Johan Cruyff 1947-2016

Been an absolute mental 24-36 hours for me, personally. Death is always a strange topic but Cruijff's legacy is not only irrefutable but continues to live on. I suspect that's the best almost any of us could hope for when approaching the final hour

Looking forward to buying a Cruijff shirt at Camp Nou next week, hope there will be a beautiful mosaique & tribute to the legend at El Clasico

"Life is all about working to become the best possible version of yourself. Winning is just one day. Reputation lasts a lifetime. To have your own style, to have people copy you, admire you. That's the greatest gift."
 
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Dans said:
I remember watching him for Ajax in the 80s. What a player. What a player.
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Amazingly, he played for Ajax AND Feyenoord in the 80s - 1 year at the arch rivals to end his career. Not many players play for both teams.
 
Typical Liverpool. Making it about themselves, instead of a genuine tribute to the great player.



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And here's the story behind that move - I'd forgotten that:

Courtesy of wikipedia.....

Feyenoord
At the end of the 1982–83 season, Ajax decided not to offer Cruyff a new contract. This angered Cruyff, who responded by signing for Ajax's archrivals Feyenoord.[39] Cruyff's season at Feyenoord was a successful one in which the club won the Eredivisie for the first time in a decade, part of a league and KNVB Cupdouble. The team's success was due to the performances of Cruyff along with Ruud Gullit and Peter Houtman.[40]

Despite his relatively advanced age, Cruyff played all league matches that season except for one. Because of his performance on the field, he was voted as Dutch footballer of the year for the 5th time. At the end of the season the veteran announced his final retirement. He ended his Eredivisie playing career on 13 May 1984 with a goal against PEC Zwolle. Cruyff played his last game in Saudi Arabia against Al-Ahli SC (Jeddah), bringing Feyenoord back into the game with a goal and an assist.[41]
 
I wish today's player would watch some of this old footage and realise that a guy riding tackle after tackle is just about the best thing you can see on a pitch.

By going down after "contact" they're denying themselves and supporters the moments that make the game great.
 
Dobbs said:
I wish today's player would watch some of this old footage and realise that a guy riding tackle after tackle is just about the best thing you can see on a pitch.

By going down after "contact" they're denying themselves and supporters the moments that make the game great.
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Him and George Best, were the masters at tackle riding.
 
goldenballs said:
Him and George Best, were the masters at tackle riding.
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Yeah both had great balance. I do prefer their style over Maradonna and Messi.

Watching the Cruyff compilations I don't think half those goals would exist if he had today's mentality.

Entertainment has been trumped by winning.
 
Dobbs said:
Yeah both had great balance. I do prefer their style over Maradonna and Messi.

Watching the Cruyff compilations I don't think half those goals would exist if he had today's mentality.

Entertainment has been trumped by winning.
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Spot on. I fecking despise this current results > performances, ends justify the means type mentality so many have now.

That's why I adore Cruyff (even if he's a bit before my time).
 
Dobbs said:
Yeah both had great balance. I do prefer their style over Maradonna and Messi.

Watching the Cruyff compilations I don't think half those goals would exist if he had today's mentality.

Entertainment has been trumped by winning.
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Maradona was also stunning at riding tackles. Pele did it relentlessly. Both rarely sought to dive. Pele Maradona Cruyff Messi. That's it for me now. I think the books should be opened up so that thats the elite group, end of debate.
 
Needham said:
Maradona was also stunning at riding tackles. Pele did it relentlessly. Both rarely sought to dive. Pele Maradona Cruyff Messi. That's it for me now. I think the books should be opened up so that thats the elite group, end of debate.
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Yeah of course Maradona and Pele were great at riding tackles, don't think I've argued they weren't. I just prefer the way Cruyff moves, it's a very superficial preference but there you go.

As the other poster says, Best needs to be included.
 
Dobbs said:
Yeah of course Maradona and Pele were great at riding tackles, don't think I've argued they weren't. I just prefer the way Cruyff moves, it's a very superficial preference but there you go.

As the other poster says, Best needs to be included.
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Not a superficial preference at all. He was simultaneously balletic and panthery, perhaps the lithest and sweetest runner of all, though Maradona had a beautiful jinxing dance. With regards to the list, we can take this debate elsewhere but I'm just not sure many people outside the Uk would make that list of five and put Best on it. Much more likely to be say Di Stefano.
 
For a relatively small country like the Netherlands, they have produced a lot of incredible footballers who are up there with the best of their respective generations. Cruyff, Van Basten, Gullit, Rijkaard, Kluivert, Bergkamp, Van Nistelrooy, Seedorf, Van Persie, Robben, Sneijder, Koeman, Neeskens, De Boer brothers, Davids, Cocu, Stam, Van Der Sar, that's a highly impressive list.
 
VorZakone said:
For a relatively small country like the Netherlands, they have produced a lot of incredible footballers who are up there with the best of their respective generations. Cruyff, Van Basten, Gullit, Rijkaard, Kluivert, Bergkamp, Van Nistelrooy, Seedorf, Van Persie, Robben, Sneijder, Koeman, Neeskens, De Boer brothers, Davids, Cocu, Stam, Van Der Sar, that's a highly impressive list.
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Nope. I've read that list 4 times now & I'm still struggling to find Dirk Kuyt's name there.

RIP Johan. They don't make em like you anymore.
 
Needham said:
Maradona was also stunning at riding tackles. Pele did it relentlessly. Both rarely sought to dive. Pele Maradona Cruyff Messi. That's it for me now. I think the books should be opened up so that thats the elite group, end of debate.
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You can argue whatever order they should be at, but that indeed is the top tier. Just to add, Cruyff was also a great coach/manager as well.
 
