Stillness and Speed: My Story (29 page)

As Arsene Wenger explains: ‘The football I like is of a high technical level, based on movement and on team play with a build-up from the back. Why do I like that? Because I just think the
game is created to give everybody a chance to express what it is in him, and not to be just a servant for everybody else.’ To Wenger, that’s the moral difference with defensive
football. ‘What brings you to the game is the pleasure to play. And just because you are professional doesn’t mean you should get away from that pleasure of playing. It’s all just
based on the positive philosophy of the human being and the right to express who you are.’

Wenger prefers a musical metaphor. ‘For me, football is an orchestra. The more they are inspired by the same music, the more they have a chance to play a good song. The players are all
professionals. They know how to play Mozart. They know how to play Verdi. Intelligence, sensitivity and guidance from outside are also important because I am like a conductor.’

The team’s golden age ran roughly from 2001 to late 2004. Bob Wilson still marvels at the wonder of having Dennis Bergkamp and Thierry Henry in the same side. ‘I still think we will
not see anything like that unbeaten season again in my lifetime and I don’t think that team has ever received the recognition they deserve. It was nearly the perfect club side, the perfect
jigsaw. Both Dennis and Thierry were extraordinary footballers and at the same time you had wonderful defensive players in the team as well. It wasn’t just one player who would make a big
difference but several. You had Vieira, you had Bergkamp, you had Henry, you had Pires . . . In any normal era, Pires would have been the superstar. It was absolutely amazing.’ The team won
the League and Cup double in 2002, the FA Cup in 2003, the League again without losing a match in 2004, and extended their unbeaten run to a record 49 matches in October 2004. Only the Champions
League eluded them.

The rhythm of the team’s famously deadly counter-attacking was rehearsed at London Colney. With static mannequins standing in for defenders, the team practised moving the ball from one end
of the field to the other within seven or eight seconds. As with the Henry–Bergkamp breakout from a Spurs corner which led to Patrick Vieira’s goal in the championship-deciding game at
White Hart Lane in 2004, the results were often spectacular. Mostly, though, Arsenal just attacked and improvised. Thierry: ‘If you arrived late at Highbury – ten or thirty minutes late
– then you had a problem because we were already three-nil up. Before you step on the field you have that feeling you are going to be two-nil up in ten minutes. You start to talk before the
game about
how
you’re going to score, and
when
you’re going to score. Even if you were playing Man United, still you had the feeling you’re going to score. To
have the feeling that you will win by two, or three . . . it’s
weird
. You don’t fully appreciate it at the time, but I do remember we said to each other: “I hope people
realise what we are doing.” We knew we were doing something special. It was the same feeling at Barcelona later. You’d look at the ref like: “Please don’t blow the whistle!
Can’t we have another minute? Can’t we just have another
twenty
minutes?” It’s the beauty of mastering something. You see in the eyes of the opponent they are
accepting it. And you’re not just grinding out results. You’re playing the right way and making opponents give up. You don’t force it. You don’t bully anyone. Your team is
just playing well and doing what you’re supposed to do. You see the other team thinking: “OK, you won, whatever, please stop now . . . ” We didn’t win the trophies Man
United did, but we won some. And the biggest trophy for me was when people were stopping me in the street when I was in Italy or France or Spain and saying: “I don’t like Arsenal, but
you guys could play!” I’m a competitor and usually the only thing that matters is to win. But that was the exception to the rule.’

Arsene Wenger’s preference for his players – especially attackers – to be under 30 is well-known: ‘At some stage I doubt the players,’ he explains. ‘I had
always the same respect and admiration for Dennis, and he never let it drop, his focus. Of course, when you get older, thirty-four, thirty-five, thirty-six, up front it’s more difficult. The
capacity to win a decisive fight diminishes. But he adapted remarkably well to his evolution. He didn’t drop too much physically in his quantity of work. And because he had exceptional
vision, he still served the team by the quality of his passing.’

