5 Dutch footballers who played successfully for FC Barcelona

Barcelona are known to play a brand of very attractive football and their playing philosophy has been inspired by the “total football” originated in the Netherlands. Rinus Michels, the legendary Dutch coach who coached the Netherlands in the 1974 World Cup, managed Barcelona for a few seasons too and influenced their playing style to a great extent.

Since then, a lot of Dutch footballers have played for Barca successfully and contributed significantly towards their success. Barca have traditionally attracted a lot of players from the Netherlands and those players have helped them gain their current clout and stature with their consistent performance for the club. We would now discuss 5 such footballers in this article.

#1 Johan Cruyff

Cruyff was a talismanic player for the Netherlands and Ajax Amsterdam in the early 1970s and helped those teams implement the philosophy of “total football” successfully. He won every possible honor while playing for Ajax and went to Barca in 1973.

Cruyff reunited with Rinus Michels at Barcelona and helped the club grow into a world-class outfit. Those two inculcated the possession-oriented playing style at Barca and made them the best club in Spain in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Cruyff played for Barcelona from 1978 to 1983 and scored 61 goals from 184 matches for them. He was a complete forward with brilliant dribbling and passing skills and used those qualities to win a LaLiga title for Barca. He left Barca in 1978, but left behind a great legacy there.

Cruyff then played his part as a manager at Barca and won 1 European Cup and 4 LaLiga titles with them. Cruyff coached Barca from 1988 to 1996 and had great players like Ronald Koeman, Pep Guardiola, Romario and Michael Laudrup in his “dream team”.

Barcelona lost to AC Milan in the European cup in 1994 and Cruyff stepped down as a manger after that. He also went on to become Barcelona’s sporting director later. He was also the director at La Masia, Barca’s academy for quite a while and helped them hone young talents. Cruyff is undoubtedly one of the most influential personalities in Barcelona’s diverse and rich history.

#2 Frank De Boer

De Boer is another great player who went to Barca from Ajax. He was signed by Barca in 1999 and played for them till 2003. He was a great center-back and was known for his great tackles and fearless marking. De Boer was also a great leader on the pitch and was the captain of the Dutch national team for a while.

De Boer played in the Barca team alongside players like Rivaldo and Jari Litmanen and won with them. Barca were on a decline in the late 1990s and arch-rivals Real Madrid were building a great team. Still, De Boer played his part at Barca and also enjoyed his fair share of success.

De Boer moved to Galatasaray in 2003 after having spent five seasons with Barca. He still remains one of Barca’s best ever defenders. He won the LaLiga title for them in 1998-99.

#3 Marc Overmars

Overmars was known for his scorching pace through the wings and one of the best wingers in the world in his prime. He was signed by Barca in 2000 and played for them till 2004. Barca had a fairly decent team in the early 2000s, but were overshadowed by the great success enjoyed by rivals Real Madrid during the same period.

Overmars could play on either flanks, but preferred to play on the left. He also had good dribbling and crossing abilities and usually provided a lot of assists. He also scored 19 goals from 165 matches for Barca. However, he could not win any silverware with them.

He was one of the numerous Dutch players who played for Barca in the 1990s. His skills were helpful in making Barca a very attractive and a likable team in the 1990s. However, he would have liked to be more successful in terms of winning titles for them. Still, his contribution to the club can not be ignored.

#4 Patrick Kluivert

Kluivert was one of the best strikers in the world at his peak and spent his best years at Barca. He also rose to prominence while playing for Ajax in the mid-1990s. He was signed by the Catalan giants in 1998 and played for them till 2004. He also succeeded in winning the LaLiga with them.

Kluivert was a very opportunistic and prolific striker and especially known for his heading abilities. He had a great spot jump and scored many goals with his powerful headers. The likes of Rivaldo, Overmars and Litmanen provided him with some assists as he scored 122 goals for Barca in 257 matches.

He also won the LaLiga with Barca in 1998-99. Kluivert won quite a few games for the Catalan giants with his opportunistic strikes and remains one of their greatest ever strikers. He left for Newcastle in 2004, but had created a great legacy at Barca by then.

#5 Gio Van Bronckhorst

Gio was a Dutch left-back who played successfully for Barca in the 2000s. He was signed by them from Arsenal in 2003 and went on to spend four seasons with them. He also managed to win quite some silverware for them.

Van Bronckhorst replaced Michael Reiziger, another Dutch left-back, at Barca and played for them with considerable success. He liked to go into overlaps, but was reliable in defence as well. He was a clean tackler and had good positional sense too.

Van Bronckhorst’s greatest night in a Barca shirt came when they defeated Arsenal in the UEFA Champions League final in 2006. He was a part of Barca’s starting eleven on that night and played his role in Barca’s memorable triumph. He also won two LaLiga titles with Barca. Van Bronckhorst left Barca for Feyenoord in 2007 and Barca signed Eric Abidal as his replacement.

Edited by Abhinav Munshi