Johan Cruyff, the legendary proponent of the Total Football philosophy Johan Cruyff from the Netherlands was a professional who won the Ballon d’Or three times, in 1971, 1973 and 1974. Cruyff was a proponent of the football philosophy known as “Total | Sunday Observer

Johan Cruyff, the legendary proponent of the Total Football philosophy Johan Cruyff from the Netherlands was a professional who won the Ballon d’Or three times, in 1971, 1973 and 1974. Cruyff was a proponent of the football philosophy known as “Total

18 December, 2022

Johan Cruyff from the Netherlands was a professional who won the Ballon d’Or three times, in 1971, 1973 and 1974. Cruyff was a proponent of the football philosophy known as “Total Football.” He is one of the most influential figures in modern football. He is also widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of the sport, as well as one of its best managers ever.

A perfectionist, he always had a strong opinion about things and was loyal to his principles even more than anything else in the football world. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Dutch football rose from a semi-professional and obscure level to become a powerhouse in the sport. Cruyff led the Netherlands to the final of the 1974 FIFA World Cup and received the Golden Ball as the ‘Player of the Tournament.’

At club level, Cruyff started his career at Ajax, where he won eight Eredivisie titles, three European Cups and one Intercontinental Cup. In 1973, he moved to Barcelona for a world record transfer fee, helping the team win La Liga in his first season. After retiring from playing in 1984, Cruyff became highly successful as manager of Ajax and Barcelona and continued as an influential advisor to both clubs.

Cruyff was voted the ‘European Player of the Century’ by the International Federation of Football History and Statistics and came second behind Pele in their ‘World Player of the Century’ poll. He came third in a vote organised by the French magazine France Football consulting their former Ballon d’Or winners to elect their ‘Football Player of the Century.’ He was included in the World Team of the 20th Century in 1998, the FIFA World Cup Dream Team in 2002 and 2004. He was also named in the ‘FIFA 100 List of the World’s Greatest Living Players.’

Birth and Growth

Hendrik Johannes “Johan” Cruyff was born on April 25, 1947 in Amsterdam in the heavily damaged post-World War II Netherlands. He grew up on a street five minutes away from Ajax’s stadium, his first football club. Johan was the second son of Hermanus Cornelis Cruijff and Petronella Bernarda Draaijer, from a humble, working-class background in east Amsterdam.

Cruyff, encouraged by his influential football-loving father, played football whenever he could, and idolised the prolific Dutch dribbler, Faas Wilkes. In 1959, Cruyff’s father died from a heart attack and same had a great influence on his future career and character. He was renowned for his strong personality.

As Cruyff recalled, in his 50th birthday, “My father died when I was just 12 and he was 45. From that day the feeling crept stronger over me that I would die at the same age and, when I had serious heart problems when I reached 45, I thought: ‘This is it,’ only medical science, which was not available to help my father, kept me alive.”

Cruyff’s mother met her second husband, Henk Angel, who proved a key influence in his life. In his senior club career, he scored 294 goals in 518 appearances. Cruyff joined the Ajax youth system on his tenth birthday. Ajax youth coach Jany van der Veen, noticed Cruyff’s talent and decided to offer him a place at Ajax without a formal trial. He made his first team debut on November 15, 1964 and established himself as a regular first team player, playing for Ajax (1964-1973).

In mid-1973, Cruyff was sold to Barcelona for 6 million guilders (approx. US$2 million) in a world record transfer fee and played for Barcelona (1973-78). At the age of 32, Cruyff signed a lucrative deal and played for the Los Angeles Aztecs (1978-79). Then, he moved to play for the Washington Diplomats (1980-81), Levante (1981), Ajax (1981-83) and Feyenoord (1983-84).

He was voted as the ‘Dutch Footballer of the Year’ five times. He ended his playing career on May 13, 1984 with a goal against PEC Zwolle and played his last game in Saudi Arabia against Al-Ahli.

Cruyff married Diana Margaretha “Danny” Coster and lived happily for almost 50 years. They had three children: Chantal (1970), Susila (1972), and Jordi (1974). Cruyff named his third child after the patron saint of Catalonia, St. Jordi to support Catalan nationalism.

The family lived in Barcelona since 1973, with an interruption from 1981 to 1988 when they lived in Vinkeveen, the Netherlands. On March 24, 2016, in Barcelona, Cruyff died at the age of 68, surrounded by his wife, children, and grandchildren. He was cremated in Barcelona within 24 hours of his death.

Cruyff is the author/co-author of several books in Dutch and Spanish about his football career, in particular his principles and view about the football world. He also wrote his weekly columns for Barcelona-based El Periodico and Amsterdam-based De Telegraaf newspapers.

