The legend, Johan Cruyff

Day -811. WorldCup2018.

"Johan Cruyff painted the chapel, and Barcelona coaches since merely restore or improve it". (Pep Guardiola, on what Cruyff did for Barcelona).

I will not write any flowing tribute full of wonderful memories of my childhood watching the mastery of Johan Cruyff. His time was too early for me, for my conscious football memories. His only World Cup was 1974 and, sadly, Holland were not part of my first World Cup, in 1982, and the next one in 1986. Soon after that Cruyff, the player, became Cruyff, the manager, and it was his time at Barcelona that would have the biggest impact on me in later years and set the foundations for what would become the most beautiful club football team to watch. As their manager he led Barcelona to 4 consecutive Spanish league titles. With football on TV not being as readily available as it is now it was only in watching them win the 1992 European Cup (for the first time) that I was able to witness their exhilarating, different style of football. Cruyff had started something. His unique ability as a player, to be mesmerising all over the pitch, his leading role as part of the Ajax and Dutch teams that brought us Total Football, transferred into his further development of this stunningly simple, free-flowing football method into the tika-tika style that has made Barcelona probably the best club team of all time. And not just the best, but also probably the neutrals' all time favourite team to watch. No football fan can be a lover of football if they don't admit to appreciating what Cryuff's legacy at Barcelona has done to raise the beautiful game to another level of beauty.

So influential was Cruyff in Spain that the Spanish national team not only started to resemble Barcelona's tika-tika teams, but they also became similarly invincible. At the 2010 World Cup when Cruyff was so deluded with the anti-Dutch Holland team that reached the final against Spain, he is said to have supported Spain. The irony of course was that it was his style that Spain had adopted that highlighted how far Holland were from the beautiful way.

There is one memory of Cruyff and Holland from 1974. As my love for the game grew in the early 1980s I watched footage of the '74 final. The opening minute was fascinating. Holland kept possession, West Germany did not have a touch and after Cruyff burst into the penalty area and was fouled, Holland took the lead. The Germans' first touch was their goalkeeper picking the ball out of the net. In the end the graft and determination of the Germans won over the artistry of the Dutch. But that first minute was a joy to watch. And while Holland, especially that Holland, are known as the best team ever to not win the World Cup, Cruyff is surely the best player ever to never win the World Cup.

There was a way about Dutch football, a thinking, a method, which was so wonderfully unique. And, as I recommend reading the many a great tribute written about Cruyff today by those with better words than me, this is also a good time to strongly suggest reading David Winner's fantastic book, Brilliant Orange: The Neurotic Genius of Dutch Soccer. Winner describes the Dutch people's way of thinking and their unique appreciation and use of space and how Dutch football relates to this.


The final word goes to Barcelona where the legend Cruyff was manifested in my eyes and memories. The first reaction from the club was a simple one: "We will always love you Johan. Rest in peace".