In a recent Q&A hosted by Sky Sports, Theirry Henry was asked to name the best player he has played with and the former France international picked his ex-Arsenal teammate ahead of the likes of Lionel Messi, Andres Iniesta and Zinedine Zidane.
The former Barcelona and Arsenal stalwart rationalized his pick by stating that he observed the Dutchman in the stadiums as well as the training ground for a longer duration than any other world class player.
“Because of longevity and because I saw him every day in training for more than seven years, Dennis Bergkamp.
“Why? Because he was always doing what, the game was asking him to do. What I mean by that is he can showboat sometimes and score a goal that you guys would have gone ‘oh wow!’, but we knew it could have been something better for the team.
“You guys don’t see it on TV, for example, some of these guys are freaks, they run past six players and score a goal, so even if you call for the ball you’re like ‘alright, okay, let’s celebrate with him, he’s scored, there’s nothing you can do’.
“But I admired why Dennis was always trying to respect the game. He could score but he could pass, past, [pick the] right moment. He was always trying to respect the game when he could do other stuff, and that’s why I respected him a lot for that.
Henry also claimed that Bergkamp was a fierce competitor on the training ground as well.
“But also, the way he trained. The way he used to train was just not normal. The guy didn’t want to lose the ball, if he loses the ball he would foul you, get in your face, he wants to be first in the run, first to touch the mannequin in training.
The legendary forward mentioned Zidane and freak Messi. According to Henry, it is not humanly possible to reach the level of these players.
“But then I have to mention the freaks because those guys are not eligible for me. Leo is a freak. I think you guys [the fans] do not understand what the guy is doing. Him, Zizou, all these guys, you cannot do what they do, it’s not humanly possible.”