First of all, I want to make it clear that there will be no politics in this article. The Spanish national team, indeed, has a lot of players with different cultural and ethnic identities, but that is not what this article is about. This article will be based only on tactical analysis.
Johan Cruyff wrote an article for El Periodico which outlined his thoughts on yesterday’s final in South Africa. The original can be found here.
It was a very close game but of a very questionable quality. Holland didn’t want to play, at least not true to their typical style. Spain tried to remain faithful to their style but were lost a good bit of the match. In the end Spain decided to win the game by playing more individually than as a team. And they were able to due to a miracle goal from the player from Fuentealbilla that was raised in La Masia, the youth system of Barca, which is one of the best schools in the world.
Catalan based newspaper Sport reported that former Barca player, coach and one of Barca’s legends Johan Cruyff has been hurt by the action taken by Barcelona’s president Sandro Rosell, who stripped Cruyff of the honorary president badge which Laporta had awarded him.
“When you look at Spain, you see Barcelona, you see Xavi, Iniesta, Busquets and Pedro in midfield, players who want the ball but then will put pressure on high up the pitch to win it back.”
“Spain, a replica of Barca, is the best publicity for football. Who am I supporting? I am Dutch but I support the football that Spain is playing.”
FC Barcelona president, Sandro Rosell, stressed today that former Barcelona player and coach Johan Cruyff is “without a doubt the symbol of Barcelona”, who is a “living legend” and that he “should be treated as such.”
According to the Spanish paper El Periodico, Johan Cruyff has been stripped of his title as honorary president of FC Barcelona. In the past, it has become fairly obvious that Sandro Rosell was not a big fan of Joan Laporta or Johan Cruyff, and it did not take long for Barca’s new president to strip Cruyff of his honorary title. Joan Laporta, former president of FC Barcelona, gave Cruyff the title in April 2010.
As the World Cup finally begins to gather pace, there are one or two teams who have surprised with their accomplishments, whilst others have once again flattered to deceive. One team who’ve managed to tick both of these boxes is the Netherlands, who as of the writing of this piece, sit atop their group with 2 wins from 2, yet with many pundits shocked by the apparent lack of ‘Dutch style’ on display thus far.
According to football website footbo.com, former FC Barcelona star and honorary president of the club, Johan Cruyff, has highlighted the club’s effort in raising and including home-grown young talents in regular first-team action. The “commitment to players from home is fundamental” in the current golden age of the club.
Today, April 25 2010, all of us at totalBarca would like to wholeheartedly wish a very delightful and happy 63rd birthday to Hendrik Johannes Cruijff with countless gratitude towards every accomplishments, big and small, that has been given by the influential Dutch to our beloved club FC Barcelona.
Johan Cruyff can be seen as the embodiment of the Barcelona philosophy, Mes que un club. He understood it, applied it, lived it, and helped enable others to embody it themselves. His many thinking points still ring true and his influence can still be felt and seen today in modern football, especially in FC Barcelona.
He played with such grace, technique, and accuracy that sports writer David Miller dubbed him as “Pythagoras in boots” for that qualities. As a player, he also helped perfect the technique now known as the “Cruyff turn”, made popular in the 1974 World Cup in West Germany.
“We are the only Spanish team left in the Champions League and that means Madrid and the rest of Spain is going to be behind us. The rivalry is now focused on the League but not in the Champions League.”
“If the situation has been the opposite, we would have liked Real Madrid to win it.”
Barca gave a lesson on teamwork in Madrid. A huge victory and three more points. It’s only one step, an important one, but a little closer to winning the league. It’s time to finish off the rest of the season, starting with Deportivo.
This is a translation of Johan Cruyff’s column in the Dutch paper De Telegraaf. In it, the FC Barcelona honorary president and the first player to win the Ballon d’Or three times (1971, 1973 and 1974), writes about the past week’s events in his personal capacity as a footballing observer.
Original article @ De Telegraaf
Messi, a feast for the eyes
By Johan Cruyff
Carles Rexach, Johan Cryuff’s former team-mate that helped FC Barcelona win the la Liga title in 1974 – the club’s first win in 14 years – and who served as the Dutchman’s assistant coach during the Dream Team era between 1988 and 1996, perceived the Dutch and Barcelona legend’s honorary appointment as an “absurd and surprising” decision. Continue reading »
FC Barcelona legend Johan Cruyff has been made Honorary President of the Club where he had so much success both as a player and manager.
Former Barcelona and Dutch legend Johan Cruyff has slammed the current Barca squad after some disappointing results.
“The team’s reaction when they were reduced to 10 men leads one to be optimistic, but there are certain players that are not up to rub.”
Johan Cruyff, former FC Barcelona coach, in his weekly article in El Periodico.
Johan Cruyff, former coach of FC Barcelona, heavily criticized Barcelona’s performance against Racing Santander. He didn’t hold back, saying: “It was the worst game since Guaridola became coach.”
Even though Barcelona accomplished a 4-0 victory, Cruyff wasn’t impressed. “Nobody should be fooled by the result. If you look at the four goals, only Marquez’s counted and it was scored from a free kick, not during the run of play. The first was from a horrible mistake from the Racing defense, the second from an opening in the wall and the fourth deflected off of a Racing player.” Using a rhetorical question to make his point Cruyff asked, “How many clear chances did the team create?”.
THIS IS A FEATURED ARTICLE. PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR THE LATEST NEWS.
