Bergkamp respects van Nistelrooy and, for purely football reasons, he is pleased that Ruud won't be playing tonight.
"I knew him during my last year with the Dutch national team. I admire the way he plays football. He is a good player and for that reason it is important that he doesn't play. Do I think we would react more if he was on the pitch? I don't think so. If you look at our team, there are so many professionals. We have moved on from there. And I guess they have moved on as well."
Bergkamp is aware that Van Nistelrooy can provoke an adverse reaction from some of his colleagues and believes that it is part of his countrymen's make up.
"Like a lot of Dutch players, there is a darker side to him. I have had moments myself in my career. On one side he is a brilliant footballer but on the other a little bit dirty, like a lot of us. It is difficult for the opponent to deal with that. You find that many strikers have this mean side to them - a side which in some ways, they have to have. It helps them stand their ground but it can look clumsy. It is not that you can hide it. A defender, for example, can take the ball and the foot of a player. Us strikers do it in a different, more obvious way."
And as for the last meeting at OT:
"In Manchester, it was difficult to accept we had lost a game after 49 unbeaten. We weren't used to that. Suddenly, you go from all the confidence in the world to wondering what is going on. It took us some time to get over it. We got it going again, then we lost it again. And we lost too many points. It didn't matter who beat us - Manchester United or anyone else. It would have been the same."
Bergkamp is looking forward to tonight's clash:
"We know what we have to do. We know we haven't been playing well for some time. If we can only get back to our normal game again then we are able to win a lot of games and then we can see what the others are doing. We can't hope for mistakes - all we can do is focus on ourselves."
But tellingly he indicates that the Arsenal players now see United and not Spurs as the club's rivals:
"With Spurs, it is something that concerns north London and you feel they are the underdogs and we should win. But with United it is a global thing. Both teams want to show they are the best."
Shyeah right - get in the queue boy.