Comments on: Eredivisie Ends…for now….

By: Igor

Igor — Mon, 11 May 2009 23:58:28 +0000

Jan (and others), here’s the link to the article in question. I personally don’t feel that the writer is saying that Cruijff’s tactics were defensive, on the contrary he’s saying that even the most attacking minded of coaches (e.g. Cruijff) still had to be weary of Real’s firepower when visiting the Bernebeau.

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns/story?id=643278&sec=europe&root=europe&cc=5901

By: Gerard

Gerard — Mon, 11 May 2009 21:01:33 +0000

@stavrogin
I don’t contribute too often to this blog but if I recall correctly Cruyff used something like a very flexible 2-3-2-3 formation with Barcelona so I suppose in certain situations he would be playing with 5 defenders. ie. two centrebacks, two attacking fullbacks and one “pivot” (I think Guardiola) just ahead of the centrebacks. Then when the the team went on the attack, the fullbacks would overlap and Guardiola would move up into a playmaker role. That was a great team to watch.

By: Jan

Jan — Mon, 11 May 2009 08:21:24 +0000

Could you copy a link to the actual article in the post? I couldn’t find it on Soccer.net.

By: stavrogin

stavrogin — Mon, 11 May 2009 08:18:13 +0000

hey thanks guys…i even wrote to the guy(eduardo alvarez) who wrote that article to ask him for more details(statements like even JC played with 5 defenders r pretty deceptive) but havent got any reply from him..more details on the working of the dream team will be pretty interesting..

By: Tiju

Tiju — Mon, 11 May 2009 06:49:50 +0000

@stavrogin
I am baby in this blog but one thing i can say as like jan said because of his unique footballing brain and intelligence he would do that no dought.that is Great JC.thats why i want him to coach orange for this upcoming WC2010.i belive with this current crop of talents he will make it.i am damen sure about that.

By: Jan

Jan — Mon, 11 May 2009 05:22:50 +0000

Hi Stavrogin, any question on football with some connection to Brilliant Orange is welcomed in this space .

I don’t know the answer to your question, to put it bluntly.

What I do know, is that even with 5 defenders – or 7 defenders – in his team, JC would attack. He famously took a striker off when trailing 1-0 one day to bring a midfielder on. When his players (Marco van Basten) criticized him for it, he said: you can only win when you have the ball. We need to control the game, that’s why I brought another midfielder. JC won that game after the substitution.

So, it’s not about systems or the number of defenders, but it’s about what your intentions are. And JC’s have never been defensive.

Bear in mind too that JC always used a number of attacking players in his back line. Remember Rijkaard, Koeman, Guardiola and others? They all started their careers in midfield or even higher up the park.

By: stavrogin

stavrogin — Mon, 11 May 2009 05:02:55 +0000

hi jan,
i have a question for readers of this blog(not related to this post at all)..recently i read somewhere on soccernet that cruyff , during his time as coach of barca used 5 defenders when they played in bernabau. did he actually use defensive line of 5 players or used a holding midfielder(in 4-3-3)…it would be very surprising if he used 5 defenders, cos he absolutely always advocates 4-3-3 or 3-4-3 in all his interviews i have read or heard so far. really crazy question to ask cos its not really related to anything but i need to be sure cos my mates r now telling me how cruyff is a hypocrite who used defensive formations when in charge. so if anyone here knows anything bout this,it would be much appreciated..
thanks

By: Michel-Olivier

Michel-Olivier — Mon, 11 May 2009 02:47:54 +0000

highs:
az won the league
braafheid
berg
v.d.wiel
steve mcclaren
elia

disappointment/lows:
psv
ajax
marco
feyenoord(except wijnaldum, biseswar, and fer.)

next season:
ruud transfer to psv
ricky or berg to ajax
mcclaren sack
ajax champion
sparta relegated