When it was announced that Arsene Wenger would leave Arsenal, a small section of Arsenal’s fan base wanted club icon Dennis Bergkamp at the helm.
The legendary Dutchman is still a hero to many Gunners fans, and a few of them felt that he would have been a very good mentor for some of Arsenal’s young players.
Arsenal preferred Unai Emery first, before turning to Mikel Arteta in December last year. The Spaniard has done a decent job so far, but the Gunners’ Premier League finish this season is a huge disappointment.
Bergkamp is still following Arsenal and a few of his former colleagues. Thierry Henry and Patrick Vieira are both doing their thing in management in MLS and Ligue 1 respectively. Yet the Dutchman seems to be particularly impressed with what Arteta is doing at the Emirates.
He told FourFourTwo: “I follow how they’re doing from afar. It’s a shame that MLS stopped after Thierry took a job there, and Patrick is doing well at Nice.
“I’m really interested in Mikel Arteta and how he’s doing at Arsenal, as there have been signs that he wants to change their philosophy. It looked good in the few matches I watched earlier in the year.”
The philosophy has changed but Arsenal are still a long way off
The philosophy is a lot more similar to Wenger’s Arsenal than that of Emery. Arsenal have looked comfortable in possession since Arteta’s arrival and they seem to be favouring the attacking game rather than the counter-attacking style that his compatriot used at the start of the season.
Arteta certainly needs more time before he can get Arsenal back to their best. The first step to achieve that will be in the FA Cup final, when the Gunners take on Chelsea in their most important game of the season.
Arsenal are nowhere near as good as they were back when Bergkamp played. However, that gap can be shortened this summer if Arteta gets the transfers that he demands from the board.
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