'Most intelligent': Ally McCoist now says Arsenal had a player who might be the smartest forward in PL history
03/26/2025 03:45 PM
Arsenal have had the pleasure of having some of the most intelligent players to ever play in the Premier League don their famous red and white strip.
Thierry Henry, Dennis Bergkamp, Mesut Ozil, Patrick Vieira — the list goes on.
Football is as much of a physically demanding sport as it is mentally and luckily for Arsenal during Arsene Wenger’s reign in particular, they had players who could solve problems on the pitch due to their unique footballing brains.
Micah Richards named Dennis Bergkamp as his hero amongst many others to play for the Gunners as he was truly a genius. While Sol Campbell lauded Bergkamp’s partnership with Henry as the toughest he has ever faced in his career as the pair in particular approached the game in a manner rarely seen across the history of the game.
Ally McCoist had his say on Dennis Bergkamp after reflecting on his greatness.
- READ MORE: Dennis Bergkamp shares the 'only thing' which used to really bother Thierry Henry at Arsenal
Ally McCoist names Dennis Bergkamp as “most intelligent” Premier League forward ever
Bergkamp, who was signed for a record £7.5 million (talkSPORT) fee in 1995 produced several moments during his time in the Premier League that summed up just how cerebral of a player he was.
Dennis Bergkamp is Ian Wright’s greatest-ever teammate for a reason, with his legendary goal against Newcastle United in 2002 indicating how much of a thinker he was about the game — flicking the ball past Nikos Dabizas after receiving a tough pass and slotting it into the back of the net.
Bergkamp is one of Arne Slot’s childhood heroes and he inspired generations by not just how he played but saw the game as well.
Speaking to TNT Sports, Ally McCoist claimed that out of all the greatest forwards in Premier League history, Dennis Bergkamp may be by far the most intelligent: “I think Bergkamp might be the most intelligent footballer up there and there’s some brilliant footballers and I’m not saying that the rest of them aren’t intelligent.”
“But in terms of football brain, Bergkamp might be one of the best I’ve ever seen, believe it or not.”
Arsene Wenger shared how smart Dennis Bergkamp was at Arsenal
Dennis Bergkamp will certainly appreciate Ally McCoist’s comments as he has paid the former Inter Milan attacker a massive compliment.
However, Arsene Wenger felt the same about Bergkamp, explaining in Arsenal’s programme notes ahead of his testimonial in 2006 about how the three-time Premier League winner’s intelligence was his standout feature.
Wenger said: “When you have a player like that as a coach, you do not tell him how to play football, you just try to fit him into the team in the way which allows him to express his talent to the maximum potential. He was always a striker, yet not a striker – a midfielder yet not a midfielder, so I always felt that the second striker position was his natural position.”
“He was at ease there, he knew when to drop off, and he could just smell out the game. He had instinct and super intelligence. As well as his talent, he had super, super intelligence.”
“His role in the team changed over the years. When I first arrived he was a goalscorer, and obsessed by scoring like may forwards are, but slowly he became more obsessed by the team and by how much he can provide. He understood that he could score less, but help the team score more. But he still loved to score goals, and great goals too. I think my favourite would probably be the one he scored against Leicester at Filbert Street, his third in a fantastic hat-trick. It was something exceptional.”
