Legends of Club Football: Johan Cruyff

Following retirement, Cruyff followed his mentor, Michels’s steps by taking over as manager at Ajax, himself mentoring a future Ballon d’Or in Marco van Basten and winning a European Cup Winner’s Cup. During his time here, Cruyff tinkered with formations and found his favourite formation with 3 defenders, a defensive midfielder, who played almost like an attacking sweeper, two central midfielders, two extreme wingers and a second striker supporting the main striker. Louis van Gaal later used this formation to lead his Ajax team to their 4th Champions League title in 1995.

Cruyff took over at Barcelona in 1988, 15 years after he’d joined as a player, and started seriously tinkering with Total Football here. Bringing in players like Pep Guardiola, Txiki Bergiristain, Goikoetxea, Michael Laudrup and Romario over the course of his reign, Cruyff established Total Football firmly in the philosophy players followed at Barcelona. He won 4 La Liga titles and a first ever Champions League title for Barcelona among others, ending off with a tally of 11 titles – only later surpassed by his managerial protege, Pep Guardiola, who made very minimal changes to the fundamentals of Cruyff’s idea and reaped immense benefits.

Cruyff has since been the honorary president of Barcelona, but later stripped of the title by Sandro Rosell, manager of the Catalonia team and technical advisor to boyhood club Ajax. Not in any official position as such, Cruyff frequently comments about both Ajax and Barcelona.

Cruyff was never a perfect man. Off the field, he was an addicted smoker and used to smoke in between trainings at both Ajax and Barcelona. Smoking around 20 cigarettes a day till a heart bypass surgery, Cruyff then became an anti-smoking supporter. Cruyff also had a big ego, and to an extent, being so darn good did get to his head.

For example, he was an ambassador of Puma but the Netherlands were sponsored by adidas. Cruyff refused to don the three stripes kit and play; the KNVB had to give in, allowing him to play with a two-striped shirt. In his life since his managerial stint at Barcelona, Cruyff had been appointed Sporting director for Ajax twice and Chivas Guadalajara once. But in all three cases, Cruyff either left or sacked because he simply did not want to agree with anyone else, and held his own. Cruyff’s egotistic persona meant that he made quite a few enemies all around the world, but on the pitch, no one would disagree with the magnitude of talent at the Dutchman’s disposal.

He had the making of an all-round footballer – the total footballer. He had every ingredient required to form a complete player – pace, acceleration, technical ability, was ambidextrous and above all, had an unparalleled vision. He was aware of every single of his teammate’s movement on the pitch and had the ability to change the game in a single moment of magic. And above everything, he had a magnetic persona on field; he had the power to bring out the absolute best in each one of his teammates.

Johan Cruyff was beyond a normal footballer – he was a visionary, a genius, held in such regard as scientists and mathematicians. Referred to as ‘Pythagoras in boots’, he could always see an option no one else did. He believed that the spectators should enjoy the game, that they should go home after experiencing a show of skill and silky football, with smiles on their faces. He finished off the transition that the Magyars had started, he had made football a complete art form.

Johan Cruyff sought to transform football in the face of monumental odds. He was willing to suffer for greatness, willing to embrace dogged effort and endless preparation with the zeal of a martyr.

Should anyone ever mention the phrase ‘complete footballer’, there is really only one who would fit the bill.

Hendrik Johannes Cruyff.

The Pythagoras in Boots.