So you’re a bit of a heretic?
‘Ha ha! Well, the old thinking was too narrow. What I liked about the things I saw was that they were new, they added something. And what we are doing now with Ajax is new again. It’s totally new. And we believe – and it started with Cruyff again – that in the future teams, clubs, countries will copy this. We will be in the forefront again.
‘When Todd Beane first came to us he talked about the high jumper Dick Fosbury. Until Fosbury, every high jumper had always jumped forward. Then Fosbury jumped backwards. They said he was crazy. He was doing something totally new. “Is he out of his mind?” Now no one jumps forwards. That’s a little bit like our philosophy. Everyone says: “What are you doing? It can’t be done.” Our idea is: don’t think about teams any more, just think about individuals. It’s a team sport, but you’re going to make individuals better. It’s all about developing the individual.
‘The only team that needs to win trophies is the first team. The youth teams don’t need to win, they just need to make their players better. So what does the individual need at a certain age? Should you talk tactics to a player before the age of fourteen? At that age it goes in one ear and out the other. It really doesn’t mean anything. So we start with that now after fourteen. Before fourteen, it’s just playful skills and everything. And we have new ways of measuring and developing those skills, and developing good habits, like controlling the ball, and passing and positions, and we’re also thinking a lot about the mental side. So in the end you have not just a complete football player but a person who is good for others, who means something in the world. He’s not just a stupid football player, but someone with a good story to tell, who is outgoing; someone who is genuinely interested in helping or changing the world, for example, not just interested in girls and cars. A more intelligent person so everyone says: “Yes, that’s an Ajax player!” That’s the philosophy.’
JOHAN CRUYFF is also optimistic about the future – and about Dennis. In a cramped and paper-stuffed room at the offices of the Johan Cruyff Foundation at Amsterdam’s renovated Olympic Stadium, he draws up two chairs opposite each other. The foundation helps youngsters and the disabled to play sports. Cruyff takes the initiative, as he did as a player and as a manager, hurtling off on tangents in answer to some questions, answering others that haven’t been asked. His words slalom, dribble, turn and shoot. It’s fascinating and boils down to the following: 1) Dennis Bergkamp is incredibly decent, both as a person and as a man of football; 2) Cruyff is incredibly proud that his club is now being run by a group of former top footballers. It even makes him emotional; and 3) Ajax is on the right road, but that road will be a very long one.
What is your working relationship with Dennis now? Do you tell him what to do? Is he, as the victims of the revolution say, your ‘executioner’?
Cruyff: ‘No, Bergkamp, Jonk and the others in the technical heart call me. To confer. I’ve warned them never to blindly implement anything I say. They should listen to me and then make their own decisions.’
And what if those decisions are not what you want?
‘That doesn’t happen. We’re too much on the same page for that. Their decisions will never be very different from the way I think about things, because we think exactly the same way about the main principles.’
But they do have to listen to you?
‘Yes, of course, just like they have to listen to other people at the club who want their opinion heard. In football, you’re dealing with a dictatorship within a democracy. Initially, everyone gets to give their opinion, but subsequently the decision is taken by whoever’s in charge. He’s the dictator. And that’s not me. I don’t have any responsibilities, I don’t have an official job. At Ajax the technical heart and the executive board are in charge of their own turf. They are the dictators, and they only have to listen to me, those dictators.’
Where will the revolution take Ajax?
‘All the way to the top.’
Which is what?
‘The last eight of the Champions League on a regular basis.’
Is that possible, given football’s completely unequal financial playing field? Don’t you need financial fair play first?
‘No, not necessarily, because if you have the eleven best-trained footballers in Europe in your team you will automatically reach the European top.’
And will Ajax train their footballers better than anywhere else?
