Johan Cruijff RIP

[The Awesome Berbaslug!!!]

Johan Cruijff RIP

watching him play you got that same sense that you got from watching players like maradona, best, pele, or even eusebio, henry, either ronaldo, or Messi, that you are watching the future today. Cruyff looks like a modern player surrounded by lumpen pudgy sluggards. (which is kind of unfair on the players of the time, because it's not their fault that they are not from the future)

[anton pulisov]

Johan Cruijff RIP

I think I saw him play live once. The original players from the Ajax - Panathinaikos European Cup final regrouped in either 2002 or 2003 to play a friendly match.

[The Awesome Berbaslug!!!]

Johan Cruijff RIP

Satchmo Distel wrote: Football arguably progressed more in 1970-74 than in any other era (compare the two World Cups tactically) and Cruyff and Beckenbauer were the spearheads of that. Historically he's a key player, as well as for his genius skills and awareness.

That's as much to do with the weather as anything else. It's hard to play an amphetamine fuelled (legally) running game in 40 degree heat.

[Borracho]

Johan Cruijff RIP

Kryvbas Gripper Rih wrote: I was only seven but remember the shock that the mighty Brazil were out of the World Cup, beaten by Holland.

The main reason why Brazilian football grew increasingly more "European" and physical in following years (apart from 1982) was because of that defeat. The Netherlands not only played Brazil off the park but matched them physically as well. Some of the fouls in that game were horrific, from both sides.

The Dutch had a huge influence on South American football by doing what they did at that World Cup. They beat Uruguay, Argentina and Brazil by a combined score of 8-0, and seemed to have a few more gears in reserve to step up while they were doing it. The South American countries were left shellshocked by it all.

[Vicarious Thrillseeker]

Johan Cruijff RIP

The Red Max wrote: Aw shit, that's bad news.
I properly idolised Cruyff in my childhood years, the '74 World Cup was the first I paid attention to and he was magnificent.
My son never properly understood why he got the number 14 shirt to wear in the boys club team that I coached. He hated getting a "subs" number. Pah, what did he know!

Lest we forget the mans genius

P.S. Stay off the fags kids.

Excellent tribute. He was ace.

[Guy Profumo]

Johan Cruijff RIP

Yik.

That is bad news.

Rest in peace fellah.

[Nocturnal Submission]

Johan Cruijff RIP

I saw him play in what was possibly his last game for the national side, when the Netherlands played England at Wembley in 1977.

Cruijff was absolutely amazing*

* I've just had to check that he actually played.

[linus]

Johan Cruijff RIP

I also have fond memories from 1974.

He stopped smoking in 1991, but unfortunately his previous habit caught up with him a quarter century later, RIP.

[Flynnie]

Johan Cruijff RIP

He didn't just play, he dominated the game (which is on YouTube btw). Holland won 2-0, both scored by Jan Peters, but Cruijff was unplayable that night.

Can we just rundown the extraordinary changes he helped bring about again?

1) Turned the Netherlands from a footballing backwater into a powerhouse, and made Dutch football exceptionally popular worldwide.

2) Ditto, for Ajax.

3) Ditto ditto, for Barcelona.

4) Easily the best player who has ever been a great manager. Beckenbauer managed Germany to a World Cup, but I don't think anybody gives him the credit Cruijff is given for the Dream Team. he won a Cup Winner's Cup with Ajax as well, featuring a 17-year-old Dennis Bergkamp as a substitute.

5) That Puma kit deal. The whole two stripes business would be unthinkable today.

6) The fluidity of modern football is thanks to him. You've got your Hidegkutis, Michels and trapeizing South American dribblers, but the vast majority of football studiously ignored these changes. Johan and the 1974 team bought it in technicolour and *forced* football to change.

I'm sure there's more.

[anton pulisov]

Johan Cruijff RIP

My classic Johan Cruijff moment: Leo Beenhakker's Ajax are losing 3-2 at home to Twente in 1980 with 25 minutes to go. Mr. Ajax himself walks down from the stand and sits down on the bench next to Beenhakker.

