By Charlie Henderson
BBC Sport at Emirates Stadium |
 | There are always players in this Arsenal team that can make the difference |
Dennis Bergkamp believes the future of Arsenal is in more than capable hands as he calls time on his career. The Dutchman, 37, is retiring after 11 seasons with the Gunners but expects his former team-mates to challenge Chelsea for the Premiership title.
"Last year gave a lot of teams some confidence because Chelsea dropped some points," Bergkamp told BBC Sport.
"Liverpool and Manchester United and us will be up there, there is more of a chance for the other teams this year."
For the last two years Chelsea have raced away with the title, but Bergkamp says rivals should not be overawed by their spending power.
The Blues have gone out and added, amongst others, Andriy Shevchenko and Michael Ballack to their squad.
In comparison, Arsenal's summer spending has been limited to the �6.8m outlay on Czech Republic international Tomas Rosicky.
"You can have six world-class strikers but you can only play two, maybe three," Bergkamp added.
"If you have a strong team with a solid defence, which is what Arsenal have worked on in the last two seasons, there are always players in this team that can make the difference, score goals and win games for you.
"I'm sure we'll challenge for every title."
| This team, every year, is getting stronger and stronger |
And Bergkamp feels Arsenal can take great confidence from reaching the Champions League final last season which capped a campaign in which Arsene Wenger blooded a host of young players.
The Gunners pipped north London rivals Tottenham to the fourth Champions League spot before narrowly losing the final of that competition to Barcelona after seeing Jens Lehmann sent off.
Bergkamp considers it crucial to carry over the momentum they built up at the end of last season.
"From us being favourites two years ago it's different now, and maybe we are not favourites anymore," he said.
"But I feel with this team, every year, is getting stronger and stronger, they are more experienced and many of them played in the World Cup, and if they can bring that to this team I really think they can challenge.
"Last season our Champions League run gave us a lot of confidence and at times we took that into the league.
"And with a good pre-season and a good start they can build on that and keep it going again. It's not that long ago they were at the top, they have the experience, it's not new to them."
E-mail this to a friend 
Printable version 
News conference: Dennis Bergkamp