He was considered the best player in the world when I was a boy, everyone tried to copy him.
R.I.P
R.I.P
Cruyff
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[article]Johan Cruyff wore the No 14, usually reserved for substitutes during his era as a player. It arose from a superstition.
He did not wear it for the first six season of his career, but eventually took the No 14 shirt by chance. His Ajax team-mate Gerrie Muhren could not find his No 7 shirt, so Cruyff offered him the No 9.
Instead, Cruyff picked a spare top out of the extras basket, which turned out to be the No 14.
Ajax beat rivals PSV 1-0, on October 30, 1970, and Cruyff decided they should keep the same numbers for the next game. After that he mainly stuck with 14 for the rest of career, although at Barcelona he often sported the No 9 instead, because the league demanded numbers 1 through 11.
Even at the 1974 World Cup, when the numbers were issued alphabetically, Cruyff got to keep his 14. In 2007 Ajax retired the No 14 in homage to Cruyff.[/article]
[article]Pep Guardiola, former player and manager of Barcelona, was one of Johan Cruyff’s disciples. In quotes to Jordi Baste on RAC1, Guardiola has spoken about his memories of the Dutch great saying “it was a privilege to be able to enjoy him for all this time.”
Guardiola said that “we can no longer go and see him when we want, but his legacy is something which will stay with us. What we had the chance to experience and enjoy ourselves on a personal level, I must admit that it’s left us with a lot things. Things which some of us use as coaches, others as commentators. If we decided to become coaches, it’s because he instilled the idea in us that you can dominate the game. Cruyff helped us do that.”
The current Bayern Munich manager also revealed what he said to his son after Cruyff’s passing: “This Thursday when I went out to dinner with my kids, Marius, my son, who didn’t know Cruyff as a player of a manager, asked me what was happening. I told him that Cruyff is like that teacher whose class you’re always waiting for. As a player, you were only waiting for his class. And my son said to me: ‘Like Merlin?’ He was a special person. He would tell us we were playing poorly because we were running too much. Everything you’d heard during your career didn’t serve for anything - he explained the opposite.”
Guardiola gave another anecdote, explaining that during a game again Hiddink’s Valencia “we played with a defence of three, with Eusebio as a full-back. We asked if he had gone crazy, but we won 3-0 and with some great play. He opened our eyes to another way, that’s why we’re his followers. It’s a privilege to have enjoyed him as a manager, above all for the knowledge he’s given us. We’ve been lucky.
“He had faith in what he was doing. It’s no coincidence that [Andoni] Zubizaretta and Txiki [Begiristain] are great sporting directors. He helped us understand football. It’s a huge loss.
“It was important to go to his house to listen to his knowledge. His advice was important. He would encourage you to follow your instinct, your nose, to take decisions. He would tell you if you could be guided by your instinct, you would never fail. Sometimes I ask myself what Johan would do. Against Juventus when we had the rope prepared around our necks, it happened and I was able to move forward.
“When I started out I knew nothing about football. I didn’t know how to interpret it. He opened this world for us. It’s such a fascinating world, a film, a constant shock. He opened our minds to see football in another way. He protected me when I started out in football. Every day he would put me in my place. He gave me a football lesson about how I should behave, how I should deal with the media… His legacy is infinite.
“The great work at Barcelona’s academy is thanks to Cruyff. He told us what we should do. There can be people with the same knowledge as him, but knowledge alone isn’t worth anything. It’s necessary to use it and that’s what he did. He persisted in his ideas. That’s what made him a worldwide reference for the last 25 years.”
In regards to how we will remember Johan Cruyff, Guardiola said: “As a player and as a manager he won a lot of titles, but that’s not his legacy. The titles only help. Johan has changed two clubs. Not only did he change Ajax, but also Barcelona - and then the Dutch and Spanish national teams, too. Forget the titles. I’ve won more titles than him. Messi, for example, is someone runs less and in that he’s the best of Cruyff’s alumni.
“I would not have been capable of doing what he did at Barcelona. He changed everything. He did it all. What Cruyff’s done for football cannot be compared. The statue thing is superficial. He has made us love this sport so openly that there’s no way we can forget him.”
“I am convinced that Xavi, [Sergio] Busquets and Andres [Iniesta] will continue with his legacy. I’ve taken it on and they are capable of doing it in the future. I have no doubt that Xavi will be a manager. If he and Barcelona maintain this idea, this culture will continue at the club. As long as the academy continues working in the same way, with its methodology of work, it will be a wheel."[/article]
He did not wear it for the first six season of his career, but eventually took the No 14 shirt by chance. His Ajax team-mate Gerrie Muhren could not find his No 7 shirt, so Cruyff offered him the No 9.
