Van Bronckhorst 'poison' could be fatal for title rivals

Whether or not Patrick Vieira actually made the damning and strangely detailed criticism of Arsenal that was attributed to him in a certain red-top newspaper, one of the most provocative comments was factually correct. Giovanni van Bronckhorst is indeed "unproven in the Premiership", although the Dutchman is confident of establishing his credentials quickly, starting at Middlesbrough today.

If the Highbury faithful shared Vieira's alleged concern that Van Bronckhorst lacked the pedigree a club with Arsenal's aspirations should have been buying, their scepticism may have been a measure of English insularity rather than of his capabilities. While the £8.5m fee Arsène Wenger paid to Rangers was less than a third of Manchester United's outlay for Juan Sebastian Veron, the 26-year-old midfielder's track record suggests he will be eminently suited to his new stage.

Born in Rotterdam of Moluccan and Italian parents (hence the first name, which friends shorten to "Gio"), Van Bronckhorst has been an international for five years -- considerably longer than Vieira -- after making his debut for the Netherlands against the world champions, Brazil. He was in the Oranje squad at France 98 and in Frank Rijkaard's side en route to the semi-finals of Euro 2000.

He also brings to the Gunners' table the experience of two Champions' League campaigns under his compatriot Dick Advocaat at Rangers, who, for all the agonising about their under-achievement in Europe, had fared no worse than Arsenal until last season. Having shown a cool head, moreover, in the white heat of an Old Firm clash, he should not find the north London contretemps with Tottenham unduly daunting.

In fact, his closest friend in Scotland was the so-called enemy, the Celtic idol Henrik Larsson. He had played alongside the Swede for Feyenoord, the club who nurtured Van Bronckhorst's talent from the age of five, and the pair would dine together in derby week having agreed to keep football off the menu.

His arrival in the marble halls was recognition by Wenger that he never adequately replaced Vieira's erstwhile foil, Emmanuel Petit, following his transfer to Barcelona 12 months earlier. At 5ft 10in and 12st, Van Bronckhorst is not as physically imposing as his pony-tailed predecessor. However, he became as fêted in Glasgow for his box-to-box industry as for a sweet left foot. Scottish football, ritually maligned south of the border, helped him to inject what he terms some necessary "poison" into his game because of its sheer ferocity.

Van Bronckhorst's strengths, as summed up in a potted biography on Rangers' website, are "passing, tackling and work". That the compiler encapsulated his weaknesses in the phrase "not enough goals" may concern Arsenal supporters. Yet he scored in half Rangers' six Champions' League fixtures last autumn, memorably curling in an exquisite long-range shot for the winner in Monaco. He also netted in Arsenal's 2-0 defeat of Real Mallorca in Austria this summer, though it will be on the effectiveness of his link with Vieira rather than the occasional goal that he will be judged.

Was there any awkwardness between them after the Frenchman's reported outburst? "From the first moment those stories came out, I was sure it wasn't Patrick saying that," says Van Bronckhorst. "I spoke to people within the club and they told me that just wasn't him; that's not how he acts. For me, once I'd been told that, there was nothing to clear up.

"Patrick's a nice man. It's good to be playing next to him. We've only had a couple of weeks with each other but I'm sure we can build a partnership just like the one I had with Barry Ferguson at Rangers. The more we play together the more used to each other we'll get and I'm certain we can bring something positive to the way Arsenal play.

"Each of us can hold and let the other push on into attack. There's no question in my mind that both of us can do the two roles." No doubt, either, that he can take in his stride the switch from playing four games a season against the Dunfermlines and St Johnstones to the high-intensity tussles that flow thick and fast in England. "It's going to be tougher than in Scotland, but I know for sure I can handle it."

Van Bronckhorst could also fill in at left-back for Arsenal, having played there for the co-hosts during last summer's European Championship finals. The embarrassment of midfield riches at Louis van Gaal's disposal meant he took up the same position again in the Netherlands' 2-0 win over England at White Hart Lane on Wednesday, without ever looking as assured as he does in a central role.

He will surely be back in the engine room as Arsenal seek to hit the ground running at Middlesbrough, where a side eager to impress in Steve McClaren's first match in charge will be striving to emulate Sunderland's first-day win over them 12 months ago. Wenger terms it "a tricky game" and, with Leeds at home to follow, it is one they dare not lose given their three years without a trophy and the manager's assertion that "the championship is the only important competition".

Van Bronckhorst, who is over the groin injury which forced him to miss most of his final season at Rangers, is probably uppermost in Wenger's mind when he suggests that Arsenal have added players "in areas where we needed to do it". As he prepares to "start all over again", the newcomer is under no illusions as to the priority.

"It's a fresh challenge for me, in a new league with a new club. But in some respects it's the same as when I first went to Rangers. Being with a big club like Arsenal brings pressure on you, from the press and the fans. We know what we need to do this season and that is win the championship -- that has to be our aim.

"Of course we know it's going to be hard. But the hunger to win is there. I can see it all around me." Even, or perhaps especially, in Patrick Vieira.