(20th July 2006)
Arsenal Training Centre, London Colney.
"I'm nervous bro, I heard Henry arrived yesterday" said Nervous Gibbs.
Everyone of them was wearing arsenal tracksuits lined up outside nervous to go inside.
"Hey captain.. you should lead us" said Matt trying to persuade Gibbs.
"Nope, Jack's the striker, he should do his job" said Gibbs.
"You already Henri?" Asked Matt, Henri didn't reply, he just kept shaking.
'He's in worse condition' thought Matt, he gulped, "Alright, I'll go in first, follow me close... Please" he said walking inside the metal gate.
Walking inside he saw a guard outside, who looked at Matt suspiciously.
"What do you want kid?" He said unkindly.
Matt walked towards him, the closer he got the more guard frowned.
"Piss off kid" said the guard again.
Matt took out his Id which was given by Arsene last week and gave it to the guard who raised his brows with surprise.
"You mute or something lad, should've said something." Said the guard looking at Matt oddly.
"Come out!" Said Matt, and one by one Jack, Henri and Gibbs entered through the gate.
"Are there more?" Asked the guard, to which Matt just smiled and shook his head.
"Lads, don't make trouble inside. The atmosphere is heavy, try to mind that" said the guard as he opened the gate for them.
He was saying the truth, Píres, Campbell, and Ashley Cole had been sold, the last season ended with a huge disappointment.
"You heard the man Jack" said Matt.
They all walk inside looking around the coordinator, painted white and red, it looked fresh, it was brighter than the academy's corridor.
"It's 7, training doesn't start till 9" said Henri, it was the first thing he had said since meeting today.
"It's a rule. The youngest should come first to the training" said Gibbs.
"I'm not breaking any rule good sir" came a voice that made them stop, looking infront stood Dennis Bergkamp wearing a white shirt blue jeans.
"B.. Bergkamp! No sir, I didn't know-" Gibbs fumbled.
"Hahah, it's always good to see academy kids coming here" said the man with a laugh looking at the scared boys.
"Welcome to Arsenal's First Team training, Boss left me to see after you guys. Now stop standing there come here and introduce yourself" said Bergkamp, his loud voice echoing.
"Yes sir" said Jack, they quickly moved near him.
"I'm Jack Wilshere, Striker" said Jack, he puffed up his chest, his face flushed red.
"I'm Henri Lansbury, Centre Midfielder" said Henri.
"Aye, we got another Henri, an English one" he said with a laugh.
"I'm Kieran Gibbs, I play Left Back Sir", he said with a stiff smile.
"Matthew Delevigne, I play as Attacking Midfielder" said Matt, he had seen Bergkamp before at Highbury in the tunnel, but talking to him was another thing.
"Lads your kits are placed next to the first team dressing room, you have 30 minutes, introduce yourself to the staff and grounds men, without their hardwork there's no club" said Bergkamp making the kids look at him with respect.
"Yes sir" said all of them with unison, "No sir stuff, call me Dennis or Senior. You'll call every teammate like that. You know what to call coach right?" He asked patiently.
"Yes senior" said Matt.
"Good, now go, I'll meet on on the 3rd field" said Bergkamp, he left giving them a smile.
"That felt surreal" said Matt out loud, he couldn't believe he talked to Bergkamp.
"That was so sick bro!" Said Jack side hugging Matt.
"Hey! We'll celebrate later we've got work to do" said Gibbs breaking their bubble of awe.
"Yes, let's go. Can't make Dennis freaking Bergkamp wait" said Jack with a nod as they walked around introducing themselves, shaking hands with physiotherapists, groundsmen, canteen staff.
They approached anyone they saw, everyone greeted them with smiles and gave their regards for their first training.
At the end they felt less nervous and more excited.
------
A man moved, swiftly. He tried walk discreetly, he wanted to run away from that attention, every gaze reminded him of his misses.
The staff made way for him, not saying anything. Just moving aside, he didn't greet them back either, each moment here in training felt longer for him, reminder of his failure.
He had been called great, the greatest to play the league infact, but he didn't felt that way, he wanted to scream, punch but he couldn't, his cool is everything left for him.
"Titi.. it's good to have you back" said Wenger, his eyes seizing up the man, that light, the electric flash that was there before was nowhere to be seen.
"It's good to be back boss" said Henry with a smile.
"You're early, I thought you would be here at 9" said Wenger.
"What? Didn't training start on 8?" Asked a shocked Henry.
"Who told you that? It starts on 9" said Wenger.
"Dennis, that old man" said Henry with a sigh, he smiled and rubbed his head.
"We'll if you're here, might as well warm up, Dennis is on the field 3 with few academy kids, go there" said Wenger tapping Henry's shoulder.
Henry moved past him, he looked around he could hear yelling of kids across 2 fields.
"Are you a fucking idiot! Place the ball on the corners! I won't pass it to you if you shoot dead centre of the goal!" Exclaimed Matt at Jack who looked flustered.
Henry Couldn't help but laugh at that, that was one heck of a midfielder.
"My bad. Give me one more please" he asked running back to his position.
"Good, I want precision! Lets go Gibbs, start again, Henri get ready" yelled Matt, he was standing at the halfway line.
