JC: Van Basten should go to Barcelona!

If Frank Rijkaard leaves Barca at the end of the season, Johan Cruyff knows the perfect replacement: Marco van Basten. The current Oranje manager is already negotiating with Ajax, however.

“Van Basten is a passionate fan of the game, like Rijkaard is. He is able to combine quality with results,” Cruyff said for the Spanish TV3. “Van Basten has played with all the greats and it won’t be a problem for him to work with the Barca selection.”

Cruyff doesn’t think Rijkaard has reached his use-by-date. “Rijkaard has achieved amazing things with Barcelona and everybody loves the club again. Barca is an institute again and that is a big step up compared to some years back.” Cruyff also remarked on two of Barca’s biggest names, Ronaldinho and Messi.

“I respect Ronaldinho a lot. He is an awesome player, but I have talked to him about his weaknesses. He sometimes takes the pace out of the play and his team mates can’t function at their best if he does that.”

Johan also thinks Messi gets too much positive attention. “When you play a couple of great games you’re not suddenly the best of the world. No player has matured at 20 years old. He needs to grow, as a player and as a person. And it’s important the right people coach him in that respect in the right manner.”