Bergkamp statue

[VoiceOfReason]

It's a slightly strange pose to choose for the statue as it isn't exactly a memorable moment in an Arsenal career which was full of them.

You don't think his goal of the season at Leicester was one of DB's most iconic moments?

I wanted it to be that but apparently, it's this rather strange choice:

In that case, my apologies. And you're right, that is an obscure choice.

[Perryashburtongroves]

It's a slightly strange pose to choose for the statue as it isn't exactly a memorable moment in an Arsenal career which was full of them.

You don't think his goal of the season at Leicester was one of DB's most iconic moments?

I wanted it to be that but apparently, it's this rather strange choice:

In that case, my apologies. And you're right, that is an obscure choice.

Perhaps the sculptor was a big fan of Newcastle's Andy O'Brien.

[VoiceOfReason]

There should be another pole for the ball!

[northbank123]

Agreed - bizarre choice. It will have been chosen because it encapsulates his finesse and underlying/overlooked physical ability but it's not particularly memorable and moreover just looks a bit silly.

Alternatives - opening up his body to slot past the keeper for either iconic Leicester or Newcastle goals, possibly the freeze-frame of his touch around Dabizas for that goal against Newcastle with his body twisting and the ball on the end of his toe.

[VoiceOfReason]

Agreed - bizarre choice. It will have been chosen because it encapsulates his finesse and underlying/overlooked physical ability but it's not particularly memorable and moreover just looks a bit silly.

Alternatives - opening up his body to slot past the keeper for either iconic Leicester or Newcastle goals, possibly the freeze-frame of his touch around Dabizas for that goal against Newcastle with his body twisting and the ball on the end of his toe.

Could also have chosen his first goal for the club versus Southampton, or his celebration after scoring against Man Utd in 2005. Both pretty iconic IMO. Pics below.

[TeeCee]

Should have been his celebration after his goal against Spuds at Highbury when he slid on his knees but I guess it's too much like the Henry statue??

[Ryanswannell]

How could someone step away from that, and then think "that pole looks just fine". It's thicker than a telegraph pole .

Bergkamps face says it all

[g88ner]

It's strange, DB10 played for such a long time and never once do I remember him having a pole shoved up his arse

Still, I can see they had no option once they'd selected such an odd moment to capture. I mean really, of all the memories I have of the great man, flying through the air like a ninja just isn't one of them.

I have to say, I do wonder if this statue was simply a mistake. Perhaps they decided to go for "that Newcastle moment" and accidentally chose the wrong one?

[1989]

Legend

[QuartzGooner]

I think it is a great pose but the pole up his backside looks just awful!

Personally I would have gone for a statue with four separate sculptures of Bergkamp, each one a sequential "freeze frame" of his goal against Newcastle.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKNtSARH-l8

[mcdowell42]

Wonder how long it will take someone on here to blame wenger for the statue

[g88ner]

I refuse to believe the lamp post sticking out of Bergkamp's arse is anything other than a gastly error that they've resolved with a compromise.

The clue is in the sculpture below...

I'd imagine the design stage, up to and including the model in the picture above, never considered the actual weight of the statue, so all the club would have seen were what they believed were consistent with what would eventually be standing outside the stadium for years to come... and so, a hefty some of money was parted with to commission the building of the statue.

I wonder at what stage the artist realised that a discrete scaffolding-type right angle was insufficient to hold the weight of the statue? and I wonder how long it took the artist to pluck up the courage to admit to Arsenal that, having considered a stress engineer, a thick 45 degree angle lamp post was required to prevent bronze-Dennis from eating tarmac

Question is, why didn't they scrap the idea and start again? - was the project too advanced by the time the problem was noticed? or did the club refuse to admit a mistake and unwilling to dig any further into their deep pockets to resolve the problem?

Either way, it looks ridiculous. Which is a shame as Bergkamp deserves better.

Also doesn't explain why they chose THAT moment to immortalise and not the more obvious Bergkamp memory against Newcastle i.e. the one we all remember fondly and never tire of seeing? - seriously, was that a mistake also? did they simply google "Bergkamp vs. Newcastle" and selected the wrong image?

Neither the design nor the selected pose make any sense to me.

[Its Up 4 Grabs Now]

It's strange, DB10 played for such a long time and never once do I remember him having a pole shoved up his arse

You what? Are you honestly saying you don't think that time Bergkamp famously leapt 3 foot in the air and started shitting out a lamp-post wasn't one of his most iconic moments?

You'll see the light soon enough, don't worry about that.

[g88ner]

It's strange, DB10 played for such a long time and never once do I remember him having a pole shoved up his arse

You what? Are you honestly saying you don't think that time Bergkamp famously leapt 3 foot in the air and started shitting out a lamp-post wasn't one of his most iconic moments?

You'll see the light soon enough, don't worry about that.

[Dan_85]

Agree with most of the comments here. Totally deserved and personally I think it's a great choice of pose but I think it could have been executed a lot better. I mean, he's got a giant fucking metal pole coming out of his arsehole Who ever thought it was a good idea to sign it off like that. "Yeah, that looks perfect. Get to work on making it boys!"