The Official Johan Cruijffs' Corner

The most intelligent man in football history and the man that has contributed the most to football deserves a thread on this esteemed forum. I will be updating it with words of wisdom spoken by the man himself. TY

"Globally, Barcelona are a bigger club than Bayern Munich," the former Blaugrana player and coach was quoted as saying by Bild.

"In South America for example, everybody is watching the Primera Division. Barcelona are much bigger than Bayern over there and that will always be the case."

Former Bayern star Franz Beckenbauer has backed the Dutchman's opinion as he feels Barcelona have a greater history than the Bundesliga champions.

"I agree with Cruyff," the German admitted. "Barcelona are traditionally a leading team worldwide. Barcelona already had some legendary teams back in the 30s and 40s. Bayern only really came to the fore from 1965 on."

Cruyff then argued that current Bayern boss Pep Guardiola is a better coach than Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho.

"Pep's ability to turn a con into a pro is typical for him as a coach," the Ajax legend stated. "He is one of the best coaches in the world for me.

"I have no doubt about it that Pep is better than Mourinho. Pep's aim is to improve football and get his team to the next level.

"Unlike Mourinho, he played in front of 100,000 fans. The game in general is important to him. For Mourinho, all that matters is his team, his qualities and his mentality."

''In a small space a player has to be capable of acting quickly. A good player who needs too much time can suddenly become a poor player.''

There is also this story which is one of my favorites:

When a young Valdano confronted Cruyff

Most men in the world of football rarely say anything. Not that they don’t produce the sounds that make up words, but once you carve through the thick layer of clichés streaming out of their mouths, you usually find nothing of value.

But there are exceptions. One man never lost for words of meaning is Jorge Valdano. Blessed with a poetic mind, he has the ability to both see and express things beautifully – as evidenced by this collection of quotations.

But on a Saturday night in the mid 1970′s he was left speechless after he had sought the confrontation with another man who can’t stop talking. Johan Cruyff.

Today, Jorge Valdano and Johan Cruyff are 58 and 66 years old respectively, friends, and both genuine lovers of football. Valdano is the hopeless romantic, who prefers the dream above the reality. Cruyff is the radical prophet who proclaims that he – and only he – knows how to make that dream a reality – if only everyone does exáctly as he tells them to.

But in the mid 70′s, Valdano was an unknown young footballler playing for Deportivo Alaves. Cruyff was the greatest footballer in the world, plying his trade for FC Barcelona. In a Copa del Rey match between their two clubs, Cruyff and Valdano had an interesting exchange of words.

Valdano recently narrated the story to Argentine paper El Grafico:

Valdano young“It was in the Copa del Rey, early in my career. Cruyff was the owner of the show, directing teammates, opponents – everyone.”

“Everytime there was a foul, Cruyff grabbed the ball under his arm. The match stopped and resumed only when he wanted it so.”

Valdano grew tired of Cruyff’s attempts to extend his influence over every square inch of the pitch. Valdano may have been a nobody at the time, but he never had trouble converting his thoughts into words.

“At one point, while Cruyff was carrying the ball again, I said, Look, why don’t you go home with that ball and give us another so we can keep playing?“.

Picture the scene, as Valdano stands there looking at Cruyff, having just challenged the Maestro himself, like a young chimpansee having thrown a rock at the established leader of the Chimp pack, awaiting his reaction with a mixture of resolve and growing doubt about the wisdom of his act.

Cruyff wasn’t impressed.

“He put his arm around my shoulder and said, What’s your name?“?

“I said, Jorge Valdano.”

“Then: And how old are you?.”

“I replied 20.”

“He looked at me and left me cold: “And you do not know that 20-year-old boys ought to address me as “Mister Cruyff”?”

At that point, for the first and last time in the life of Jorge Valdano, his mouth opened, and without the sound of words accompanying it, breath left his body – in silence.

I don't understand why that story is meant to be profound. With all due respect to Cruyff, who was a great player, in that instance Valdano should've told Mister Cruyff to put the ball down and start playing. Age should have nothing to do with it. The rules of the game are the same for everyone.

Your other quote (below) is 100% true though.

'In a small space a player has to be capable of acting quickly. A good player who needs too much time can suddenly become a poor player.''

It comes off to me as funny and a example of typical Cruyff, rather than trying to be anything profound.

The Mister speaking on Coaching, Neymar & Bale transfers, Mourinho, Arsenal, Moyes, Manchester City and Pellegrini

Former Germany star Franz Beckenbauer says Netherlands legend Johan Cruyff would be worth billions if sold today.

The famous sweeper, who won five Bundesliga titles, three European Cups, one World Cup and one European Championship during his illustrious playing career, says Cruyff would have been worth significantly more than modern-day players like Gareth Bale and Cristiano Ronaldo.

