Stillness and Speed: My Story by Dennis Bergkamp Read Free Book Online

ones were tactically
superior to him. As Amsterdammers, we liked to bluff, show off, be cheeky, boast. If you’re a coach, you have two ways to deal with that. Either you can be like that yourself – and do
it better than the players – or be aloof and come down hard when the squad plays up.’ Linder did neither and was soon being openly mocked in training sessions. Nor was he a match for
his sophisticated players, three of whom had just played under the great Rinus Michels and won Euro ’88 with the Dutch national team. From the start, captain Jan Wouters emerged as the
tactical leader. ‘During matches Jan would give detailed instructions. He’d say things like: “You, two yards to the right. You, to the left and you drop back.” If Linder
tried to say something, Jan would get really annoyed and tell him to back off and Linder would just say: “OK, do it your way.” It was extremely embarrassing.’ Even so, Linder
still had enough power to kick Bergkamp out of the team. ‘He played four-four-two without a right-winger, which was my position. So he demoted me, just like that, without a word.’
    Actually, Linder used four words. Dispatching both Dennis and the future Barcelona star Richard Witschge to the Youth team, he informed the lower-level coach: ‘Those two are
useless.’ The coach in question was Louis van Gaal. And he saw things differently. Dennis was demoralised, but Van Gaal saw potential. He had a feeling Dennis might be playing in the wrong
position. So, instead of the winger’s number 7, he handed him the number 10 shirt. Dennis’s experimental new position would be in the centre of the team as a second striker working just
behind the centre-forward. Van Gaal encouraged Dennis to think strategically. As his performance in a youth tournament in Volendam demonstrated, the switch electrified him. Dennis was now able to
deploy all the quickness of his brain as well as of his feet. He began to move astutely between the lines, sprayed clever passes, confused opponents with sudden positional manoeuvres and scored
goals. He was crowned the best player of the tournament. Rather more importantly, he had discovered his destiny. Looking back, he sees this as one of the key moments of his career; as important as
being picked for the first time by Cruyff and winning a place three years later in the national team under Rinus Michels.
    To the relief of everyone – including Linder himself – his reign lasted just three months. He was replaced by Kohn and Van Gaal. Notionally, the latter was the junior partner but in
practice he called most of the shots, and Dennis was central to his ambitious plans. Dennis was sensational in his evolving role as free man behind a centre-forward and two wingers. He set a new
national record by scoring in ten consecutive matches, and so original was his new position there wasn’t even a name for it. Eventually, the press came up with
schaduwspits
. Shadow
striker. Dennis had found the role of his life. ‘I suddenly felt completely free in my game. I could use my two-footedness and show I could score goals. Everything I had learned playing for
the juniors and what the fans didn’t yet know about me, could manifest itself in that position. Being the number ten gave me that wonderful tension again. It was new, it was exciting. I
didn’t hesitate for a moment, wondering where I should run to. It was all automatic. Suddenly, something amazing happened to me.’
    Ajax only narrowly missed out on the league title. The new board now handed Leo Beenhakker the job and Dennis came down to earth with a bump. Bizarre as it seems in retrospect, Beenhakker was
not convinced by Dennis and thought three other candidates might be better in the number 10 slot: Wim Jonk, Ron Willems and Ronald de Boer. Dennis found himself offered other roles, none of which
suited him so well: centre-forward, left-winger, deeper-lying central-midfielder, substitute. ‘I was demoted and I