We are almost there. 9 legends from 9 different countries analysed in the peak of their prime and subsequently recreated in Football Manager 2021 to find their modern day counterparts. Pirlo, Raul, Kaka, Keane, Barthez, Kompany, Beckham, Figo and Matthaus - all legends of their position, club and country and we are well on the way to replicating a Legends XI as we embark on yet another journey today.
The rules are simple - any modern-day replica identified must be of the same nationality as the legend at hand, and must be aged 23 or under in order to qualify and earn the mantle as the next big thing. This time we head to the Netherlands for another football icon. Known for his outstanding touch and for scoring arguably not one but two of the best technical goals ever witnessed (one for Arsenal against Newcastle and the other for Netherlands against Argentina) - Dennis Bergkamp simply oozed class and was a vital member of Arsenal’s “Invincibles” of the 2003-2004 season, even if not everyone agrees on the quality and level of the goals he scored 😄.
The main question is - what was it about Bergkamp that made him such a unique entity which leads many football commentators and former players alike to name him as one of the most talented footballers ever to grace the Premier League? And of course secondly - can we find a modern day player with the same grace, talent and technical excellence with the ability and potential to replicate his success? There’s only one way to find out.
“We just stood there looking at each other, amazed. He’s probably the only player who could have pulled it off.” Shay Given after conceding the goal voted the best ever scored in the Premier League.
For a player who was named after Denis Law by his father, it’s little wonder Bergkamp turned out to be one of the best strikers of his generation. After scoring 103 goals in 185 appearances for Ajax, Bergkamp made the move to Inter in Serie A citing the club culture, philosophy and playing style as his reasons for joining. Unfortunately back-to-back manager changes and a poor spell for Inter meant that Bergkamp struggled to find form and was ridiculed by the media for not living up to his (at the time) high transfer fee of £7 million. As the saying goes, one man’s rubbish is another man’s treasure and it was Arsenal who saw through the malaise to sign one of the bargains of the century, paying £2.5m for a player who would go on to play over 400 games, score 110 goals, bag 89 assists and spend 11 seasons at the club before retiring an Arsenal and Premier League legend.
Ian Wright. Patrick Kluivert. Nicholas Anelka. Thierry Henry. All former strike partners of Bergkamp who are quoted as naming him as one of the best they ever played with and the best striking partner they played alongside. It was John Hartson however who perhaps summed up Bergkamp’s ability in the best possible fashion:
“If Dennis Bergkamp played in the snow, he wouldn’t leave any footprints”
To dive deeper into what made Bergkamp such a special player and the true definition of a top “footballer” - we take a trip down memory lane to Championship Manager 97/98 and look at prime 28 year-old Bergkamp who at the time was completely unaware that he was about to win the league with Arsenal before going on to reach a World Cup Semi-Final.
Rewind ⏪
Creativity. Technique. Flair. Off the Ball. Passing. Technique. Baller. The CM97/98 researchers were spot on in recognising Bergkamp’s talents and very few players come close to that level of technical ability and pure class as a footballer. Will FM21 help us to try and emulate “The Iceman” so that we can stamp the #WeStreamFM stamp of approval on the next Dennis Bergkamp?
🔍 Technique
🔍 Off the Ball
🔍 Passing
🔍 Flair
🔍 First Touch
🔍 Vision
🔍 Dutch
|
|
|
|
|
|
Although he might be more mobile and technically a wide player rather than a ready-made Striker, Mohamed Ihattaren has all the attributes required to emulate Bergkamp’s ability and in particular his technical prowess and excellence. While not blessed with as good finishing and natural ability to play up front, some decent retraining and focusing on his positional development and player traits would make him a top quality Striker in FM21. Some of the more obvious candidates were the likes of Myron Boadu and Donyell Malen, while others such as Noa Lang and Joshua Zirkzee also gave us a difficult decision to make. In the end, Ihattaren was the stand-out candidate and as such is the one we are tipping to replicate Dennis Bergkamp’s ability and success for club and country in the very near future.
Thanks for reading, one more to go next week - let us know if you can guess the last country and/or football legend!
Interested in writing a Guest Author piece for WeStreamFM? Drop us a DM or feel free to reach out to MaddFM directly.