1974 FIFA World Cup

Cruyff played in 48 international matches, scoring 33 goals and the team never lost a match in which Cruyff scored. On September 7, 1966, he made his official debut for the Netherlands in the UEFA Euro 1968 qualifier against Hungary.

Until the 1990s, players did not have fixed numbering, except in the World Cup or European Championship. The starting players usually wore jerseys from 1 to 11 and the substitutes from 12 to 16. Cruyff wore the number 14 jersey for the Netherlands from 1970, setting a trend for wearing shirt numbers outside the usual starting line-up numbers of 1 to 11.

Cruyff led the Netherlands to the 1974 World Cup and was named the ‘Player of the Tournament.’ Thanks to his team’s mastery of “Total Football,” they coasted all the way to the final, knocking out Argentina (4–0), East Germany (2–0) and Brazil (2–0) along the way. Cruyff scored twice against Argentina in one of the Netherlands most dominating performances and then scored the second goal against Brazil to knock out the defending champions.

The Netherlands faced hosts West Germany in the final. Cruyff kicked off and the ball was passed around his team 15 times before returning to Cruyff, who then went on a run and ended when he was fouled inside the box. Teammate Johan Neeskens scored from the spot kick to give the Netherlands a 1–0 lead. During the latter half of the final, his influence was stifled and West Germany came back to win 2–1.

Cruyff retired from international football in October 1977 at the age of 30, having helped the national team qualify for the 1978 World Cup. Without him, the Netherlands finished runners-up in the 1978 FIFA World Cup. There were many nicknames Cruyff had in the Netherlands and Spain and “El Salvador” or “The Saviour,” amongst the best-known.

Coaching and Managing

After retiring from playing, Cruyff followed in the footsteps of his mentor Rinus Michels, coached a young Ajax side (1985-88). Then, returned to Barcelona to take up his new role as coach of the first team (1988-96).

In the Netherlands, he was strongly praised for the attacking flair he imposed on his sides and for his commendable work as a talent spotter. Cruyff immediately had his Barça charges playing his attractive brand of football and the results did not take long in coming. With Cruyff, Barça experienced a glorious era and led the club to four European finals during 1989-1994.

Under Cruyff, Barça’s “Dream Team” won four La Liga titles in a row (1991-1994), and beat Sampdoria in both the 1989 European Cup Winners’ Cup final and the 1992 European Cup final at Wembley Stadium. The European Cup dream became a reality on May 20, 1992 at Wembley in London, when Barça beat Sampdoria.

Cruyff’s last instruction to his players was “Go out and enjoy it” or “Go out there and enjoy yourselves”. The match went to extra time after a scoreless draw. In the 111th minute, Ronald Koeman’s brilliant free kick clinched Barça’s first European Cup victory. With 11 trophies, Cruyff was Barcelona’s most successful manager and was also the longest-serving manager.

Having represented Catalonia on the pitch in 1976, Cruyff managed the Catalonia national team from 2009 to 2013, leading the team to a victory over Argentina in his debut match. In September 2009, Cruyff and Ruud Gullit were unveiled as ambassadors for the Belgium-Netherlands joint bid for the World Cup finals in 2018 or 2022 at the official launch in Eindhoven.

On November 2, 2009, Cruyff was named as manager of the Catalonia national team and it was his first managing job in 13 years. On December 22, 2009, they played a friendly game against Argentina, which ended in a Catalonia win 4-2.

On December 28, 2010, Catalonia played a friendly against Honduras winning 4–0. On December 30, 2011, Catalonia played Tunisia in a goalless draw. In their last game under Cruyff, on January 2, 2013, Catalonia drew with Nigeria 1–1.

Dream All Time World XI

In his posthumously released autobiography “My Turn: The Autobiography,” Cruyff reveals his dream all-time XI in his favourite 3–4–3 diamond formation reads as follows: Lev Yashin (goalkeeper); Ruud Krol (full back/wing-back), Franz Beckenbauer (central defender/libero), Carlos Alberto (full-back/wing-back); Pep Guardiola (holding midfielder/midfield anchor), Bobby Charlton, Alfredo Di Stefano, Diego Maradona (playmaker/attacking midfielder/second striker); Piet Keizer (winger), Garrincha (winger), and Pele (centre-forward/striker).

For humility, Cruyff did not put himself in there, but there is a spot for his pupil, Pep Guardiola and his former teammates, Ruud Krol and Piet Keizer. “For the ideal squad, I also try and find a formula in which talent is used to the maximum in every case,” notes Cruyff. The qualities of one player must complement the qualities of another.

