On a old interview of Pep on Cruyff

Guardiola said on Cruyff, “Johan is the most influential person in European football in the last 40 or 50 years there is no single person who has changed the mentality and style of play of two impressive clubs such as Ajax & FC Barcelona such as him. Johan made as massive contribution as a player and manager at both clubs.”

”The current Barcelona team that has dominated European and World football the last 15 years cannot be separated by the arrival of Johan Cruyff.

“Would we be able to understand the current Barcelona style of play without Cruyff? Impossible. Naturally we have players such as Messi , Xavi and Iniesta but they are attached to the idea that Johan Cruyff set up.

”There is nobody who has given so much as a player and a manager Johan changed the mentality of Barcelona and Catalonia and the Spanish league. He helped us to understand the game more.

”Yes we appreciate him for the trophies that he won us and there are also other managers that have won more in their career than him for example me, Capello, Sacchi and Mourinho we become judged on the trophies that we win but for him it is his legacy with his style of play that he set up.

”You come somewhere and introduce an idea and maintain it for 20 years that can only be the work of an absolute genius with a strong idea of where you want to go and even in the bad times to continue to play the same way.

”It is thanks to Johan Cruyff that Barcelona are where they are today also the influence that he had on me in my career as a footballer he was one of the most important people in my life on a professional level.

“He was generous in about thinking of others and dedicating his time to them in terms of his knowledge and opinion. I have been very lucky to have him as my manager and a friend ”.

Winter is Coming wrote:On a old interview of Pep on Cruyff

Guardiola said on Cruyff, “Johan is the most influential person in European football in the last 40 or 50 years there is no single person who has changed the mentality and style of play of two impressive clubs such as Ajax & FC Barcelona such as him. Johan made as massive contribution as a player and manager at both clubs.”

”The current Barcelona team that has dominated European and World football the last 15 years cannot be separated by the arrival of Johan Cruyff.

“Would we be able to understand the current Barcelona style of play without Cruyff? Impossible. Naturally we have players such as Messi , Xavi and Iniesta but they are attached to the idea that Johan Cruyff set up.

”There is nobody who has given so much as a player and a manager Johan changed the mentality of Barcelona and Catalonia and the Spanish league. He helped us to understand the game more.

”Yes we appreciate him for the trophies that he won us and there are also other managers that have won more in their career than him for example me, Capello, Sacchi and Mourinho we become judged on the trophies that we win but for him it is his legacy with his style of play that he set up.

”You come somewhere and introduce an idea and maintain it for 20 years that can only be the work of an absolute genius with a strong idea of where you want to go and even in the bad times to continue to play the same way.

”It is thanks to Johan Cruyff that Barcelona are where they are today also the influence that he had on me in my career as a footballer he was one of the most important people in my life on a professional level.

“He was generous in about thinking of others and dedicating his time to them in terms of his knowledge and opinion. I have been very lucky to have him as my manager and a friend ”.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CeWNDBBXEAAEEg5.jpg

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CeWNDI2WsAAjvuZ.jpg

Devastated.

He is the greatest player to play the game. Only messi is rivaling him. And messi's style is eerily similar to his..

RIP. I love his philosophy on the game. Very smart man

Love the banner.

I was lucky enough to have been able to watch Cruyff in 4 games when he played with Barcelona and the Washington Diplomats in person. In one game, I think it was Barcelona-Atletico, I remember him scoring an amazing aerial goal with his right foot. (my wife is from Madrid and I was visiting her before we were married). But, I saw him when he played with the Washington Diplomats when he was more than 30 years old. I had a seat in the first row at midfield at RFK stadium and for some reason Cruyff was playing on the left wing in a particular half and he gathered the ball several times right in front of me. I was also playing in a semi-professional league in the DC area at the time so I was more tuned in to watching players closely as I played a game every Saturday in those days. What flabbergasted me was how after gathering the ball, he would flip it forward a bit and just blow by the defender dribbling while the defender knew exactly what he was going to do. He did this several times about 20 yards away from me. It was impressive.

i feel sad that one of the best footballer cum philosopher already left us

Devastating news.Was hopeful after he said recently that it was going well.
The most influential football figure of all time and laid the foundations for what our club has become today. Saddest I have been in a while.
RIP.

When he was coach he had a heart attack and the reason was because he smoked so much , he made also a famous TV commercial against the smoke ..

Very sad news, definitely the most important man that the football had ever.

"In a certain way I'm probably immortal"

[edit] nvm

I don't know about how the world will rank Cruyff as a player. In purely statistical measurements (which he hated), he wouldn't be considered a legend.