‘Yes, of course, there’s no better place in the world to be a young player than at Ajax. Who can you learn more from than from great footballers like Dennis Bergkamp, Frank and Ronald de Boer, Jaap Stam, Wim Jonk, Richard Witschge, and the list goes on? I’m proud of guys like that. They were written off as ignoramuses. We were supposedly the nitwits who were incapable of anything, but we won out in the end. In the global history of football what has happened at Ajax is unique. As a group of footballers, we stood up against an executive board and a board of directors. And we won. I’m proud of what happened, incredibly proud, so proud that it makes me very emotional. And all those guys are doing this because they want to, not because they desperately need jobs or anything like that. They’re not doing it for themselves, but for football, and they all think the same way about it. There’s now enormous football know-how at all levels of the club, including the highest levels, and that is going to generate progress.’
And what about Dennis?
‘Dennis sees everything. He maintains connections and drives people. You could call him a Jack of all trades, but I prefer to call him the playmaker within the technical heart.’
Cruyff won’t say it directly, but it’s clear that Dennis is the main man at Ajax now. At least his main man. ‘Dennis keeps things in balance, because he’s in balance himself. You can’t pressurise Dennis Bergkamp. No matter how loudly people around him shout, he always remains calm and thinks. And Dennis is able to think more broadly, so he sees connections. He’s always on top of everything, and when he has to he can pressurise other people. Then he gives loud and clear instructions: “First this, then that.” Dennis Bergkamp is a truly amiable man, until he gets angry. Then you see genuine anger, but also intelligence. Then his comments are incredibly incisive, even hurtful, but always well considered. So when someone like that becomes prominent within an organisation, maybe even the most prominent individual, it makes sense. It happens automatically.’
* * *
NOW THAT HE’S such an important part of the future of The Future, how does Dennis see his own? Lots of people at Arsenal would love him back at the club. Some of the top brass there see him as a future manager.
Dennis: ‘I want to be good at what I do, I want to be important, too, but I’m not after fame. It’s not about that for me. That’s why I have no ambition to be a manager.’
Is that because it would be impossible anyway because you won’t fly and a manager has to fly?
‘Regardless of that, I prefer working with small groups. Let me train strikers specifically. That’s when I’m at my best. Of course, I have opinions about the team as a whole, about how it should function, but I have much less of a tactical overview than trainers like Frank de Boer and Hennie Spijkerman [the Ajax assistant coach]. Frank was a defender and Hennie a goalkeeper; that background not only gave them tactical insight, but also an overview. I only have the insight. I’m still working on the overview. I played at the front, or almost at the front. I always stood in a diagonal position so I could never see the entire pitch. They know how to intervene tactically the moment the match requires it. Not me. I need to see it all on the board first: where is everyone positioned and what needs to change? How? I’m learning and improving, but my ambition is not in the area of tactics. The greatest challenge for me is improving footballers, especially strikers.’
That means working in other people’s shadows.
‘So much the better. I’m not attracted to the limelight, and I certainly don’t want to become the front man. That’s not how I see myself. As a
player I also never saw myself as the face of Arsenal or anything like that. Sure, as a player I wanted to be important for the team, but preferably a bit inconspicuously. I needed a striker near me who took things over from me, literally and figuratively: it was Pettersson at Ajax, Wright and Henry at Arsenal. I needed someone to pass to or I needed someone else’s pass to score. I had insight. That was my great strength. Collecting and passing the ball were my specialities and I could finish. I wasn’t a Messi or Maradona who did it all by themselves. I never had the ambition to be a one-man show. Never. I didn’t want too much attention or too much credit. Some people in football want all the attention and all the credit. There are even managers who are like that, too. But I was a team player, and that’s my ambition as a trainer now. I want to add a lot of quality to the whole.
‘On the field my greatest quality was seeing where the space was, knowing where you can create space. That’s something I’m constantly focused on now as a trainer, too: where is the space in the opposing team? Is it behind the defence, between the central defenders and the backs, or in front of the defenders in between the lines? I make up drills for this. Running into space: how, where, when? I base this on my own experience and what I see around me. My speciality is optimising the sprints of strikers and deep-lying players. I know it’s behind-the-scenes work, but it’s fulfilling enough for me. I also prefer my organisational work at the club to be behind the scenes. I’m involved in some pretty significant decisions and I’m now officially part of the club management, but I don’t make a song and dance about it.’
