Still, it wasn’t the mere scoring of goals that made him the most influential person in soccer over the last half century. It would remain Ajax’s preferred formation right through the team’s 1995 Champions League victory with a young Louis van Gaal at the helm: Cruyff was proud of the boldness in his system and the excitement it created, swatting away critics who called it foolishly idealistic.

And, most likely, he’s probably pretty happy about that. “Like Johan used to say ‘Every disadvantage has its advantage’,”, The greatest #WheelchairTennis rally of all time?What better way to celebrate IPC Wheelchair Tennis Week than by taking a look back at this remarkable rally from Rio 2016... @Paralympics@HoudetStephane @Nicolas_Peifer @GordonReid91 @alfiehewett6 pic.twitter.com/kmxXkJZmH2. Giving opponents no time to think, they charged at them in an organized formation. Allegri, Pochettino candidates if Man Utd sack ... ​Man City striker Aguero not interested in join... Inter Milan striker Alexis delivers derby fitne... Bayern Munich chief Salihamidzic: No chance Com... Inter Milan great Brehme: Conte has long wanted... Bayern Munich signing Marc Roca enjoys Barcelon... Real Madrid willing to pay MORE than buyout cla... Everton playmaker Sigurdsson rejects deadline-d... Wenger hopes Henry will manage Arsenal in futur... Man Utd ace Cavani already in MLS contact. 1 disabled player. All that can be said about the lung cancer is that it probably hated battling Cruyff. The Frenchman pulled his 2008 gold medal out of his bag and told Cruyff he would never have won it without him. Oh, and he also scored this gem of a goal while playing for Barca: His playing days not quite over, Cruyff was part of a wave of superstars to ply their trade in the United States during the heady days of the North American Soccer League. The Johan Cruyff ArenA and the KNVB are investigating whether the high-tech system that monitors the ArenA turf is suitable to serve as a basis for other clubs in Dutch professional football. The Frenchman pulled his 2008 gold medal out of his bag and told Cruyff he would never have won it without him. APOOGISE! After losing his leg in a motorcycle accident in 1996, Houdet took up golf while he also continued working as a veterinarian. Arsenal great Dennis Bergkamp says Johan Cruyff was the biggest influence on his playing career. When I was a teenager, he sent me to an older team in Ajax to provoke me. Years later, Cruyff came to watch his old friend play in a tournament in Amsterdam.

He was, very simply, all of those things in one person. “In tennis, it’s funny, the day you win, you don’t have time to celebrate, because the week after, you have to defend, and every opponent wants to beat you,” said Houdet, a Roland-Garros champion in 2012 and 2013. The modern age of Barca dominance is traced directly back to the Dutch influence. When you look at Arsene Wenger, or Manuel Neuer, or Tiki-Taka, that (to varying extents) is Cruyff. And, predictably, he scored.

When he arrived in Catalonia in 1973, it was for a world record sum, to the extent that Spanish bankers needed to get creative with how they initially processed the payment (livestock, apparently). It was a time to rest and recuperate until the opponent got close to your goal. Can't stand the ads? Guardiola, himself a graduate of the Barcelona academy (Cruyff’s idea), was aided by numerous players who also came from La Masia, including Messi. Cruyff is gone now, leaving the world as the Netherlands find itself in a transitional period in its soccer. Meeting Cruyff “was the beginning of a new story for me,” Houdet said in an interview this summer. Style. I didn’t know it.”. Under the guidance of Ajax manager Rinus Michels, Cruyff and his young teammates began to evolve that preconception. Although Houdet turns 50 next month, he has decided to postpone his retirement until the 2024 Olympics in Paris. “He said ‘Congratulations, that was a good change for … Cruyff left a staggering impression on U.S. fans, traced directly back to the Dutch influence, he had no use for its more defensive-minded approach in recent tournaments, espousing the ideals of attacking, proactive soccer, The 24 Best U.S. Cities to Be a Sports Fan, Raw Talent Isn’t the Only Thing That Contributes to Your Success, Los Angeles finally gets another sports title, Elon Musk’s 2 Rules For Learning Anything Faster, The Only Four Books Bill Gates Has Rated Five Stars, Life Lessons Learned in My 40’s That I Wish I Could Tell My 20-Year Old Self. King of Clay the toast of Twitter as tributes pour in, Krawietz and Mies go back-to-back in Paris, What we learned from Roland-Garros 2020 women's event, Home delight for Jacquemot as she clinches girls' title, RG 2020: the artist Pierre Seinturier presents the new poster, Everything you need to know about the roof. “He said ‘Congratulations, that was a good change for you, and you took the right decision’,” recalled Houdet.
Nor was he merely a great coach. Refusing to go with the flow of tactical evolution, Cruyff characteristically went in the other direction (a Cruyff turn, you could call it).