In this edition of Cruyff’s Corner:
The Pleasing Victory against Getafe
The Unfortunate Loss of Defenders
Don’t Let Refs Trouble You
Milito’s Excellent Match
The Outstanding Performance of Maxwell
The Sanctions of Pique and Marquez
Avoid Unnecessary Plays, and…
The Warnings to Iniesta and Toure
In this edition of Cruyff’s Corner:
Madrid’s wake up call at Riazor
The Message that Barca Transmits
The Red Card of Cristiano Ronaldo
Appeals, Sanctions, Cautions
The Test at Riazor
Pointing the finger at Henry and Ibrahimovic
The Goal Drought of Ibrahimovic
A recent compilation of the fifty most influential managers of the past fifty years (1960-2010), has seen FC Barcelona one manager ahead of their bitter rivals, Real Madrid. The list, compiled by World Soccer Magazine was titled “50 Managers Who Mattered” and includes seven former Barcelona ‘misters’ in its ranks. Real comes out just one fewer in the list, with six in total.
“Happiness is never complete (at Barcelona). There’s always someone pointing the finger. If you play up front and don’t score you have to live with it but judging them by their goals alone is as easy as it is incorrect. Their movement, on and off the ball, creates a great advantage of an unknown value.”
Former Barcelona coach, player and legend Johan Cruyff told on his weekly column in ‘El Periodico’ that both Thierry Henry and Zlatan ibrahimovic still contribute a great deal to the team despite their recent goal drought.
Johan Cruyff publicly requested through his weekly column in ‘El Periodico’, that it is Pep Guardiola who should set the date of the election day in line with the requirements of the first team (read more). Catalan sports tabloid ‘sport’ report that Barcelona president Joan Laporta, has now conveyed the same message. The advisor and the president are both convinced that the current crop have a very good shot at winning the league and the Champions League at the Bernabeu and hence do not want an election battle to disturb it.
‘Sport’ also report that Pep has read and listened to both their views carefully and made his opinion clear: not only does he not intend to set any date based on the schedule of the first team but he also does not want to hear anything about the electoral framework. Guardiola does not want to get involved in any of the electoral mess.
Former Barcelona coach and legend, Johan Cruyff told in his weekly column in ‘El Periódico’ that it is Josep Guardiola who should be “choosing the election day.”
Cruyff who is currently the coach of the Catalan national team is of the opinion that the first-team coach should be able to decide when the election takes place, stating that Pep must have “a voice” and added that “the sooner the date is, the better”
Cruyff praised Guardiola for his commitment to the club and denounced critics who point out that the technician has only spoken of his continuity but has’t signed any document yet as a proof of renewal. “Guardiola’s word is worth more than a signature. His commitment is to Barca and not with any candidate.”
On the occasion of his birthday (January 18) and in tribute to a job well done, we offer this special (belated) photo edition of our Factfile series to a man described as many things – poet, intellectual, aesthete, fashion model, football icon, “the annoyingly handsome and youthful champion with the six cups” etc., but whom Barcelona fans and supporters alike simply know as a gentleman, legendary former player, our revered coach.
It has been a while, but I’m proud to present that Cruyff’s wisdom is back to TotalBarca.com and better than ever! So go ahead and read what Cruyff has to say after the jump!
In this edition of Cruyff’s Corner:
Barcelona’s start in 2010.
You can’t always win it all.
Chygrynskiy needs time.
The whistles and boo’s of Chygrynskiy.
Adapting the pieces of a puzzle.
Taking Decisions.
“Barca has started a new year, and the believe is that they should keep on winning it all. Well thats impossible. The players are not machines. Not even Chygrynskiy, who needs time to adapt.”
In his weekly column for Catalan newspaper El Periodico, Dutchman and former Barcelona manager, Johan Cruyff, gave the Camp Nou faithful a piece of advice: Support Chygrynskiy if you want Guardiola to stay.
Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf reports that Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger refuses Cesc Fabregas to stand for the friendly match of Catalonia against Argentina. He ignores the will of Johan Cruyff, who debuted as coach of the Catalan selection and called up the Arsenal midfielder. Wenger is not obligated to let Fabregas go and won’t allow this either. The French coach already announced this week on the club’s official website that he had not managed to get in contact with Cruyff to discuss the situation.
The votes have been counted and the results are in! This time around we had 869 participants.
Read more for full results.
Barcelona chairman Joan Laporta has openly praised the club’s shot stopper Victor Valdes, describing him as ” the best goalkeeper in the world”.
Speaking to Catalan newspaper Sport, Laporta said that Valdes deserves to be in the Spanish selection, reasoning that: “Victor is better than Casillas. This is clearly what has happened and it shows every day, in every game, by making crucial stops that saved us many points. He would also have the edge because to be a Barcelona goalkeeper is not the same as anywhere else, considering that we play with a very advanced defensive line. “
The Catalan football federation has announced that Johann Cruyff has accepted to become the coach of Catalunya’s football team. He will be presented as a coach next Monday, November 9. He was coach of Barcelona’s football team from 1988-1996, when he left Barcelona after several issues between him and the president Josep Lluis Nunez. He also played five seasons for Barcelona in the 70′s. He will replace Pere Gratacos who led the team in three years and six games. Catalunya’s football team usually play one game between Christmas and New Years eve, and they also use to play one game in May. Catalunya are like the Basque country, where they are not permitted to play in official competitions, but they can play friendlies against International teams.
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