However, with his play style, and philosophy, he clearly ranks as the most influential footballer to the game, both inside, and especially outside.

As ironic as it sounds, Milan wouldn't have been able to be in the position to beat Barca in that famous CL final if it weren't for this man.

Dunno Spencer.

405 goals in 711 and god knows how many assists before this era of ridiculous scoring because nobody can defend as well as 3 Balon D'ors would constitute as legendary imo.

Not to mention that outside of Messi no one has really dominated club football to the level he did since.

His influence will go far beyond player though. That's what really separates him from the likes if Di Stefano, Pele, Beckenbauer, and Maradona: he revolutionized football in the field and from the sidelines.

L'quipe did a 14 page story on him. The front cover has Cruyff, Pep and Messi and it's titled "The father, the son and the holy spirit"

BarrileteCosmico wrote:His influence will go far beyond player though. That's what really separates him from the likes if Di Stefano, Pele, Beckenbauer,  and Maradona: he revolutionized football in the field and from the sidelines.

Spencer did say that tbf, also Beckenbauer while not as influential in general was pretty damn influential in many different areas himself.

In fact Beckenbauer is probably the only one who has a similar case to Cruyff in terms of influence.

I am really sad with this, like others have stated, he was feeling well not too long ago.

He really changed the game, from Ajax, to Barca, to Adelaide United. Many teams are following his philosophy. The fact that one man can change how grass roots football is played on the other side of the world without ever being there goes to show just how much of an impact he has had on Football.

We've lost the greatest innovator the sport has ever seen. May you find peace where ever you are, Johan.

Pep Guardiola has explained how he “knew nothing about football” until he met Johan Cruyff at Barcelona as he admits “I often wonder what Johan would do”.

Guardiola was one of La Masia’s first success stories as he played a key role in Cruyff’s Barca ‘Dream Team’ between 1991 and 1996, before leading the club to even more success as Coach little under two decades later, and he paid a fitting tribute to the “eternal legacy” left behind by the Dutchman.

“I knew nothing about football until I met Cruyff,” he told RAC1.

“We’ll miss having him around and we can’t go to him if we wanted to see him anymore, but his legacy is something he’s left behind.

“Those who knew him were lucky to enjoy [his presence] directly and personally, and he left us with many things.

“We’ve all followed him in some way, some Coaches and technical secretaries, others commentators, and this is only possible if this person [Cruyff] gives you something to follow.

“If we’ve decided to be Coaches, it’s because we’ve been instilled with the idea that we can dominate the game without our name being Lionel Messi. Cruyff helped us in that respect.

“One day, I went to dinner with my wife and children and we were talking about Johan.

“One of my sons didn’t know who he was, he asked me and I explained to him that he was like one of those teachers who you always wanted because he helped you to love school.

“My son replied, “like Merlin?”. He was like Merlin, and we had one. He was a special person who helped us.

“We know Barcelona are much more than Johan, but his arrival was the revolution which taught us how to do things.

“They said he had many flaws, but it’s happened to me in Germany, when you do things a little differently. He had faith in what he did.

“It’s no coincidence that [Andoni] Zubizarreta and Txiki [Begiristain] are two great sporting directors.

“He helped us understand football. His advice was important and he encouraged to follow our instincts when making decisions.

“He said we should always lead by instinct as it would never let us down.

“I often wonder what Johan would do, such as against Juventus, when I had the rope around my neck.

“He protected me when I began my career. Every day, he’d put me on the spot and give me a footballing lesson in how I should behave and stay away from the media. His legacy is eternal.”

Well, he is the only personality who even affected my way of playing.

These two quotes are my favorites

"Technique is passing the ball with one touch with right power at right foot of the team mate''

''It is proven that a player receives the ball maximum of 3 minutes in a game,so the most important thing is what the player does in rest of 87 minute''

his quotes improved me as a player, it is unbelievable.

From Goal.com -

"And this legacy is not measured in trophies. It is rather the fact that he has enforced changes. Johan changed two clubs. But not only Ajax and Barcelona, he also changed the national teams of Netherlands and Spain.

"There is nothing that can compare to what Cruyff has done for football. The football of the last 25 years at Barcelona belongs to him and that is something indestructible."

Guardiola credits Cruyff with altering the way he and his team-mates viewed the game and is unsurprised by the number of his former disciples who moved on to successful coaching and sporting director careers.

