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On the anniversary of his death, we take a look at the coaches who have contributed to keeping Johan Cruyff’s vision at the forefront of football.
Few people have had such a lasting impact on what we believe constitutes beautiful football as Johan Cruyff.
As a playmaking forward for the great Ajax and Netherlands teams of the 1970s, Cruyff exuded inimitable style as he bent games at will and thrilled the world with his eponymous twist.
An icon of his time and possibly the best European footballer to ever play this sportCruyff’s impact as a coach was somehow even more profound.
The irresistible approach of his Barcelona “Dream Team” in the early 1990s brought a first European trophy to the Camp Nou alongside four consecutive LaLiga titles. It is a legacy that sets the tone for the Catalan giants to this day
Beyond that, he connected a generation of fans to the frictionless wonder of Barca’s positional play, not to mention a host of tacticians whose actions continued to polish his considerable reputation.
On the fifth anniversary of his death, we look at five of Cruyff’s most notable disciples.
FRANK RIJKAARD
“He’s like the godfather of Dutch football,” Frank Rijkaard said of the man who coached him at Ajax in the mid-1980s before his tactical reputation became firmly established in Barcelona, while Cruyff’s great mentor Rinus Michels also coached Rijkaard with the national team.
Although Rijkaard was not associated with Cruyff’s more famous team, he followed in the footsteps of his former boss by taking over as Barcelona coach after a relatively inactive period in 2003.
The arrival of Ronaldinho revitalized the ailing Blaugrana and Rijkaard enjoyed the fruits of the best generation of La Masia, as Lionel Messi, Andrés Iniesta and Xavi came to the fore.
Back-to-back LaLiga titles and the 2005-06 Champions League were the highlights of a 273-game reign. Only Cruyff (421) has led Barça more frequently in all competitions.
PEP GUARDIOLA
After the Rijkaard era came to a lumpy end, Barça turned to the man who has done more than anyone else to keep Cruyff’s vision at the forefront of world football.
“Cruyff painted the chapel, and Barcelona coaches since then have limited themselves to restoring and improving it,” said Pep Guardiola, whose restoration shone beyond all reasonable expectations.
Barça won three consecutive LaLiga crowns and two Champions League titles, the first as part of a 2008-09 treble.
Unlike Cruyff, who never returned to training after leaving Barça, and Rijkaard, who perhaps should have done the same and not endured disappointing periods with Galatasaray and Saudi Arabia, Guardiola spread the gospel everywhere.
His Bayern Munich won three of the three Bundesligas, while Manchester City have set a record 100-point margin in the Premier League and are closing in on the third top flight title from Guardiola’s trophy-laden tenure.
ERNESTO VALVERDE
One of Guardiola’s legacies after leaving Barcelona was that potential successors would have a better chance of landing the job if they had a link to Cruyff, La Masia, or both. Luis Enrique followed Guardiola’s path from Barça B to the first team and even emulated the treble.
As a substitute striker at the Camp Nou between 1988 and 1990, Valverde was an inconspicuous member of Cruyff who set about building an empire – a description that could also apply to a solid coaching career, as he earned respect during stints. in charge of Espanyol. Olympiacos and Athletic de Bilbao.
His association with Cruyff, as well as those efforts on the bench, was a factor in his being appointed to replace Luis Enrique in 2017.
Despite inheriting the saga of Neymar’s departure and an increasingly confusing sports policy, Valverde won consecutive LaLiga titles and led a record streak of 43 unbeaten matches in LaLiga between April 2017 and May 2018 that began with his predecessor. .
RONALD KOEMAN
The ensuing disaster under Quique Setien, culminating in a chaotic 8-2 loss to Bayern Munich in the quarterfinals of last year’s Champions League, spoke well for Valverde’s tight attitude. After that failed experiment, Barça became a familiar type again.
Ronald Koeman became the club’s fifth Dutch coach after Michels, Cruyff, Louis van Gaal and Rijkaard.
Despite surpassing Mauricio Pochettino’s winning percentage at Southampton by 47.4 to 35.2, Koeman’s work in the Premier League had no other elite clubs knocking on his door, let alone his spell on Valencia.
His first season in the position he longed for has not been without considerable turbulence, but a recent change to a 3-4-3 cruyffian in particular (hello, Frenkie de Jong in the middle of the bottom three!) And the apparent endorsement of The newly elected President Joan Laporta suggests that brighter days are ahead.
JULEN LOPETEGUI
Even less prominent than Valverde as a Cruyff player, Julen Lopetegui was Barcelona’s substitute goalkeeper from 1994 to 1997. But again, he left an unbreakable impression.
“As soon as I had the first training session with Johan, I thought ‘this is different from all the other coaches’, it was brilliant,” he told BBC Sport in 2019.
“He planted the seed for other coaches to take his ideas and develop them. He was one step ahead of the rest.”
The same cannot be said for Lopetegui, as he emerged from two dream jobs with Spain and Real Madrid in the space of a six-month nightmare, but a cathartic Europa League win with Sevilla last season showed a coach impressively rebuilding his reputation.
Among the coaches who have managed at least 40 Sevilla matches in LaLiga, none can surpass Lopetegui’s 54.5 percent victories.
Source: m.allfootballapp.com
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