Cruyff’s 14 Basic Rules

In his autobiography, Cruyff explained why he made a set of 14 basic rules, which are displayed at every Cruyff Court in the world: (1) Team player – To accomplish things, you have to do them together; (2) Responsibility – Take care of things as if they were your own; (3) Respect – Respect one another; (4) Integration – Involve others in your activities; (5) Initiative – Dare to try something new; (6) Coaching – Always help each other within a team; (7) Personality – Be yourself; (8) Social involvement – Interaction is crucial, both in sport and in life; (9) Technique – Know the basics; (10) Tactics – Know what to do; (11) Development – Sport strengthens body and soul; (12) Learning – Try to learn something new every day; (13) Play together – An essential part of any game; (14) Creativity – Bring beauty to the sport.

Legacy

Cruyff is widely seen as a revolutionary figure in the history of Ajax, Barcelona, and the Netherlands. The style of play Cruyff introduced at Barcelona later came to be known as tiki-taka - characterised by short passing and movement, working the ball through various channels, and maintaining possession - which was later adopted by the Euro 2008, 2010 FIFA World Cup and Euro 2012 winning Spain national team.

Throughout his career, Cruyff became synonymous with the playing style of “Total Football.” It is a system where a player who moves out of his position is replaced by another from his team, thus allowing the team to retain their intended organizational structure. In this fluid system, no footballer is fixed in their intended outfield role.

The team orchestrator, Cruyff was a creative playmaker with a gift for timing passes. Nominally, he played centre-forward in this system and was a prolific goal scorer but dropped deep to confuse his markers or moved to the wing to great effect. In the 1974 World Cup final between West Germany and the Netherlands, from the kick-off, the Dutch monopolised ball possession. At the start of the move that led to the opening goal, Cruyff picked up the ball in his own half.

The Dutch captain, who was nominally a centre-forward, was the deepest Dutch outfield player, and after a series of passes, he set off on a run from the centre circle into the West German box. Unable to stop Cruyff by fair means, Uli Hoeness brought Cruyff down, conceding a penalty scored by Johan Neeskens. The first German to thus touch the ball was goalkeeper Sepp Maier picking the ball out of his own net.

Cruyff was known for his technical ability, speed, acceleration, dribbling and vision, possessing an awareness of his teammates’ positions as an attack unfolded. Football consists of different elements: technique, tactics, and stamina. Technique is passing the ball with one touch, with the right speed, at the right foot of your teammate.

Cruyff always considered aesthetic and moral aspects of the game; it is not just about winning, but about winning with “right” style. He also always spoke highly of entertaining value of the game. The beautiful game, for him, was about as much the entertainment and joy as the results. In thinking of Cruyff, the victory is truly meaningful when it can fully capture the minds and hearts of competitors and spectators.

As he once noted, “Quality without results is pointless. Results without quality is boring.” For Cruyff, to choose a “right” style of play to win is even more important than winning itself. Cruyff always believed in simplicity. He sees simplicity and beauty as inseparable. “Simple football is the most beautiful. But playing simple football is the hardest thing,” as Cruyff once summed up his fundamental philosophy.

To play well, you need good players, but a good player almost always has the problem of a lack of efficiency. He always wants to do things prettier than strictly necessary. Cruyff also perfected a feint now known as the “Cruyff Turn.” The feint is an example of the simplicity in Cruyff’s football philosophy.

Cruyff looked to pass or cross the ball, then, instead of kicking it, he dragged the ball behind his planted foot with the inside of his other foot, turned through 180 degrees, and accelerated away. Like Dutch football in general until the mid-1960s, Cruyff’s early playing career was considerably influenced by coaching philosophy of British coaches such as Vic Buckingham.

The mind-body duality always plays an important role in his footballing philosophy. In Cruyff’s words, quoted in Dennis Bergkamp’s autobiography “Stillness and Speed: My Story,” “...Because you play football with your head, and your legs are there to help you. If you don’t use your head, using your feet won’t be sufficient. Why does a player have to chase the ball? Because he started running too late.”

For Cruyff, football is much an artistic-oriented mind-body game instead of an athletic-oriented physical competition. As he put it, “Every trainer talks about movement, about running a lot. I say don’t run so much. Football is a game you play with your brain. You have to be in the right place at the right moment, not too early, not too late.”

(The author is an Associate Professor, International Scholar, winner of Presidential Awards and multiple National Accolades for Academic pursuits. He possesses a PhD, MPhil, and double MSc. His email is [email protected])

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