Instead, Cruyff picked a spare top out of the extras basket, which turned out to be the No 14.
Ajax beat rivals PSV 1-0, on October 30, 1970, and Cruyff decided they should keep the same numbers for the next game. After that he mainly stuck with 14 for the rest of career, although at Barcelona he often sported the No 9 instead, because the league demanded numbers 1 through 11.
Even at the 1974 World Cup, when the numbers were issued alphabetically, Cruyff got to keep his 14. In 2007 Ajax retired the No 14 in homage to Cruyff.[/article]
[article]Pep Guardiola, former player and manager of Barcelona, was one of Johan Cruyff’s disciples. In quotes to Jordi Baste on RAC1, Guardiola has spoken about his memories of the Dutch great saying “it was a privilege to be able to enjoy him for all this time.”
Guardiola said that “we can no longer go and see him when we want, but his legacy is something which will stay with us. What we had the chance to experience and enjoy ourselves on a personal level, I must admit that it’s left us with a lot things. Things which some of us use as coaches, others as commentators. If we decided to become coaches, it’s because he instilled the idea in us that you can dominate the game. Cruyff helped us do that.”
The current Bayern Munich manager also revealed what he said to his son after Cruyff’s passing: “This Thursday when I went out to dinner with my kids, Marius, my son, who didn’t know Cruyff as a player of a manager, asked me what was happening. I told him that Cruyff is like that teacher whose class you’re always waiting for. As a player, you were only waiting for his class. And my son said to me: ‘Like Merlin?’ He was a special person. He would tell us we were playing poorly because we were running too much. Everything you’d heard during your career didn’t serve for anything - he explained the opposite.”
Guardiola gave another anecdote, explaining that during a game again Hiddink’s Valencia “we played with a defence of three, with Eusebio as a full-back. We asked if he had gone crazy, but we won 3-0 and with some great play. He opened our eyes to another way, that’s why we’re his followers. It’s a privilege to have enjoyed him as a manager, above all for the knowledge he’s given us. We’ve been lucky.
“He had faith in what he was doing. It’s no coincidence that [Andoni] Zubizaretta and Txiki [Begiristain] are great sporting directors. He helped us understand football. It’s a huge loss.
“It was important to go to his house to listen to his knowledge. His advice was important. He would encourage you to follow your instinct, your nose, to take decisions. He would tell you if you could be guided by your instinct, you would never fail. Sometimes I ask myself what Johan would do. Against Juventus when we had the rope prepared around our necks, it happened and I was able to move forward.
“When I started out I knew nothing about football. I didn’t know how to interpret it. He opened this world for us. It’s such a fascinating world, a film, a constant shock. He opened our minds to see football in another way. He protected me when I started out in football. Every day he would put me in my place. He gave me a football lesson about how I should behave, how I should deal with the media… His legacy is infinite.
“The great work at Barcelona’s academy is thanks to Cruyff. He told us what we should do. There can be people with the same knowledge as him, but knowledge alone isn’t worth anything. It’s necessary to use it and that’s what he did. He persisted in his ideas. That’s what made him a worldwide reference for the last 25 years.”
In regards to how we will remember Johan Cruyff, Guardiola said: “As a player and as a manager he won a lot of titles, but that’s not his legacy. The titles only help. Johan has changed two clubs. Not only did he change Ajax, but also Barcelona - and then the Dutch and Spanish national teams, too. Forget the titles. I’ve won more titles than him. Messi, for example, is someone runs less and in that he’s the best of Cruyff’s alumni.
“I would not have been capable of doing what he did at Barcelona. He changed everything. He did it all. What Cruyff’s done for football cannot be compared. The statue thing is superficial. He has made us love this sport so openly that there’s no way we can forget him.”
“I am convinced that Xavi, [Sergio] Busquets and Andres [Iniesta] will continue with his legacy. I’ve taken it on and they are capable of doing it in the future. I have no doubt that Xavi will be a manager. If he and Barcelona maintain this idea, this culture will continue at the club. As long as the academy continues working in the same way, with its methodology of work, it will be a wheel."[/article]
According to the commentator, Harry Kane's goal for England against Germany was intended as a tribute to the memory of Johan Cruyff.
Roy Hodgson should encourage the players to think of how they can pay tribute to Cruyff every time they get into the opposition penalty area.
Roy Hodgson should encourage the players to think of how they can pay tribute to Cruyff every time they get into the opposition penalty area.
When his son was born, Cruyff wanted to name him Jordi, a Catalan name. At that time Franco had banned the use of Catalan names but such was the respect and power of Johan in Barcelona the dictator was so worried of the consequences the Dutchman was allowed to register him.
