Amsterdam Tournament win highlights the Bergkamp problem

The Amsterdam tournament was reassuring for this writer. I was happy to see Ashley Cole in an Arsenal shirt playing to his normal high standard; new signing Alexander Hleb showed good technical ability and an eye for a killer pass; and Mathieu Flamini showed great Parlour-esque energy as the midfield anchor-man.

Moreover - albeit it was only a pre-season tournament - to beat Ajax and Porto on the road must add to the team's collective confidence which often takes a hammering when in Europe.

However, the main player behind the victory should concern Arsene Wenger. He is the one player who the others look up to, and who links the midfield and attack like no one else can.

That player is Dennis Bergkamp.

It is only hypothetical, but if Dennis was available for away games in Europe, there is no doubt in my mind that Arsenal would have fared better in the Champs league in the last six years.

On Sunday, Dennis was rested on the bench in the first half. Up-front Jose was paired with Thierry. Hleb played on the left and Pires again took on the central midfield playmaker role that I envisage he will rotate with Cesc Fabregas this season.

Porto outplayed Arsenal in the first half and deservedly went in one-nil ahead. Arsenal had no passing cohesion, attacks broke down easily, and Porto accordingly grew in confidence culminating in their goal. It was reminiscent of our worst away performances in the Champs League- a pale shadow of our potential.

The second half saw the arrival of Freddie and Dennis. With Dennis on the pitch, the whole team lifted in confidence. They played the ball through Dennis, and the team found their attacking rhythm.

In particular, Thierry always looks a more contented player when Dennis is on the pitch; he is nowhere near gaining a similar working partnership with Reyes.

Within fifteen minutes Arsenal had made the first half domination of Porto a distant memory and were ahead through two Freddie goals.

The contrast of the first half to the second half was marked. And the key to this was Dennis Bergkamp. The fact that Arsenal are still over-reliant on someone who is unavailable for away matches in Europe should concern Wenger. I believe he AGAIN must have taken note of this fact.

I wrote after the Bayern defeat that Mr Wenger's first priority next year must be a forward player who can partner Thierry with the same qualities that Bergkamp possesses. It was always going to be a big ask.

It looks as if Julio Cesar Baptista was ear-marked for this role, but Real Madrid stole in on him. Michael Owen could not fulfil the Bergkamp role because he is a pure finisher, not an all-round team player; hence the Wenger 'no thanks' to making a move for the ex-Liverpool striker.

Arsene's experiment of a defensive 4-5-1 that took everyone by surprise in the FA cup final was not on show at the weekend. However, unless Wenger can bring in a Bergkamp clone to the club in the next few weeks, (or can convince Dennis that flying will not lead to inevitable disaster) I believe this formation will re-emerge away in Europe this season.

With Bergkamp in an unaccustomed target man role, and Reyes in an even more unaccustomed right-wing role, the performance against Man Utd was always doomed to be a failure.

But Arsene won’t repeat the same mistakes again. I think it will look more like this:

_____________________________Lehmann
________________Lauren_Toure_Senderos_Cole
___________________________Gilberto
_______________________Fabregas__Pires
_________________Ljungberg__________ Reyes
____________________________Henry


P.S. I see that Peter 'bad for the game' Kenyon is at it again this morning; this time smirking as he dismissed all opposition for the Premiership crown. Rarely has there been a more deserving candidate for the expression 'pride comes before a fall'.