Johan Cruyff on Ajax and Real Madrid

September 3rd, 2007 | by: Jan | Comments Off

Johan Cruyff in his column for the Telegraaf. The former Best Player of the World was disappointed with the way Ajax was ousted out of the CL this season.

“The way Ajax lost last season against Kopenhagen was because the team didn’t seem to have the confidence and calm to outsmart this lesser opponent. They were too hasty and wanted to force a victory. I expected the team and the club would have learned from that. But they made the same mistakes against Slavia Prague.”

The former Ajax and Barcelona coach also criticized the lack of building up from the back.
“The building up is a disaster with the average defender. They always look only one line forward, instead of two. If the defender passes into midfield, the midfielder has his back to the opponents goal and will have to turn and look to move forward. This takes too much time in modern football. The ball needs to go to the strikers, so they can bounce the ball back to a midfielder who then will be facing the opponents goal and who can immediately attack.”
“It’s a simple rule in football: the third man determines what you can or can’t do. But we seem to forget to teach our youngster this. And this is a dangerous situation. We now have two generations defenders (Mathijsen/Ooijer/Bouma vs Vlaar/Boula/Jaliens/Heijtinga) who do not have that skill. Our youth coaches need a long look in the mirror.”

The Spanish competition has started and Holland has never been so cash-rich due to the ridiculous money-spending. Real Madrid kicked Capello out after a successful season and ruthlessly changed the team. Changing things after successes because the quality of play is below par is something I like and respect. You need guts to do that. And if you get three new Dutch players to help build on that, that’s even more fun to follow.
And although Dutch clubs lack success in the CL, our players are popular. Partly because Dutch players adapt easily to other circumstances and cultures, but also because they like our way of playing football. Still, if Real prepared better they could’ve shopped in Holland with 30% less expenditures. Bu then again, the football world lost the plot a bit. Chelsea is happy to pay 35 Mio Euros for Sevilla’s Alves. A full back!
And even more surprising: Sevilla said no!! I don’t get that. If you can sell a defender for such an amount, than it’s only important that the guy doesn’t miss his plane!

Barcelona also invested a lot. But wisely. Thierry Henry’s signing is world class. Apart from his football skill, he is also a cosmopolitan football icon, with the charisma of a Tiger Woods or Air Jordan. People question his signing, because Barca already has Messi, Ronaldinho and Eto’o, but don’t forget: two of those boys played in the Copa Americana last summer. And if you look at the program, Barca only has two Wednesdays off. So, a bit of reinforcement was needed.
And, two young strikers joined the group. The 18 year old Dos Santos from Mexico and the 17 year old Catalan talent Bojan. Barca now has six great strikers, so lots of opportunities to play spectacular football and make money in the next years with one or two players.

All good, but the signings of Drenthe, Sneijder and Robben will grab the most attention in Holland. Against Atletico both Drenthe and Sneijder impressed, but mainly because there was space for them to work in. If Real is put on the spot and not allowed that much space and time, they’ll be vulnerable.

If Real can make the play, we will see spectaculair football, but they will have to be cautious against pure counter-football opponents. Anyway, the Primera Division has become even more interesting and we’ll see another exciting competition with Barca, Real, Sevilla and Valencia as the faves, maybe with Atletico Madrid as dark horse.