True fact.
True fact.
[article]Oscar Garcia Junyent has bid Johan Cruyff goodbye with an emotional letter. The friend and student of Cruyff, a former Barcelona player and the current Red Bull Salzburg coach, wrote out 14 'thanks' for the Dutchman. This is what he put:
I became a coach for you. I was sure that what you taught me had to be continued and not just stay with me. I was precisely there, training, when I learned that you had physically left this life. I say physically because you will never go, you geniuses never leave. Your legend is so great that everything written will be short, so I'll let others with better words do it - I will limit mine to a few thanks.
1. Thanks for bringing this style and philosophy of understanding the game to our club.
2. Thanks for making me love this sport more.
3. Thanks for every training session or lesson.
4. Thanks for creating top level coaches.
5. Thanks for making me understand that football isn't just for playing, you have to understand it.
6. Thanks for believing in me as a footballer and giving me my debut at the team of my dreams.
7. Thanks for doing the same with my brother Roger.
8. Thanks for deciding that it was he who was the last Ajax player to wear your No 14 shirt before retiring it.
9. Thanks for all the advice you have given me that helps me become a better coach every day.
10. Thanks for so many good moments like "Figo en Punta".
11. Thanks for choosing me to accompany you with the Catalan national team.
12. Thanks for believing in me as a coach and in my aptitudes.
13. Thanks for giving into your son when you wanted to train Mexico and Jordi wanted to take me to Tel Aviv.
14. Thanks for everything you do with your Foundation which helps so many people.
I could go several days thanking you but it seemed appropriate to do it 14 times.
Allow me, too, to do so to the people you love the most. I'm sure that the person who has influenced you most was your wife. To her, I owe two of the moments where I felt most loved, honoured and proud, and sad at the same time. One was in the few minutes before you went and the other moment the next day. I will never forget what she made me feel.
The other person is Jordi, your pride and my friend. He trusted in me and gave me my first professional opportunity. My ubsession was and has been to be at the level of confidence you gave me.
You have lived and you have gone how you wanted, you have lived a lot and you have not had to survive until the end. You have been proud of your son.
You've left a woman who has always known how to be at your level, a level unattainable for most mortals.
I've had the privilege of first knowing the myth and then the person., and I have to sconfess that I never thought that the person could be at the level of the myth, but as with many things in my life, I was wrong.
Only genius' and special people can make one feel special, and you had it.
Thank you, teacher.[/article]
I became a coach for you. I was sure that what you taught me had to be continued and not just stay with me. I was precisely there, training, when I learned that you had physically left this life. I say physically because you will never go, you geniuses never leave. Your legend is so great that everything written will be short, so I'll let others with better words do it - I will limit mine to a few thanks.
1. Thanks for bringing this style and philosophy of understanding the game to our club.
2. Thanks for making me love this sport more.
3. Thanks for every training session or lesson.
4. Thanks for creating top level coaches.
5. Thanks for making me understand that football isn't just for playing, you have to understand it.
6. Thanks for believing in me as a footballer and giving me my debut at the team of my dreams.
7. Thanks for doing the same with my brother Roger.
8. Thanks for deciding that it was he who was the last Ajax player to wear your No 14 shirt before retiring it.
9. Thanks for all the advice you have given me that helps me become a better coach every day.
10. Thanks for so many good moments like "Figo en Punta".
11. Thanks for choosing me to accompany you with the Catalan national team.
12. Thanks for believing in me as a coach and in my aptitudes.
13. Thanks for giving into your son when you wanted to train Mexico and Jordi wanted to take me to Tel Aviv.
14. Thanks for everything you do with your Foundation which helps so many people.
I could go several days thanking you but it seemed appropriate to do it 14 times.
Allow me, too, to do so to the people you love the most. I'm sure that the person who has influenced you most was your wife. To her, I owe two of the moments where I felt most loved, honoured and proud, and sad at the same time. One was in the few minutes before you went and the other moment the next day. I will never forget what she made me feel.
The other person is Jordi, your pride and my friend. He trusted in me and gave me my first professional opportunity. My ubsession was and has been to be at the level of confidence you gave me.
You have lived and you have gone how you wanted, you have lived a lot and you have not had to survive until the end. You have been proud of your son.
You've left a woman who has always known how to be at your level, a level unattainable for most mortals.
I've had the privilege of first knowing the myth and then the person., and I have to sconfess that I never thought that the person could be at the level of the myth, but as with many things in my life, I was wrong.
Only genius' and special people can make one feel special, and you had it.
Thank you, teacher.[/article]
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