As Dennis headed towards his mid-thirties, rumours of his impending retirement became a feature of every summer. Yet he defied expectations and played on, signing yearly contracts. By the time
his testimonial game became the inaugural match at the brand new Emirates Stadium in 2006, Dennis was 37 years old. But he had almost left before the 2003-04 season – which is to say that the
Invincibles almost never happened. Arsenal’s offer in the summer of 2003 was less than half his existing contract. Dennis felt insulted and, for the only time in his career, authorised his
agent Rob Jansen to place a story in the press about the situation. Embarrassed, David Dein rectified matters within a day and Dennis reported for pre-season training.

The team almost failed to become the Invincibles for another reason, too. Thierry: ‘I remember we clinched the title at the Lane and the boss said we could go the whole season unbeaten and
we really weren’t very interested. I think we had four or five games to go. The boss had been in the game a long time and he understood. He’s going: “Come on guys! To go the whole
season unbeaten! No one has done that in history.” We were like: “Whatever. Come on, man, we’ve just won the league.” Going unbeaten sounded OK, but it was more like:
“If it happens, it happens.” When we won the Double in 2002, we didn’t lose any of our away games. That’s also not bad. People forget about that. And then the following
season Arsene came up with the idea and said: “This team can stay unbeaten.” Why would you say that and try to provoke everybody? But that’s Arsene. He wasn’t trying to
provoke anyone. He was just saying what he thought.

‘After we’d won the title in 2004, it’s not that we wanted to take it easy. I use the analogy of the boxer. The boxer will never go another fight for fun. In the next games you
have nothing to lose because you’re already champions. So you’re thinking: “If that guy makes his run, I don’t have to cover because even if we concede a goal, even if we
lose the game it doesn’t matter because we’re champions. Even the fans won’t care.” Our next game was Birmingham at home and it was shocking! It was one of the worst games
we ever played at Highbury. No one was running. Nothing. Not even an opportunity. And then we went to Portsmouth and we were one-nil down at half time and we all had a go at each other and decided:
“OK, let’s play for this now.” And we ended up going unbeaten for the season and everyone still talks about that side. But it’s crazy how you don’t think about it at
the time. I also had the opportunity to play with that great Barcelona team, and with the great French team, and we didn’t think about it either. You don’t think you’re making
history. OK, when you win the World Cup and lift the trophy it’s obvious. But at Arsenal we never talked about it. We never said: “Oh man, can you believe we’re still
unbeaten?” And the following season I’ll always remember when we passed Nottingham Forest’s record of forty-two games unbeaten. But we nearly blew it against Middlesbrough:
three-one down with twenty-seven minutes to go at Highbury and we won five-three.’

How important was Dennis for the Invincibles?

‘Very important. The way he was on the field, the way he conducted himself, the way he approached the game, the way he was brainy . . . His vision, the way he used to see the play three or
four seconds before anyone . . . . I think even in the dressing room he could see the play! We were so lucky to have that man in the team. I’m not talking about age but about guts. What I
liked about him all through that [later] period was his attitude. Whenever he had to step off the bench and make the difference, he made the difference. He could have gone: “I’m not
playing. I’ll try to score when I come on but I won’t do more . . . ” But do you know how many times we played him as a holding midfielder? Or on the right? The guy was defending!
Tackling! Trying to score! Dennis Bergkamp at thirty-five! That’s why Dennis was The Man at Arsenal. He has ten minutes at the end of the game to make a difference and you see him coming on
with the right attitude. That’s why I say: “Yes! He was so important for that and everything else. When I saw Dennis Bergkamp on the field, tackling someone . . .’

By the early noughties you’re the main goal-scorer, a lot of the movement goes through you . . . yet you are led by Dennis?

‘And even more so when you see his eyes. He wants to kill someone – in a good way! That’s Dennis. That’s why I love him. He would come on the field with ten minutes to go
and you see him playing so
hard
. You see his commitment, and his desire and the love of the game that he has. When he came on the field even for one second he would try to do something
that would win the game. Really, he was our example. He didn’t need to talk. He was a huge factor in that team. Accepting the fact that you will play less and understanding it, and embracing
it, and doing more than that!
Doing more than a kid would do
?! That was magnificent for me. It was just an honour and a privilege to play with him.’

