BERGKAMP'S EURO FRUSTRATION

[Taxigirl]

Dennis Bergkamp says Arsenal must play their attacking style of football in Europe if they are to finally achieve success in the Champions League.

The Gunners have collected just a single point from their opening three games and must beat Ukrainian side Dynamo Kiev at Highbury on Wednesday just to stay in the competition.

Arsene Wenger's side have repeatedly disappointed in Europe and have left the club's fans scratching their heads wondering why they could not recreate their domestic form on the continent.

Bergkamp believes that Arsenal play too candidly in Europe and need to throw off the shackles and play the attacking style they have been so successful with at home.

"I feel sometimes in Europe we play with the handbrake on," said Bergkamp. "We need to relax a little bit.

"It's hard to explain why we do so well in The Premiership, yet struggle in Europe.

"We seem to know what we are doing in The Premiership. We take some risks, we go forward and just play how we know we can.

"It's not a question of getting our heads right. We don't feel that at all. When we play our attacking football, few teams can cope with us."

Wenger's men again find themselves facing an early exit from Europe's premier competition, and Bergkamp says that they must find a way to do better in Europe if they are to become a great side.

"I think our record should be better, but you have to go out and do it.

"If you don't, you're not allowed to keep saying you're one of the best teams in Europe.

"I don't feel we have done enough to be called a great team. We've worked hard, but we need to get our game back in Europe and maybe have a bit of luck as well. I just hope it's not too late and that we still have a chance.

"It annoys us we haven't played to our potential in the competition as we know we should have done much better."

[Salem6]

By Richard Clarke



While the Arsenal engine has purred its way to the top of the Premiership with barely a splutter, their Champions League campaign has been played "with the handbrake on" according to Dennis Bergkamp.

Arsène Wenger's side face an uphill struggle to qualify for the knockout stages of the competition after picking up one point from their first three matches in this year's competition. Bergkamp believes they will have to go on the attack to win all of their remaining games and qualify for the next stages - starting with Kiev at Highbury on Wednesday.

"Maybe it's a different sort of night when you play in Europe, different from the Premiership," said the Dutchman. "But in a way, how we approach the game and how we feel about it, the way we train for it and the way we prepare for it, it's all the same. But in the game we seem to take less risks and that's not how we should play.

"In Premiership games we just play like we know we can play. I feel that sometimes in Europe we play with the handbrake on. We don't know what we can achieve - we need to just go out there and play our game and see where it gets us.

"I think when you look at the quality of our team going forward, as we know we can, we will be ok. But when we are a little bit careful we don't play to our strengths.

"We're in a very difficult situation in the Champions League now but at least we know we have to win every game. There is only one way to do that and it is to play our own game, attacking football."

Bergkamp scored with a diving header when Arsenal played Kiev at Wembley 1998. It was Arsenal's first Champions League campaign, and despite qualifying every year since, they have reached the quarter-final only once.

"I think we should [have done better]," said Bergkamp. "But you have to show it. If you don't show it then I feel you are not allowed to keep saying 'we are one of the best teams in Europe'. We need to show it, if we do it then I feel we can say it. But at the moment we haven't proved it.

"I think we have proven ourselves in the league, but for us it's important to go a step forward, and that's by doing it in Europe. I don't feel we have done that. We can do much better. If you look at the games that we've dropped points in, we've not played to our potential.

"We need to get our game back in Europe and maybe a little bit of luck as well. I just hope it's not too late."


++++++

It's not the attacking side that's the problem in Europe, it's defending properly & waiting for the openings, unlike in the EPL where we tend to try to score with every possession. It doesn't work with decent defences & potent counter-attackers (re Inter).