Henry saw Dennis stood on the side sipping on some juice, he was wearing a white Arsenal hat, and dark blue tracksuit.
Henry saw, a boy, center back give quick pass to midfielder, another short pass to other kid.
They were constantly running, no one stopped to collect the ball, their coordination was excellent.
With one touch, he gave on ground ball, fast and precise making a curve finding itself infront of the striker who hit the ball on time, making it hit top right corner.
"Whistle" came from Henry making Bergkamp look at the man with a smirk, he just sighed, again.
"Good to see you Titi, quite early today", he was rubbing it in.
"You might find a fish in your water bottle Dennis" said Henry.
"These kids, they are Good" said Henry looking at the field.
"Good? They're monsters, I don't know what they feed academy kids these days.. that Matt and Wilshere kid can play in the league of he gain few kilos of meat" he said shaking his head.
Matt gave Jack thumbs up, he was getting better at controlling the ball, Matt had started giving him some stiff passes to make sure he doesn't get spoilt by him.
"Shit!" Came a voice behind Matt he looked at Henri, who was staring at sideline, following his gaze mate saw the man himself, king of Arsenal standing there next to Dennis Bergkamp.
"When did he arrive? He didn't hear me swear did he!" He said to himself.
"Good lads, but this type of choreography doesn't work in senior football" said Dennis calling them closer.
"Matt you're passing is great, you lack strength to compete at senior level.
Henri, you're slow. Learn from this man, be fast.
Gibbs, your good. Drink more milk, you need to get taller.
And Wilshere, you're perfect kid, honestly you could play in the prem tomorrow" said Bergkamp.
Jack was practically jumping on his place, "Thankyou Senior".
Matt and the others thanked him as well.
"That was lovely, how old are you boys?" Asked Henry.
"Me and Jack are 14, Henri and Gibbs are 16" said Matt, introducing by pointing at them.
"It's an honour to meet you Sir, I mean senior" said Gibbs correcting himself.
"Haha call me Titi lads, and there's no honour, you're here because you guys are the best youth players at Arsenal, be proud and mindful of that" said Henry with a smile.
He felt good meeting these kids, he saw himself in them, their love for the game hasn't been corrupted by money, fame or injuries.
Bergkamp glanced at Henry and felt relieved, he had planned this with Wenger, kids gets to meet their legend, and the legend gets back his fire, thirst and hunger for the goals back.
"I've had an idea, Henri and Gibbs, you both defend. Titi and Wilshere, you'll make the run. To score you have to hit the corners, Matt would be passing. How does that sound?" Asked Dennis.
Boys eyes go wide, they all looked at Henry for confirmation.
"I haven't done warm up" said Henry.
"Do it then" said Bergkamp, passing a ball to Henry who started doing keepiups with it.
It didn't take long for Henry to finish his warmups, there was still an hour for them to start actual training, he didn't mind playing with the academy boys.
"Henri, Gibbs. I'm expecting you to stop them" said Bergkamp in a no nonsense tone making them gulp.
"Matt, you can't keep the ball more than 3 seconds, in that time you have to decide the striker you're passing to" said Bergkamp in a similar tone, Matt nodded nervously.
"Take your positions" said Bergkamp.
Matt again stood 5 yards back to half line, Jack and Henry stood in the centre marked by Henri and Gibbs.
"Start" said Bergkamp with a clap, he didn't have a whistle.
Matt ran with the ball, and glanced at Henry who had raised his left hand, Matt shot a precise left leg pass towards the centre, it was fast.
With one touch Henry shot the ball finding the corner.
He stood infront of the goal for a second and looked at the ball inside the net.
He was back.. he stood infront of Barcelona keeper.
'could he had save this?' he asked to himself.
He turned around and looked at the boy, playing in premier league for years, he had to rely on himself to make it a goal, even if the pass was off.
Hitting that ball felt so natural, he looked at the boy, it was beyond talent, right now he wished the boy had played that final, a pass like this and he would have scored a hattrick with eyes closed.
Dennis clapped, "Good, we go again. Try to predict the passing lines, look for the gaps a midfielder could exploit" said Dennis instructing Henri and Gibbs.
The result was the same, everytime. Jack scored, Henry scored. There was not a single mistake Matt made, Henry was now more than sure that Arsenal has found an exceptional talent.
"Are you really sure you are 14" asked Henry finally asking Matt who choked on water.
"Easy there champ" said Henry tapping his back.
"Born in 1992, so yes I'm 14" said Matt.
"You don't play like a 14 year old" said Henry sighing.
"Thankyou Titi" said Matt rubbing his hair.
"Wilshere you were exceptional, not wasting a single pass, you're accuracy is amazing" said Bergkamp again praising.
"You two were good, try to be more dominating, you need to stop them. Do anything, trash talk, pushing and shoving discreetly, abuse them. Make the striker more emotional and vulnerable to mistakes." Said Dennis advising Henri and Gibbs.
"Rest now, the training begins in 20 minutes" said Dennis as both him and Henry leave the boys on the field.
"How was it?" Asked Dennis as they both walked towards the dressing room.
"Terrifying" said Henry looking ahead.
[Pov end]