"Johan gave us information but also the grammar of the game," Guardiola explained. "I knew nothing about football and Johan gave me everything. He opened up a fascinating world to us.

"If you came in at half-time and were poor, you expected a thunderstorm because you had to fight more. However, Johan told you that you were bad because you ran too much – that you had to send the ball where you want and not run there.

"You had previously heard certain things but Cruyff told you the exact opposite.

Great Leader Sprucenuce wrote:Dunno Spencer.

405 goals in 711 and god knows how many assists before this era of ridiculous scoring because nobody can defend as well as 3 Balon D'ors would constitute as legendary imo.

Not to mention that outside of Messi no one has really dominated club football to the level he did since.

What I meant is that his statistics are not as inflates as today's players, and that his legacy goes much beyond the football field.

Like you said, I think Beckenbauer is the only player with a similar case.

As a footballing personality, Kaiser was enormous.

But as a coach, thinker, footballing legacy wise beyond playing? La Masia, Ajax Youth Academy, European Trophies.

Koeman, Pep, etc all have hugely gained from Johan & Johan has had a decent role in their education of the game! They are top coaches.

I see no historical parallel - None whatsoever - Even footballing wise Total Football as a type is possibly the greatest & most legendary ever.

There have been a lot of good administrators - Kaiser, Platini, etc but few visionaries & revolutionaries!

I found this view on set peices of his very well put and something to think about.


"It is all the more annoying that we don't learn from our mistakes. Can someone please explain why at free kicks there is still a wall being placed, with the goalkeepers standing in the far corner and not in the short corner?" 

"Who invents these things?" 

"The same with corners. Why do all 11 players have to be in the penalty area? It cost Ajax a goal against Celtic. And it can be so simple. With 11 players in your own area you already have two players to0 many, because the opponent misses the goalkeeper and the corner taker. That's 11 against 9. If you keep three man in front, the opponent is being forced to cover these wihich makes it 8 against 6. Another step further would be to post two players just outside the area so it becomes 6 against 4, or even 6.5 against 4 because you have someone who can use his hands in your team."

"What I want to say is that there are many ways to avoid players running into a goalkeeper or obstruct him when there are 16 players surrounding him. This also leads to the question: Who comes up with these ideas?. The goalkeeper, the goalkeepeing coach or the manager? I don't understand it anymore.

footyfan01 wrote:As a footballing personality, Kaiser was enormous.

But as a coach, thinker, footballing legacy wise beyond playing? La Masia, Ajax Youth Academy, European Trophies.

Koeman, Pep, etc all have hugely gained from Johan & Johan has had a decent role in their education of the game! They are top coaches.

I see no historical parallel - None whatsoever - Even footballing wise Total Football as a type is possibly the greatest & most legendary ever.

There have been a lot of good administrators - Kaiser, Platini, etc but few visionaries & revolutionaries!

I agree btw, was just saying that Beckenbauer's legacy goes beyond what he did on the pitch and in that sense he's the closest thing that I can think of.

Of course he's not on Cruyff’s level in that sense, Beckenbauer is above the likes of Pele and Maradona though imo even if he's below Cruyff in general influence in football at large.

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2016/oct/07/pep-guardiola-exclusive-interview-johan-cruyff-unique

“I would not be able to do what he did. You hear all these people saying, ‘Oh Pep, what a good manager he is.’ Forget about it. Cruyff was the best, by far. Creating something new is the difficult part. To make it and build it and get everyone to follow? Amazing. That’s why, when I was Barcelona manager, I went to see Johan many times. I made especially sure I went a lot in my first year when we won everything, absolutely everything.”

At the end of that 2008-09 season, when Guardiola was 37 and after he had spent the previous year, his first as a coach, looking after their B team, Barcelona completed the treble of the Copa del Rey, La Liga and the Champions League – beating Manchester United 2-0 in the final. Guardiola’s reputation was sealed during that extraordinary managerial debut but he stresses that: “I always went that season to see Johan to try make him feel how grateful I was to him. Of course I wanted to talk to him about new ideas, but the main feeling I always had when I said goodbye was that he might feel how pleased I am and see how deep my gratitude goes.”

...

I’ve heard that Cruyff, even as a coach, played beautifully on the training pitch. “Better than us,” Guardiola exclaims of himself and his fellow players in Barcelona’s Dream Team that won the club’s first European Cup at Wembley in 1992. “He was much, much better than us. He explained what we have to do and showed us how to do it. It was a masterclass every single training session, every single game, analysing why we play good or bad. It was like going to university every day.

What an incredible interview.