You’re not interested in being a chief executive?
‘No!’
Why not? You’re intelligent and well-spoken – and you look good in a suit.
‘Just let me be in charge in my own way, in the background. The stereotypical CEO is an extrovert, and I’m not. As a footballer I wasn’t either. I’ve often been accused of not being a leader, but a leader is also someone whose way of functioning is an example to others. I was a role model on the pitch and now I want to set an example within the organisation.
‘Being a show-off mouthpiece in a designer suit just isn’t me. I want to be a leader who gets everyone on board by delivering good work. I’m good at observing, seeing our potential and our shortcomings. I watch everything, and it bothers me when I see performances which don’t meet the standards we expect. If anyone – anyone – isn’t pulling their weight, then the details aren’t in order, and that is unacceptable.’
What do you do then?
‘We intervene. At the end of the season we do the same with the trainers, the medical staff, the people responsible for the pitches and the equipment as we do with the players. We review everyone and decide who is good enough to continue. Sure, we’re very tough, but we want to be a top club and to accomplish that you have to be ruthless in maintaining the top standards.’
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Heartfelt thanks to all the people who so generously gave their time and help and without whom this book would have been diminished:
Tony Adams, Vic Akers, Osvaldo Bagnoli, Leo Beenhakker, Estelle Bergkamp, Henrita Bergkamp, Marcel Bergkamp, Mitchel Bergkamp, Ronald Bergkamp, Saffron Bergkamp, Wim Bergkamp, Yasmin Bergkamp, Tonny Bergkamp-Van der Meer, Giuseppe Bergomi, Frank de Boer, Miel Brinkhuis, Jan-Dirk van der Burg, Sol Campbell, Amy Carr, Johan Cruyff, David Dein, Maddalena Del Re, Pim van Dord, David Endt, Don Farrow, Nellie Farrow, Riccardo Ferri, Ken Friar, Mark Fruin, Sophie Henderson, Thierry Henry, Mike Jones, Wim Jonk, Jane Judd, Martin Keown, Steve Kimberley, Momo Kovacevic, Simon Kuper, Gary Lewin, David Luxton, Stuart Macfarlane, Ian Marshall, Olga Mascolo, Marc Overmars, Ray Parlour, Tommaso Pellizzari, Robin van Persie, Stuart Peters, Bruce Rioch, Henk Spaan, Chris Stone, Dan Tolhurst, Patrick Vieira, Louis van de Vuurst, Tom Watt, Arsene Wenger, Tom Whiting, Bob Wilson, Ian Wright.