* * *

M
ANY PEOPLE LOVED
the Invincibles but when Bruce Rioch says it’s his football ideal, it seems especially touching.

Bruce got quite emotional about the Invincibles. He said: ‘That was beauty! It was ballet! Art! They could play the opposition any way they wanted. As a player, do you enjoy playing in
that team? As a manager, do you enjoy watching that team play? As a supporter of any team, do you enjoy watching that team play? Of course! Of course!’ What do you reckon?

Dennis: ‘Well, it’s true. And it’s nice from Bruce. He’s a good guy and has no regrets and doesn’t hold anything against anyone. And he’s right. I saw a quote
from myself from that time where I said something like we were rewriting football. I think that’s true, too. What Arsene said about me trying to reach perfection was true for the whole team
at that time. We were really close to perfection. Of course, you had some silly games where you can’t kick a ball, but most of the time we were just unbelievable, really close to the way I
think football should be played.

‘Thierry mentioned that feeling of going onto the pitch knowing you are going to win. Yes, that’s what it was like. You don’t know by how many goals, and you don’t know
when you’re going to score, but you know you are going to win. You have to take that from me and from Thierry, but it’s an unbelievable feeling. Like running in the hundred metres and
you’re Usain Bolt. That’s something unbelievable for a sportsman. It’s what you try to aim for. Perfection. And that’s what we had in those years. You knew you were the best
team in the league and everyone was smiling and everyone was happy and everyone had a contribution to make . . . It was fantastic. You knew exactly where to put the ball. You knew exactly what kind
of run the other players would make for you, because you knew what they were thinking. It’s really interesting within a team. At the time you just experience it. But when you look back . . .
it was an amazing period. Amazing performances. It’s funny to me how Thierry remembers all the details. I look back and it seems it was a very short time between me arriving at Arsenal and
the team starting to have success. In fact, it was about two and a half or three years, but in my mind it was like half a season. Then we had success. Then it slows down a bit. Then you come to
that period where it really flows, and you stay at a certain level and set yourself different standards.’

Can you compare the Invincibles to other teams you played in or saw?

‘Everyone talks about the Dutch team in 1998 and 2000, which played really good football. If you look at other teams, then of course you come to that AC Milan team but in my opinion the
team that stands out is the Barcelona of Guardiola. When they beat Man United [in the 2009 Champions League final] . . . I mean that was just from a different planet, with all the movement, the one
and two touches, and one player, Messi, who just made a difference every single time he was allowed to make a difference . . . That was football that all other teams had to live up to. They set the
standard and other teams start brainstorming and thinking what can they do about it.’

All teams with Dutch roots – or is that just my obsession?

‘I don’t think so. Lots of people really love Dutch football. You look at Sacchi’s Milan and Guardiola’s Barcelona. Is it a coincidence? Then you ask the captain of
France who his favourite player is and Patrick Vieira says Frank Rijkaard. Thierry Henry says Van Basten. Arsene Wenger: “I love Dutch football.” All those teams that made a difference
played in a different way and got the admiration of a lot of people, but they all had roots in Dutch football. At the same time, it’s interesting to see where the Dutch influence ends. At
Arsenal, where does the Dutch bit end and the French bit start? At Milan, where does the Dutch bit end and the Italian begin? And Spain . . . For me, there are lots of great teams, but they
don’t all rewrite football. Of course, Manchester United was a big team, but what did they do different to what other teams had done before? The Liverpool I remember was the late eighties
team of John Barnes. Other Liverpool teams won more trophies, but that John Barnes team played the most fantastic football. They could pass the ball all day long. Other Arsenal teams played some
good football and won trophies. But who are the teams that play football that stays in your mind? Then you come to teams like AC Milan and you think: “Wait a minute, they really changed the
game.”’

There’s an argument among Arsenal fans as to which of the two of you was the better. Thierry is very generous and says you were the Master, it was always your team and so on. How did
you see it?