The look on Beenhakker's face during the postmatch interveiw of the two is legendary.

[Geoffrey de Ste. Croix]

Johan Cruijff RIP

I was halfway through a meeting this afternoon that was cancelled as soon as news came through. It is of course completely dominating news here. It’s come as a bit of a shock as it was only recently that he had released a press statement saying the treatment was going well and that it was “2-0 at half time to him”.

My witterings on the Eredivisie thread have been very critical of him and the struggle at Ajax, but bona fide legends should be held up to higher scrutiny than us mere mortals. And that is what Cruijff was, a genius. Whether you agreed with him or not, he was utterly committed to a certain way of playing football, a way of playing (whether achievable or not) which most everyone would agree would the be purest, most beautiful form of the game. A way of playing indeed that only one player has ever achieved- Cruijff himself.

If any good can come of his death, it will be that the stories, the legends, the celebrations and the commemorations will pour out of the Netherlands in the coming weeks and he deserves every single one. His death overshadows the country today and will for some time. If he is not the most famous Dutchman in History, he is certainly the most famous Dutchman of the 20th Century.

Not many players can say they revolutionized the game- despite their unbelievable talent I would argue neither Pele, Maradona, Best nor De Stefano did. Cruijff did. And of course he was also one of the greatest referees ever. Any clip of Cruijff not being outrageously brilliant on the ball or slicing through defences has him standing over a referee pointing out exactly what the referee should be doing.

My favourite ever footballing youtube clip is not Cruijff’s Ajax, Barcelona or his Oranje days, but his season at Feyenoord. To watch a 36-year-old heavy smoker, who had been playing top-level football for near 20 years through the kicking fields of the 1960’s and 1970’s doing what he does in his final playing season is utterly extraordinary. The fact the clip I have attached is his season at Feyenoord would absolutely appeal to his absolute dedication to being contrary.

RIP Johan Cruijff.

[Geoffrey de Ste. Croix]

Johan Cruijff RIP

antoine polus wrote: He was probably lecturing the doctors on how to do their job right up until the very end.

Ha ha, you just know that to be true.

[jason voorhees]

Johan Cruijff RIP

I'm happy I found out about it here.

Like so much of art (Pacino/Scorcese/DeNiro films of the 1970s,) the greatest game ever played was 1974 Holland-West Germany.

His vision of the game won.

Two days ago, I was speaking to a basketball coach. When I was demonstrating dribbling skills I'd use as a coach, it's always a Cruyff turn.

Thank you, however you spell your last name.

[Flynnie]

Johan Cruijff RIP

Geoffrey de Ste. Croix wrote: I was halfway through a meeting this afternoon that was cancelled as soon as news came through. It is of course completely dominating news here. It’s come as a bit of a shock as it was only recently that he had released a press statement saying the treatment was going well and that it was “2-0 at half time to him”.

My witterings on the Eredivisie thread have been very critical of him and the struggle at Ajax, but bona fide legends should be held up to higher scrutiny than us mere mortals. And that is what Cruijff was, a genius. Whether you agreed with him or not, he was utterly committed to a certain way of playing football, a way of playing (whether achievable or not) which most everyone would agree would the be purest, most beautiful form of the game. A way of playing indeed that only one player has ever achieved- Cruijff himself.

If any good can come of his death, it will be that the stories, the legends, the celebrations and the commemorations will pour out of the Netherlands in the coming weeks and he deserves every single one. His death overshadows the country today and will for some time. If he is not the most famous Dutchman in History, he is certainly the most famous Dutchman of the 20th Century.

Not many players can say they revolutionized the game- despite their unbelievable talent I would argue neither Pele, Maradona, Best nor De Stefano did. Cruijff did. And of course he was also one of the greatest referees ever. Any clip of Cruijff not being outrageously brilliant on the ball or slicing through defences has him standing over a referee pointing out exactly what the referee should be doing.