"When players like Bale and Ronaldo are worth around €100 million, Johan would go in the billions!", the 69-year-old was quoted as saying by Bild.

Forza wrote:I don't understand why that story is meant to be profound. With all due respect to Cruyff, who was a great player, in that instance Valdano should've told Mister Cruyff to put the ball down and start playing. Age should have nothing to do with it. The rules of the game are the same for everyone.

Your other quote (below) is 100% true though.

'In a small space a player has to be capable of acting quickly. A good player who needs too much time can suddenly become a poor player.''

Has more to do with it being funny, rather than it sounding smart lol.

Clockwork Orange wrote:The Mister speaking on Coaching, Neymar & Bale transfers, Mourinho, Arsenal, Moyes, Manchester City and Pellegrini

His first idea that all clubs should have individual coaches for different positions is interesting. Seedorf wanted to do that at Milan. He wanted Crespo to coach the strikers, Stam coach the defenders and he would coach the midfielders.

Of course, as we all know now that didn't pan out.

Teams probably dont want to have to pay for all those coaches, on top of all the other technical staff.

that 0-4 final loss tho .

Tell me a great coach which hasnt lost via big scoreline?

Oh...ok then.

The Franchise wrote:Tell me a great coach which hasnt lost via big scoreline?

Oh...ok then.

not many lost via big scoreline in a final

Not many won 4 La Ligas in a row either.

Cruyff, Ajax and doping.

Is this well known subject? Or is it just known, but swept away?

http://www.4dfoot.com/2013/11/14/cruyff-platini-and-doping-new-book-discusses-use-of-amphetamines-in-the-70s/

The Ajax of Rinus Michels and Johan Cruyff. Is there a more admired club team in the history of the game? But perhaps not all about them was as exalted as popularly believed. Defender Barry Hulshoff (pictured above), who won the European Cup with Ajax in 1971, 1972 and 1973, confessed that that he and his teammates at Ajax occasionaly received pills from Docter Rolink.



"I can remember well, a season or five ago, just before the away game against Real Madrid, we received a white pill, and also something in a capsule. We called it Hagelslag [chocolate sprinkles] I have no idea what it was. You felt very strong and never were out of oxygen. The bad thing was that you lost all saliva in your mouth." - Barry Hulshoff (Ajax team mate Cruyff)

They admitted using amphetamine.

Not like the good stuff you buy on the streets, but Adderall or Dexedrine.

Juventus' Gianluigi Buffon is more deserving of the Ballon d'Or than Lionel Messi, according to Johan Cruyff.

Cruyff, himself a three-time winner of the prize, believes the Italian has had a more consistent year, despite losing to Messi's Barcelona in the Champions League final.

"Messi is playing very well, but what counts when it comes to winning the Ballon d'Or is the whole year and Buffon is definitely a possibility for the prize in 2015," the 68-year-old shared to Tuttosport.

"He's been a great goalkeeper for years now. But Juventus have so many great players. I'm also thinking of Pirlo, [Arturo] Vidal, [Paul] Pogba and [Alvaro] Morata. I especially appreciate the organisation the club boasts.

"Replacing Pirlo will be hard, because his game is so unique. They'll need to find someone entirely similar. [Toni] Kroos has excelled in that position, but he belongs to Real Madrid.

"If they can't find a direct replacement, they'll have to evolve their style. The important thing is not to look back."

Still, Cruyff believes the Bianconeri have the strength in depth to start over once their iconic midfielder leaves and fully expects them to replicate their European feats of last season sooner rather than later.

"Juventus played as they should have [in Saturday's 3-1 final defeat to Barcelona] with personality and organisation, and managed a goal, though Barcelona are also very strong and showed it again.

"They [Juventus] will have more chances to win it again. They got to the final this year, after several years of playing good football. It's something that is positive for all of Italian football."

He doesn't really say he deserve it more then Messi, inb4 Harmonica.

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Johan Cryuff believes  Barcelona could not have beaten Juventus 3-1 in the Champions League final without their talisman Lionel Messi showing off the selfless aspects of his game.

Messi was expected to show up decisively in the Berlin final but failed to score, while Ivan Rakitic, Luis Suarez and Neymar all found the net as Juventus even managed to shut the Argentine down for long spells of the game.

But Cruyff argued it was the other side of the four time Ballon d'Or winner that the world witnessed on Saturday, with his work and sacrifice for the team being fundamental to the Catalans' eventual success.

"It was a fun Champions League final to watch, also because Barcelona and Juventus both played as we all expected," the Dutchman, who won the European Cup with Barca as coach, wrote in De Telegraaf.

"With his style of play, Messi relieved his team. Against Juventus, you could see how he works at Barcelona.

"You didn't see him participate in a lot of moves, but just check how often he put pressure on his direct opponent and won back ball posession. How many free-kicks did he win?"

Lmao typical Goal.com headline

No chance, only strikers win the Ballon nowadays