The Ones That Got Away

Well , of all the things I could have done without tonight, Thierry Henry being voted the greatest foreign import to the Premiership in Sky One’s show was perhaps the main one.

For most of today I had been preparing my tribute to Dennis Bergkamp, confident in the knowledge that nobody else could scoop that accolade. Don’t get me wrong, Thierry is the best goalscorer I have ever seen, and contributes so much more than just blistering pace and exquisite finishing. I really felt, however, that most people would consider his time in the Premiership a work-in-progress, as yet incomplete.

Dennis was the first truly world-class talent to don the red and white of the Gunners. We had witnessed, all too briefly, the talents of players like Petrovic, Schwartz, and Limpar, but Dennis was different. Having spent a full ten years playing a lead role in all of Arsenal’s contemporary triumphs I was convinced he would just pip the equally popular, but less successful, Gianfranco Zola to the honour. That Eric Cantona could be considered superior to these two will remain a mystery to me.

Elsewhere it would appear that Arsene Wenger has been lamenting the one’s that got away. Wenger took part in a webchat on the club's official website, and revealed: "Claude Makelele was close to signing for us, Samuel Eto'o too, and I missed a few. "I have been offered many players, like Cech, who could have done well for us.” Well, don’t let it worry you too much boss, we seem to have done rather well with the players you did sign!