By Myles Palmer
One thing I forgot to mention last week.
The dim-witted Muppets on ITV who asked : Did Dennis Bergkamp mean that?
Last Saturday they had five hours to watch replays of
something that was beautifully simple and lasted two seconds.
The Pires pass to Bergkamp was so perfectly weighted that the Dutch ace did not have to move for the ball. He just had to wait, which meant that his marker had to wait, and stay stationary,which made Dabizas vulnerable.
So Dennis cuts across the ball with his left foot, making it spin behind the defender, turns round Dabizas on the other side, and scores without looking at anything except the ball.
He didn’t have to look up to pick his spot because once he got both feet in the correct position, the correct shot would follow as surely as night follows day.
He had already picked his spot before he flicked the ball so cleverly.
How could those pundits, Lynham and McCoist, doubt that what he did was wholly intentional? I never doubted it for a second.
Yes, it was a moment of preposterous improvisation, but Dennis Bergkamp is such an economical player, and such a fabulous technician, that if he tries something like that, it has a very good chance of coming off.
And how could cleverclogs Des suggest that Bergkamp had
fouled his man by pushing him away?
It was a goal that the whole country was talking about all week.
Dennis Bergkamp gave ITV a unique highlight for their
highlights programme,but they did not have the grace or the
professional nous to accord him the respect he deserved.
They tried to spoil it. What wallies!
Let’s face it : The Premiership is a rubbish programme. Everyone I know hates it and can’t wait for the BBC to get the rights back in two years time.
It’s a shame that Des Lynham has lost the plot. He was fun four years ago, a working playboy, a small screen impresario who demonstrated charm and wit in the way he shared big sports events with us.
Now he’s about as relevant as the Queen Mum. As I’ve always said, success is hard to survive and Des hasn’t survived it.
At least the BBC will afford Bergkamp suitable respect if he does something amazing in tonight’s FA Cup quarter final at Newcastle.
In the Standard last night, Michael Hart asked Bergkamp,
“Could you do it again?”
And Dennis said, “Yes, I think so.”
March 9th 2002.