Stillness and Speed: My Story

Dennis Bergkamp's greatness in the greater context of the sport is occasionally debated. A skillful playmaker who never quite achieved the accolades his ability would suggest? A typically-Dutch attacker with a penchant for bottling it when the going got tough? Or a silky-smooth striker of the ball who could score some of the best goals fans have ever witnessed, yet some still had the nerve to suggest he was more fortuitous than calculated? All of these categorizations have been applied to him at various points in his career, and yet he is never quite regarded as among the best players the world has ever witnessed.This book is a fascinating read, ranging from acute tactical insight on the pitch, to charming personal anecdotes about the trials and tribulations of a man with a golden touch whose personality perhaps prevented him from outshining others in the public eye. The reader is a passenger on his journey from promising upstart breaking through to the Ajax first team, his torrid time in Italy with Inter, and ultimately the figuratively high-flying days (despite his reticence to actual flight) within the scope of the Arsenal team that would ultimately become invincible.In many ways, this is a more candid and honest player profile than many sanctioned biographies would venture. Far from being a hagiographic celebration of a footballer, Dennis opens up about his many insecurities, such as the notorious fear of flying, his view on the moral collapse of the Dutch team during World Cup '94, and his struggles at Inter. Along with David Winner, one of the preeminent authorities on Dutch football, we get a unique insight into the mind of an artist and competitor.I highly recommend this book to anyone who is a fan of Arsenal or enjoyed what many believe were the glory days of English Premier League football.

Dennis Bergkamp- He was pretty much before my time but when I did see him I never really thought how fantastic he was because he was so simple in his game. He wasn't silky like Maradona nor was he fast like Messi nor did he bang in goals like Ronaldo. I was intrigued how this man in a team of Kluivert, De Boer, Seedorf, Davids, Overmars, Henry can be considered so important to wear the No.10 for both Arsenal and Netherlands. To understand that, you need to look at football from another perspective. Bergkamp's game revolves around control and passing, something very technical but sometimes under-appreciated. In order for the Bergkamp to shine he needs good strikers to make a run and score, and likewise for the team to shine they need Bergkamp because he makes the good players even better with his precise passing. How he is able to control a hard ball and score at the same time, how he sees his striker before he even gets the ball, how to score at an acute angle with the outside foot.. the amount of intelligence that goes in his play is unbelievable, and this book shares some of this thoughts and philosophy. This book is nothing that i have read before. It is not only one-way interviews with Bergkamp and his team mates, but the author does writes about Bergkamp's response to these comments. It feels a little bit like Bergkamp and Henry/Viera/Bergomi sitting on a cafe and talking to each other about old times. The author has collated a list of interviews of some of the greats (eg: Van Gaal, Cryuff, De Boer, Henry, Viera, Adams, Wenger, etc) and everyone spoke so highly of him that i feel like this is one of the best achievements u can have as a footballer.

I wish this book could have captured half of the gracefulness and magic of Dennis. Alas, the writing was not to what I would call a high standard, at times crass (for those of you who are against such things), and left me feeling like finishing it was more of a chore than a pleasure.I switched to 'skim-reading' to see if there were any pearls worth keeping (especially as the book is not inexpensive). If I took the worthwhile bits and placed them in a new book, the text would probably be about the length of this review. Sigh.Alas! This book actually diminished my memories of him, so I had to go watch some of my favorite highlights of him to restore the memory. Thankfully the Dutch announcer who announced his famous World Cup '98 goal vs. Argentina works wonders!!! I had hoped this book would be a treasure worthy of the great Dennis Bergkamp; it was not: but what a treasure it was to watch him play!

The structure of this book is interesting. Obviously, there's the usual progression through the subject's career. I found how lengthy comments from former teammates and managers are interspersed throughout to be interesting. They aren't just included as part of the narrative. You actually get Dennis responding to them, which adds depth. Overall, I like how much the book is about how Dennis thinks about the game, both from his own perspective and more broadly. It's not just a linear narrative of a life and accomplishments.

For me this was a very good sports book. The author has an excellent rapport with his subject and the interviews with Bergkamp are insightful and intelligent. Getting to the roots of Bergkamps philosophies around football is the best part of the book. I disliked the chapters in the middle of the book which had large inputs from Arsenal colleagues like Ian Wright, Tony Adams, Patrick Vieira and Thierry Henry. Wright (good player that he was) is the antithesis of Bergkamp and his offerings give nothing to the book. His input is boring. Henry and Vieira likewise indulge in a lot of backslapping (he was a great player, there was no one like Dennis etc). Boring. Adams in fairness gives views that are more interesting. Giuseppe Bergomi the same. In fact if this book had more about Bergkamps present work at Ajax and relationship with Cryuff it would have been much better. That said it is still a really good read.