My favourite ever footballing youtube clip is not Cruijff’s Ajax, Barcelona or his Oranje days, but his season at Feyenoord. To watch a 36-year-old heavy smoker, who had been playing top-level football for near 20 years through the kicking fields of the 1960’s and 1970’s doing what he does in his final playing season is utterly extraordinary. The fact the clip I have attached is his season at Feyenoord would absolutely appeal to his absolute dedication to being contrary.

RIP Johan Cruijff.

Whatever you say about him as an administrator, he was the primary reason why Ajax had any grace to fall from in the first place. I know AP doesn't always agree with the narrative of little Ajax rising to the top, pointing out they were perfectly capable of buying some top players when they wanted to, but Ajax was nobody in footballing terms before Cruijff. There's a reason the de Meer was so modest compared to the Bernabeu, or the Camp Nou, or Old Trafford, etc.

[EIM]

Johan Cruijff RIP

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CeUIE0bWEAAKA1I.jpg

Shameless.

[Borracho]

Johan Cruijff RIP

The great Diego has had his say: "Nunca te olvidaremos, Flaco." (We'll never forget you, Skinny One.)

[Nocturnal Submission]

Johan Cruijff RIP

Flynnie wrote: He didn't just play, he dominated the game (which is on YouTube btw). Holland won 2-0, both scored by Jan Peters, but Cruijff was unplayable that night.

Can we just rundown the extraordinary changes he helped bring about again?

1) Turned the Netherlands from a footballing backwater into a powerhouse, and made Dutch football exceptionally popular worldwide.

2) Ditto, for Ajax.

3) Ditto ditto, for Barcelona.

4) Easily the best player who has ever been a great manager. Beckenbauer managed Germany to a World Cup, but I don't think anybody gives him the credit Cruijff is given for the Dream Team. he won a Cup Winner's Cup with Ajax as well, featuring a 17-year-old Dennis Bergkamp as a substitute.

5) That Puma kit deal. The whole two stripes business would be unthinkable today.

6) The fluidity of modern football is thanks to him. You've got your Hidegkutis, Michels and trapeizing South American dribblers, but the vast majority of football studiously ignored these changes. Johan and the 1974 team bought it in technicolour and *forced* football to change.

I'm sure there's more.

Indeed. I really wish I remembered more than just the Peters goals and chanting "What A Load Of Rubbish" in the direction of the England team at the final whistle, as one occasionally did back then.

[Geoffrey de Ste. Croix]

Johan Cruijff RIP

EIM wrote: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CeUIE0bWEAAKA1I.jpg

Shameless.

I mean.Seriously.Seriously?

[ursus arctos]

Johan Cruijff RIP

[Flynnie]

Johan Cruijff RIP

"It's nooooooot about youuuuuu."

If Liverpool had class, they would mention that losing to Ajax 5-1 in the Fog Match was the first time anybody outside of the Netherlands had ever noticed a Dutch team doing something in Europe.

Cruijff, at 19, scored a goal in that game.

[Borracho]

Johan Cruijff RIP

Shankly's typical reaction to the 5-1 defeat was: "Ah, they're a defensive side. We'll murder them at Anfield!" The second leg finished 2-2.

[Borracho]

Johan Cruijff RIP

I'd imagine that most Liverpool fans are terribly embarrassed by that self-absorbed pile of shit mentioned above.

[Kevin S]

Johan Cruijff RIP

Oh, I'd assumed EIM was linking to something a fan had done. But no, that's actually on Liverpool's official twitter.

[Kevin S]

Johan Cruijff RIP

This. Liverpool's initial reaction to the death of Johann Cruijff was to say how awesome Cruijff thought Liverpool fans are.

[Flynnie]

Johan Cruijff RIP

Borracho wrote: Shankly's typical reaction to the 5-1 defeat was: "Ah, they're a defensive side. We'll murder them at Anfield!" The second leg finished 2-2.

Guess who scored both goals?