R.I.P... didn't see it coming that soon even though I read that he was fighting cancer.

goldenballs said:
Typical Liverpool. Making it about themselves, instead of a genuine tribute to the great player.



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that was very low from liverpool
 
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A pure football genius. An individual who was gifted in a way no one can teach. Born to it with a brain wired naturally to the game. Is he the greatest so far? Not sure but he's certainly up there.
 
togg said:
A pure football genius. An individual who was gifted in a way no one can teach. Born to it with a brain wired naturally to the game. Is he the greatest so far? Not sure but he's certainly up there.
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He's not the greatest ever, but there's a team of 11 players he belongs in, if you build the greatest 11 he's in there.

I think the greatest ever belongs to one of his students, Messi but what can be said about Cruyff is he's Europes best ever.

He's the most influential person in football period, nobody comes close to his legacy on his influence on the game, I said earlier he is the embodiment of football he is irreplaceable, he's one of the few who has been an elite manager and coach.

His mark is left on Barcelona introducing La Masia and playing "Total Football" through the youth academy to main team, his mark is left on Ajax, on Spain national team now and the Netherlands.

On top of that, he's left his mark on the biggest sport in the world, on every young footballer who learns to play the game they're learning some key lessons he laid down so "greatest" so far depends on what you are measuring.

The notion of "has to win a world cup" to be a great, he is the most influential person ever, that's one big reason why he doesn't need a world cup he'll be missed.
 
Another fascinating point about his mark on the game is the amount of players-turned-coaches that were under him. Koeman, Ferrer, Sergi, Guardiola, Laudrup, Abelardo, Òscar, Lopetegui, Eusebio, Stoichkov, Hagi and Bakero. With notable mentions to Zubizarreta and Txiki who both have notable director careers.

the hea said:
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Wow. Great tribute.
 
Don't know if it's true, but a comment below the following video says this:

"Interesting: A statistic has found out that this game of Cruijff has been the best game a footballer has ever played on the World Championship. He prepared three goals, had more than 100 ball contacts and 98% of his passing was correct. Besides this he gave his teammates three other direct possibilities to score."



Cracking penalties as well.
 
TheNewEra said:
The notion of "has to win a world cup" to be a great, he is the most influential person ever, that's one big reason why he doesn't need a world cup he'll be missed.
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Cruyff in '74 was his individual peak and one of the greatest World Cup performances ever. It's a defining point of his career and a huge part of his legacy. I'd say he's an example of what a spectacular World Cup can do for your standing in the game, not the opposite.
 
TheNewEra said:
I think the greatest ever belongs to one of his students, Messi but what can be said about Cruyff is he's Europes best ever.
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I almost feel a bit sorry for Messi, because these levels of greatness are just not there for him to be reached. Not because of his talent, which is very much alike, not even because his character which makes him not a leader, a conductor of the play, a manager on the pitch. It's the time he lives in that makes that Messi's greatness has to be measured by goals and assists, because sadly there's not much else.

Messi can't give FC Barcelona, their fans, the city and the whole of Catalunya their pride back, because they already have it back. He can't, together with the manager and some other very good players, elevate a quite modest small club to the level of a triple CL-winner in a row, just because he was already at the best club in the world at a young age. He can't take a whole team to a higher level, because he plays in age were a few clubs have all the best players and the difference one player can make among other stars isn't that great as it used to be. He can't take his national team, together with others, and put on the world map of football, because it was already there, even if he would have the leadership to do that. He can't change the face of football, because it's already done. He can't turn footballers from obedient working class employees into free men with long hair who take what is rightfully theirs, because it's already done. Of course Messi can name his son Jordi after the patron saint of Catalunya, but Catalan names aren't forbidden by a fascist regime anymore, so it wouldn't mean a great deal to the whole region. He can't go the arch rival and make them win the league just out of resentment, because club boards don't insult players like that anymore. Nevermind the fact that Messi lacks the rebellious and activist streak to do things like that, the times he lives in simply don't allow for greatness like that.
 
Dr. Funkenstein said:
I almost feel a bit sorry for Messi, because these levels of greatness are just not there for him to be reached. Not because of his talent, which is very much alike, not even because his character which makes him not a leader, a conductor of the play, a manager on the pitch. It's the time he lives in that makes that Messi's greatness has to be measured by goals and assists, because sadly there's not much else.

Messi can't give FC Barcelona, their fans, the city and the whole of Catalunya their pride back, because they already have it back. He can't, together with the manager and some other very good players, elevate a quite modest small club to the level of a triple CL-winner in a row, just because he was already at the best club in the world at a young age. He can't take a whole team to a higher level, because he plays in age were a few clubs have all the best players and the difference one player can make among other stars isn't that great as it used to be. He can't take his national team, together with others, and put on the world map of football, because it was already there, even if he would have the leadership to do that. He can't change the face of football, because it's already done. He can't turn footballers from obedient working class employees into free men with long hair who take what is rightfully theirs, because it's already done. Of course Messi can name his son Jordi after the patron saint of Catalunya, but Catalan names aren't forbidden by a fascist regime anymore, so it wouldn't mean a great deal to the whole region. He can't go the arch rival and make them win the league just out of resentment, because club boards don't insult players like that anymore. Nevermind the fact that Messi lacks the rebellious and activist streak to do things like that, the times he lives in simply don't allow for greatness like that.
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He can win a worldcup?
 
FCBarca said:
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A year without Cruyff
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"Then you can work in a circus", love it, typical Cruyff.

Going back to @Dr. Funkenstein post Pelé was the most successful, Cruyff the most influential and Maradona the romance (his personal story, a mix of Pelé's rise from poverty and Cruyff's rebelliousness, everyone loving an underdog story, etc).

Doesn't leave Messi many options.

The remarkable thing is you had three of them. Lucky? Probably not. Mes que un club.
 
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