JOHAN CRUYFF

GAME
CHANGER
Cruyff for the Netherlands.
Photo: Nationaal Archief
 Cruyff for Ajax (right) against Feyenoord, September 1967. Photo: Nationaal Archief

Jon Hoggard Winner of the Ballon d’Or an incredible three

times, Cruyff started his footballing career

23
It is difficult to overstate just
at Ajax, where he led the Dutch giants to
eight league titles and three consecutive
European Cups in 1971, 1972 and 1973.
how much of an influence
Dutch football legend Johan
Cruyff has had on the sport. Winner of the Ballon d’Or an incredible In the early 1970s came the incredible
three times, Cruyff started his run of three consecutive European
From his time on the pitch, footballing career at Ajax, where he Cup wins between 1971 and 1973,
starring for Ajax, Barcelona led the Dutch giants to eight league with Cruyff scoring twice in the final
and the Dutch national side, titles and three consecutive European of the 1972 competition against
Cups. He joined the club aged 10, Internazionale. In 1971 Johan had been
to his time in management
and was a talented baseball player named as European Footballer of the
at the same institutions, alongside his football development Year.
Cruyff has always been at until he decided to concentrate on Following the 1973 European Cup
the cutting edge of football football at age 15. He first established win, Johan moved to Barcelona in a
himself in the Ajax first team aged 18 in
development. 1965–66, a season in which he scored
world record-breaking transfer. He
immediately made an impact and
25 goals in 23 games as Ajax won the helped the Catalans to their first league
championship. title since 1960. It was with Barcelona
 that he was twice named European
Footballer of the Year, in 1973 and
1974.
In 1974 he led the Netherlands to the
final of the World Cup, picking up the
Player of the Tournament award along
the way, and upon his retirement from
international football had scored 33
goals in 48 matches. Incredibly, the
Dutch never lost a match in which
Cruyff scored.
It was during his time at Ajax that he
was instrumental in the development
of the ‘Total Football’ playing style.
Pioneered by coach Rinus Michels, the
system involved a fluid movement of
players in all positions, keeping the
team’s structure without players having
to keep to defined roles. The system
required a singular type of leadership
on the pitch – a role in which Johan
Cruyff flourished.
A free-scoring attacker and sublime
passer of the ball, Cruyff was the
maestro who pulled the strings and
soon became the embodiment of Total
Football. The peak of this embodiment
came in the 1974 World Cup, when a
moment of instinctive creativity gave
birth to a move that has changed the
game. Symbolising the Total Football
movement and ensuring Cruyff would
leave a legacy like no other, the
‘Cruyff Turn’ was born. The unique
skill became an instantly recognisable
trademark and is still copied on
training pitches and playgrounds the
world over. As a style of play, Total
Football not only defined the era, it
influenced the path of football forever
– and Cruyff is still regarded as the
figurehead.
When his playing career finished in the
early 1980s, following spells playing
the US, Spain, and back in Holland with
Ajax and Feyenoord, Johan went into
management with Ajax. Again, Cruyff’s
development of a fluid playing style
was instrumental in getting the best
out of his players, and it was using
this same system that Ajax won the
1995 Champions League under the
management of Louis van Gaal.
In 1988 Cruyff became manager
of Barcelona, another club where
he’d excelled as a player, and led
the Catalans to four league titles
Maybe the most important thing is what and – incredible though it may seem

you see in somebody. You need to pay

attention to where he comes from; you
need to see his character.
- Johan Cruyff

Cruyff for Ajax. Photo: gahetna.nl

considering their current status –
their first European Cup win in 1992.
While at Barcelona, he founded
and pioneered the development of
La Masia, the club’s now legendary
Academy. Based on his experiences of
the Ajax Academy, La Masia was tasked
with instilling Cruyff’s philosophies in
the club’s youth players – players who
would one day become the world’s
best exponents of ‘tiki-taka’, a style
that evolved from Total Football and
would lead Spain and Barcelona to the
pinnacle of world and club football.
Many of those players who began
their development under Cruyff, many
part of the early 90s ‘Dream Team’ at
Barcelona, are now leading managers
in world football (such as Pep
Guardiola) and continue to instil those
same ideals.
Today, Johan Cruyff remains a hugely
influential figure in the game and
maintains a love for developing young
players through the work of his
Foundation and Cruyff Football. The
Foundation has provided nearly 200
‘Cruyff Courts’ around the world to
allow children to play street football
together.
We caught up with him to find out
more about his thoughts on player
development and how he hopes his
philosophies will impact future players.

PDP: Why do you place so

much importance on youth
development?
JC: It all starts with the youth. It has to
be fun for them or it makes no sense.
Young players are eager to learn
and they will dream of playing on the
first team, so motivation is already
in place. If you have proper training
and coaching in place, then these
youngsters will learn to dominate the
ball and also learn about position play.
PDP: Who was responsible for
making you a champion?
JC: I had a youth coach, Van Veen. He
was hard, very straight, but he was
always helping, even if you did not
think it was help at the time. I never
knew I was successful because he
would take me out of success and put
me into the next challenge, always Young players today grow up in a
completely different world than my
days in Amsterdam. But the game is
the same. It should be about what it
Cruyff training during his time at
was about for us back then - fun.
FC Barcelona. Photo: gahetna.nl - Johan Cruyff
 Cruyff (centre) for the Netherlands, 1974 World Cup Final. Game ended Netherlands 1, West Germany 2 Photo: Mittelstädt, Rainer

adding something. Looking back now I JC: Maybe the most important thing is and the youth coaches have to help
realise how good he was. He had great what you see in somebody. You need mentor young players. Those who
vision. He could see the qualities of to pay attention to where he comes make it need to be intelligent, and
each player. He knew I failed physically from; you need to see his character. those that do not play professionally
so he devised an individual and You also need to see his habits - how need to be able to care for themselves
functional training for me. We did not does he behave and what can he and their family. We have a
have modern gyms so I would have to handle? responsibility to educate these young
carry a teammate - first someone of 50 players in the right way.
kilos, then 60 and so on. Little by little PDP: Why do you place so much
I got stronger, and with special sprints emphasis on the habits of players PDP: So in football today how does
he made my first metre quicker. He in addition to skills? a club or federation create the
knew that I could never be a physical next champions?
JC: There are a lot of players who can
player like some others, but he still kick a ball or do tricks and still never JC: Winning and losing is a matter of
made me work on my weaknesses. make it. That is because their habits being competitive. You cannot expect
PDP: When you made the are poor. They do not take care of all to win every match, but you can control
transition to coaching, what did the other things that matter – like their your ability to compete. And if you
you look for in a player? behaviour, preparation and mindset. have a path for young players to follow
You have to take care of these things then you will always have players who
can compete. I have been in football even against the world’s best.
for a long time and in the end we can We want to help children reach their
only set the stage for the players to win potential and then see where they
and then they must enjoy going out to stand relative to other players. We
become champions. We develop them must be patient and we must focus
and they perform when it matters
most. We must be patient on developing good players and good
people. If we can help clubs and
PDP: What do you hope to and we must focus countries do that, then I think we have
accomplish through Cruyff Football accomplished something important for
and this publication?
on developing good the children.

JC: Young players today grow up in a players and good

completely different world than my
days in Amsterdam. But the game is
people.
- Johan Cruyff
the same. It should be about what it
was about for us back then – fun. You
can test yourself against your friends,
your neighbors and maybe someday

Johan Cruyff (left) with Todd Beane during a recent visit to FC Barcelona.