(WARNING: The review of this book may or more likely will contain spoilers!)Dennis Bergkamp is a name that will be forever be synonymous with football technical brilliance. His scoring of goals; his creation of chances; and his overall vision towards the game won him many admirers throughout his playing career. If the man even so much as flicked the big toe on his right foot, it would give football pundits orgasms lasting several weeks. But why does Dennis think and operate the way he does with football? This book “Stillness & Speed” gives the reader a great insight into the man who thoroughly deserves his descriptive title of “Dutch Master.”Strictly speaking this isn’t a biography or autobiography. It’s more of an interview book where the writer asks various questions about Bergkamp’s football career. He talks about his thinking when creating chances and goals both for himself and his teammates; his attitude towards training and his need to go the extra mile to “get it right”; and his precise views on various aspects of the game which includes taking penalties. Overall the book was a real eye-opener for me. Yes, we have various football pundits breaking down the action on a daily basis. Yes, we have Sky Sports and their bottomless cup of computer graphic analysis. But this book really opened my eyes has to how much depth there is in the game of football, and what needs to be learned and perfected in order to get really good at it. I was compelled to just keep reading, and that can only be a good thing.“Stillness & Speed” is not just an educational experience (I would venture to say). It’s also a series of mini stories providing an interesting view on the different styles of football play throughout Europe. The book talks about Dennis establishing his skills in the technical world of Dutch football at Ajax; his struggles physically and mentally with the defensive Italian style at Inter Milan; and his revival in the open and attacking arena of English football with Arsenal. Among the famous football faces consistently praising Bergkamp’s skill and personality are former Arsenal players, Ian Wright and Thierry Henry, and the current Arsenal manager, Arsene Wenger. There’s even a bit of time for some short-tugging humour. Trust me you’ll know what I mean when you read it!This is just my opinion -make of it what you will- but having read through this book from start to finish, it has made me realise that...it’s OK to be a perfectionist. It’s OK to not be happy with your current results and performances, and want it to be better. It’s OK to constantly want to strive for more and get out there to make it happen. It’s OK to want to be...perfect. One thing it certainly is...it’s an in-writing motivational speech to work hard to get the results you want.Even if you don’t agree with those opinions in the last paragraph, the insight to Bergkamp’s mindset on the field of play and his general football philosophies make “Stillness & Speed” a compelling read. It’s a series of educational lessons on football and life. The bottom line is if you love your football, you’ll love this book.

I love football and have the good fortune of supporting a lowly team, allowing me to be fickle about the more skillful and successful teams I follow and enjoy watching. Like many other neutrals and lovers of football - Arsenal during Berkhamps' reigh was the team to follow - my reason for reading this book.I very much enjoyed the style, and thought the interview style worked well. I particularly enjoyed the backwards and forwards commentary of the same event, providing insight and different perspectives and how this linked to the narrative of Berkhamps life. At the end of the book I felt I had a really good understanding of some of the politics of Ajax, Dutch and Italian football and a balanced view of Berkhamp as both a player and man.My surprise was though how really funny the book is. For the first time in a long time I had to interupt people around me and read passages out loud - I just had to share my amusement. The story of how he first met Ian Wright - just so well written and funny. The interview with Johann Cruyff when he was asked about current decision making at Ajax - just brilliant. You could imagine a stand up comic narrating this interview to great humour.I have become a total bore now when watching football on TV - just talking angles, distances and space. I only hope all members of the current FA commission read this book - what lessons to be learnt.highly recommend to any one interested in sport. My only regret? Wished I have purchased in hardback - definitely one of those books to dip in and out of at your leisure

Dennis Bergkamp's autobiography isn't like most football autobiographies. In truth, it isn't really an autobiography! In my mind, it's an authorised biography, not an autobiography. The co-writer has the main 'voice' and Dennis' input - which, admittedly, is substantial - is in the form of extended quotations taken from interviews with the co-writer. Effectively, it makes the book a long magazine-style interview of Bergkamp.However, that apart, it's still a great and analytical read that probably works well for somebody who had a great playing career but perhaps doesn't have the big, gregarious personality we often associate with great sport autobiographies. There's plenty of input from others involved in his career at Ajax, Inter and Arsenal, and the co-writer seems to understand Bergkamp's career and get down to the key issues - the strife at Ajax, Bergkamp's unhappiness at Inter, the reasons for Arsenal's success.A couple of quibbles about the Kindle edition - the version that I downloaded was missing a cover image and had a surprising amount of typos that got through proof-reading.

Wow what a truly fantastic read this was. I really wasn't expecting to enjoy this as much as I did mainly as I had built up this impression of Bergkamp as a moody player but the book really casts a new shadow over his personality and shows his true side well I hope his true side anyway.This book is an absolute must for football fans even if your not a Gunners (Arsenal) fan I urge you to read this. it also has a wonderful chapter about the Dutch footballing mentality / crisis in the early naughties that all footballs fans.Overall this is a well written version of the Dutch book that resembles "War & Peace"

The story behind the legend that is Dennis Bergkamp. The book is a Q&A with Dennis, how he started playing, the clubs he played for, the career highlights and former teammates who give an insight as to what is was like to play with Dennis