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
1. Denis Law – on wall – watches over baby Dennis, Amsterdam 1970.
2. Dennis outside the family home at James Rosskade (circa 1975).
3. On holiday in Drenthe. Dennis (in front) with older brothers Marcel, Wim, Ronald and TV actor Jantje Krol (in hat).
4. Lunch break for the Wilskracht (Willpower) D-Team (Dennis, centre, in blue tracksuit top with arms raised).
5. Ajax Youth season ticket for 1983-84 – Dennis, aged 14.
6. With his dad at a tournament in Belgium, 1983.
7. The wooden Maradona carved and painted by Dennis in his arts and crafts class.
8. An early trademark lob as captain of the Ajax Under-15s, 1983.
9. The 1985 Ajax A1 youth team with coach Cor van der Hart. Dennis stands fifth from left.
10. Celebrating winning the Cup Winners’ Cup with fellow teenager Frank Verlaat, Athens, May 1987.
11. Dennis in his first full league game for Ajax, beating Haarlem defender Luc Nijholt, February 1987.
12. Dennis leaves the field to a standing ovation near the end of his brilliant performance against Malmo, Amsterdam 1987. Coach Johan Cruyff gives him a pat on the back. (Louis van de Vuurst, Ajax)
13. Delight after scoring against Den Bosch, November 1988.
14. The Ajax bench after the sacking of Kurt Linder. From left, new coaches Spitz Kohn and Louis van Gaal, substitute Arnold Muhren and physio Pim van Dord. September 1988. (ANP)
15. Master of the ball. In his last season with Ajax, 1992. (Louis van de Vuurst, Ajax)
16. Seventeen-year-old Dennis lifts his first major trophy, the Cup Winners’ Cup, Athens, May 1987.
17. A header against Volendam, 1988. (ANP)
18. With former Ajax team-mate Aron Winter after Lazio–Inter, Rome 1993. (ANP)
19. Top-scorer of the tournament, Dennis lifts the UEFA Cup, San Siro, Milan, May 1994. (Getty Images)
20. With Wim Jonk, both holding their UEFA Cup winners’ medals. (Getty Images)
21. Dennis with Arsene Wenger, pre-season 2004. (Stuart Macfarlane, Arsenal)
22. Dennis about to receive a red card for pushing Danny Cullip of Sheffield United in an FA Cup match, February 2005. Dennis was angered by Cullip’s foul on Cesc Fabregas, who lies stricken in the background. (Stuart Macfarlane, Arsenal)
ILLUSTRATIONS
1. Denis Law – on wall – watches over baby Dennis, Amsterdam 1970.
2. Dennis outside the family home at James Rosskade (circa 1975).
3. On holiday in Drenthe. Dennis (in front) with older brothers Marcel, Wim, Ronald and TV actor Jantje Krol (in hat).
4. Lunch break for the Wilskracht (Willpower) D-Team (Dennis, centre, in blue tracksuit top with arms raised).
5. Ajax Youth season ticket for 1983-84 – Dennis, aged 14.
6. With his dad at a tournament in Belgium, 1983.
7. The wooden Maradona carved and painted by Dennis in his arts and crafts class.
8. An early trademark lob as captain of the Ajax Under-15s, 1983.
9. The 1985 Ajax A1 youth team with coach Cor van der Hart. Dennis stands fifth from left.
10. Celebrating winning the Cup Winners’ Cup with fellow teenager Frank Verlaat, Athens, May 1987.
11. Dennis in his first full league game for Ajax, beating Haarlem defender Luc Nijholt, February 1987.
12. Dennis leaves the field to a standing ovation near the end of his brilliant performance against Malmo, Amsterdam 1987. Coach Johan Cruyff gives him a pat on the back. (Louis van de Vuurst, Ajax)
13. Delight after scoring against Den Bosch, November 1988.
14. The Ajax bench after the sacking of Kurt Linder. From left, new coaches Spitz Kohn and Louis van Gaal, substitute Arnold Muhren and physio Pim van Dord. September 1988. (ANP)
15. Master of the ball. In his last season with Ajax, 1992. (Louis van de Vuurst, Ajax)
16. Seventeen-year-old Dennis lifts his first major trophy, the Cup Winners’ Cup, Athens, May 1987.
17. A header against Volendam, 1988. (ANP)
18. With former Ajax team-mate Aron Winter after Lazio–Inter, Ro
me 1993. (ANP)
19. Top-scorer of the tournament, Dennis lifts the UEFA Cup, San Siro, Milan, May 1994. (Getty Images)
20. With Wim Jonk, both holding their UEFA Cup winners’ medals. (Getty Images)
21. Dennis with Arsene Wenger, pre-season 2004. (Stuart Macfarlane, Arsenal)
22. Dennis about to receive a red card for pushing Danny Cullip of Sheffield United in an FA Cup match, February 2005. Dennis was angered by Cullip’s foul on Cesc Fabregas, who lies stricken in the background. (Stuart Macfarlane, Arsenal)
Stillness and Speed: My Story Page 26