and it’s all about me!” I
can’t have that. I can’t stand that! I prefer players like Martin Keown who just do their job and maybe have big mouths in the dressing room but in a funny way. He’s just a funny
guy. He would really take pride in stopping someone else from scoring a goal. And he was a fantastic trash talker: “Come on, come on, let’s have it . . . You think you can go past me?
Yeah? Oh no you can’t.” And to his own striker: “You’re fantastic.”