As I listen to all the talk of the ‘crisis’ at my beloved Arsenal I try to remember the good old days; Thomas charging through the midfield at Anfield, Smudger volleying past Bucci against Parma, Adams smashing it past Myhre at Highbury, and most recently (although not all that recent) Vieira slotting the winning penalty at the Millennium Stadium against Manchester United. I have even dusted off my video of the 1971 Cup final (for anyone reading this born post 1994, video’s were like DVD’s but bigger, clunkier and the viewing quality was massively inferior – ask your dad). When I watch George, Rocastle, Bergkamp and Henry showing off their talent I dream of times when we had great teams. It got me thinking, what makes a team ‘great’?
Lots of things define greatness and everyone will have differing opinions on the matter, so I have highlighted five areas which I think are key to putting teams within this category.
Players
Footballers are regularly described as great. The term can be interpreted in different ways like the term ‘world class’. For me, players are rarely ‘world class’. I believe that only a player that succeeds at domestic, European and International level are worthy of the term. So even though Dennis Bergkamp is in my mind the most complete player to ever play for the Gunners and probably in England (and the person I would most like to meet in the world ever), I wouldn’t call him world class. He won 10 domestic trophies with Ajax and Arsenal including 4 league titles, a Cup Winners Cup with Ajax plus the UEFA Cup with Ajax and Inter, but he didn’t have success at international level. Yes he scored pretty much a goal every other game (37 in 79) but he was part of a Netherlands team that never progressed further than the semi-finals of a tournament. So yes I would class him as truly great but not world class.
‘Great’ players are iconic. They are who you picture when you think back to highlights in the clubs history. I was at Wembley when we beat Sheffield Wednesday in the FA Cup replay, and even though Andy Linighan popped up with a 119th minute winner breaking his nose in the process, I can only picture Wrighty bouncing around with the trophy. We can all list our dream team with players throughout the clubs history, but hardly anyone will include Limpar, Bould and probably even Merson, even though in their time they were players that were intrinsic to Arsenal’s success.
This is one of the worst articles i’ve read in a while. Bergkamp, not world class! Are you out of your mind? Having domestic, european and international success does not automatically make you world class. Bergkamps individual attributes as a player are what make him world class and it really isn’t his fault that the dutch are near enough incapable of winning a trophy.
Hi Kai, appreciate you taking time to read the post and make a comment. It’s my first ever so it’s nice to get a reaction even if it isn’t positive. I think the we all have views of what world class means, don’t get mr wrong I think bergkamp is the greatest player to play in England. Cheers .
Worst. Post. Ever.
Kai and homer, not sure you know what you’re on about. I really enjoyed reading this – fantastic. Brought back some great memories. Bergkamp was a true great. Lovin your work mark.
Agreed weston, really enjoyed this one. Mark must be a bit older going by the names and memories. Ok i’ll start it, my greatest arsenal team: seaman, adams, dixon, cole (sorry), campbell, overmars, cesc, vierra, petit, henry, bergkamp
stupid article…….if you wanted to kill time find a PSP or something!!
enjoyable read mate….Kai and Homer probably don’t know what they are talking about. It’s grt for a start…..
Thanks Vivek, really appreciate that. I really enjoyed writing it.
lame article!