If Dennis Bergkamp was not a footballer, he would probably have been an architect, perhaps turning Amsterdam into a city renowned for modern design rather than canal houses and windmills. From a young age he was fascinated by dissecting angles, understanding shapes and, above all, how best to utilise space. He was also fascinated by movement: how balls bounce in certain ways when a particular spin is put on it and how to control every situation. Outside his childhood home, just off the A10 motorway in the east Amsterdam suburbs, Bergkamp spent hours kicking a ball against a wall below his bedroom window. Understanding the physics, teaching himself. “Most of the time I was by myself, just...
Full Story »