"Cruyff … He scored 190 goals with Ajax, winning three consecutive European Cups (the forerunner to the Champions League). That was one of his best qualities. What he built was nicknamed the “Dream Team.” Winning four consecutive La Liga titles, plus a European Cup, it was the pinnacle of the Catalan club’s history to that point. Comment: 22/1, career best when winning 11-runner handicap at Redcar (7f, good to firm) 14 days ago. Best quotes from Roland-Garros 2020, 100 for the King: Numbers behind Rafa's latest Paris success, Podcast: The Roland-Garros Set - Episode 15, Day 15 Diary: Federer hails Nadal's milestone 20th, Movers and shakers: Swiatek surges on career-best run. Objecting to the traditional path of heading to La Liga to play for Real Madrid (with its historical greatness), Cruyff said he would never play for a club that had such ties to Spanish dictator Francisco Franco.

Cruyff, like the generation of transformative Dutch players from the 1960s, was a miraculous creation. Along with Michels, they immediately set out to implement their vision of how soccer should be played in Barcelona. His influence both on and off the field means that the world will never see someone quite like Johan Cruyff again. “It’s the kind of thing that is never finished. A member of the Los Angeles Aztecs and eventually the Washington Diplomats, Cruyff left a staggering impression on U.S. fans, just as he had in Amsterdam and Barcelona. Houdet and the Dutchman got on so well on the golf course, they were soon working together on developing a world golf tour for players with disabilities through Cruyff’s foundation in Barcelona. Cruyff said: "Right now, I have the feeling that I am 2-0 up in the first half of a match that has not finished yet." “How much space must I defend?” Cruyff asked rhetorically in a later interview in his backyard. I much prefer to win 5–4 than 1–0.”. Johan Cruyff has a very special way of looking at soccer, and an equally distinctive way of talking about it.

It was a question of space, and no other country was so good at manipulating it as the space-starved Dutch. If I have to defend this small area, I’m the best.”. And he knew it, reminding people occasionally, just to piss them off. If you want to become a professional, all four of them need to work at a high level. The Frenchman said he had initially planned to bow out in 2018 to focus on a full-time job in the French army aimed at rehabbing soldiers through sports, but changed his mind when Paris won the bid to host the Summer Games. It’s the same motto two-time Roland-Garros wheelchair singles champion Stéphane Houdet lives by after a round of golf with the legendary Ajax and FC Barcelona forward and coach at an event in 2004 altered the course of his life. PHOTO GALLERY: visit the new Roland-Garros stadium! Cruyff is about discovering what you are good at in life and having the focus and determination to get there.

He was part of an Ajax team that was in the midst of some revolutionary changes. Success came quick. Four years after his meeting with Cruyff, Houdet won a gold medal in wheelchair doubles at the 2008 Beijing Paralympics. They defended as a team, working just as hard out of possession as they did in it.

He understood the power of appearance and style better than anyone. Instead, he chose Barcelona. Houdet may have won almost everything there is to win in his sport, but he still feels like he can improve. Even the way he ate was factored into his thought process. Under the guidance of Ajax manager Rinus Michels, Cruyff and his young teammates began to evolve that preconception. It was, author David Winner explained, an extremely Dutch notion to question the basic rules of soccer. Ajax (and later the Netherlands national team) perfected the usage of an offside trap and pressing, a concept that was as effective as it was visually terrifying for attackers who had never seen it before: Defense, prior to this innovation, was a much more languid process.

"Cruyff's idea was to make me tougher. Explaining why Johan Cruyff’s loss is so monumental is itself a monumental task, but here’s my own effort. Guardiola, who would perfect the Spanish style of Tiki-Taka (possession-oriented short passing), developed under Cruyff into one of the world’s best midfielders. It was, author David Winner explained, an extremely Dutch notion to question the basic rules of soccer.
Bergkamp played for Cruyff while a youngster at Ajax. When he was at his fittest he was as good a midfield player as there has ever been. He probably outsmarted it, because it was his nature. Soccer in the Netherlands had been professionalized for roughly a decade when the 17-year-old from Amsterdam made his debut for AFC Ajax in 1964. But Cruyff’s influence on the game was only beginning, as his managerial career got underway. It was the genesis for a concept that became popularly known as “Total Football.” And though it produced some of the best attacking soccer in history, its fundamental origin was in its defensive notions. It was genius usage of space. Please disable your adblocker so we can continue to provide great content for readers like you! Nor was he merely a great soccer visionary. The question, Cruyff and his teammates reasoned, was not about the player with the ball, but about the players without the ball. And I had the pleasure of playing in the same team as Jim Baxter. Ad revenue is what keeps this site running. There's been an error logging you in.Please try again. The beautiful game, made exquisitely efficient by his Dutch mastery of space.

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