We have all been shaped by the hand of Cruyff.
All things must pass and sadly it is the turn of Johan Cruyff. It is common place for pleasantries to spew forth when a well known figure dies, some fully deserved, others more dubious.
There is be nothing dubious about the reverence being shown to Cruyff. Whether you are a coach, an administrator or supporter, he is the father of your game. At least of the version seen for the last forty years.
Cruyff was one of the first influences upon me. Though his influence came in an initially indirect manner. Ajax of 1995 was the first team that I truly admired. This was the side of Kluivert, Overmars, Litmanen and the de Boer twins. This was a Luis van Gaal team, but it is not van Gaal whom I revered. The Ajax side so mesmerised that I could not get enough of them. The Champions League games were not enough for me. I needed video and books, I needed to find out the history. From there it was laid out before me. Ajax. Barcelona. Cruyff.
My early teenage mind was filled by awe at one man’s achievements as a player and as a coach. Although I was aware of the Barcelona Dream Team it was only through retrospective learning that I understood how great they were. Playing an exquisite style of football packed with players of extraordinary ability. And yet just as I had discovered them, they were gone. Adding to the mythos further.
In 1998 I purchased the book Ajax Barcelona Cruyff by Frits Barend and Henk van Dorp. The book is a remarkable insight into a remarkable man. A man of great vision, with a hard headed, blunt nature and fantastic gift for a soundbite. When Cruyff spoke everyone paid attention, even if it was just so that they could be bemused by a Cruyffism.
As a pundit he contributed one of my favourite tactical explanations ever committed to YouTube. Providing a deeper tactical understanding in 4 minutes than many achieve in 40 years.
Cruyff the player made the first mark on our world. Everyone is familiar with Cruyff being the conductor of Rinus Michels orchestra. However, that is not an entirely accurate picture. His first manager at Ajax was the Englishman Vic Buckingham, then came Michels, followed by the Romanian Stefan Kovacs. It was Kovacs who won the last two of the three consecutive European Cup wins for Ajax. Of course, the Michels and Cruyff connection continued into the Netherlands national team. Cruyff’s great moments coming in West Germany in the 1974 World Cup. The Dutch were not able to win the tournament but their play etched itself onto the minds of all who watched, helped greatly by one moment from Johan Cruyff. The Turn.
Another noticeable element to Cruyff in 1974 was his kit. He was one of the first players to be conscious of branding and sponsorship. The Netherlands team had their strip produced by Adidas. Cruyff had a deal with a different brand. The Dutch did not want to risk losing their captain so a form of compromise was reached. Cruyff was the single minded brand with two stripes while his team mates wore three.
By this time Cruyff had moved onto Barcelona. The list of coaches would of course include Michels. These years were not trophy laden with one league title and one Copa del Rey in five seasons but the marker had been placed. The Dutch style imprinted in Catalonia. The word of Cruyff beginning to spread.
He would return to Ajax (Cruyff and Ajax spitting up and getting back together on numerous occasions during his lifetime) first as a player, then as a manager. In his time as manager he would implement his version of Total Football and shape the early careers of Marco van Basten and Frank Rijkaard before they would move onto AC Milan.
It is at this point that the football of Cruyff really becomes the football of the modern game. The two greatest sides of the late 1980s and early 1990s were AC Milan and Barcelona. Barcelona were Cruyff’s team but AC Milan were lifted to greatness by their Dutch trio. Cruyff’s proteges van Basten and Rijkaard, plus Ruud Gullit. Two great teams that are embedded into the consciousness of a generation who were fans at the time but are coaches or players now. The players within those teams have gone into management. Carlo Ancelotti a key figure in midfield for AC Milan adopting some of that Dutch style into his approach.
Then there is the ultimate lineage at Barcelona. La Masia has become globally famous as a producer of top quality footballers. The philosophy and style, simplistically, is a fusion of Spanish and Dutch methods which the world has been trying to copy. Cruyff’s finger prints are all over it.
Then came a member of Cruyff’s Dream Team. A key player even as a young man, then after Cruyff left the captain of Barcelona. The story of Pep Guardiola is familiar to many fans and coaches. The path he took from a La Masia graduate as a player to coaching the Barcelona B team and finally becoming a manager of a mesmeric team. A team forged in Cruyff’s image, with Guardiola’s own take on certain aspects. Just as Cruyff did with Michel’s formula. The similarities are writ large.
For many years coaches around the world have sought out the secrets of Barcelona and looked to find their version. Just as for many years coaches sought the secrets of Ajax. It is not all Cruyff. Nothing on such a scale be the achievement of just one man, but he is clearly at the heart of it all, lodged in the centre. It is even possible to ask just how much the reputation of Dutch football is actually the reputation of Cruyff? Ajax in the late 60s and early 70s. The 1974 World Cup. The influence he had on the players that formed the spine of the 1988 European Championship winning side. The way he has become inextricably linked with the Dutch method of developing players and the 4v4 way.
Modern football is Cruyff football. Not everyone will agree. People will want to argue. Which would suit Cruyff as he never shied away from a strongly worded debate.
No one can argue his achievements. One of the greatest players football has ever seen. One of the greatest managers. One of the greatest thinkers.
A man whom I will forever hold as a guiding light within my own footballing philosophy. Initially shaped through a few books and videos. Then a cascade of detail and information, all of which pointed down a particular path of player development. An attacking philosophy, with freedom to play and create. With imagination and excitement and entertainment. Never dull. Never settling.
Thank you Johan. Thank you for helping shape me and the game I love.
www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2015/02/25-johan-cruyff-quotes.html