Based on an idea first propounded by the Austrian Willy Meisel

Johan Cruyff

buy canada goose jacket cheap Johan Cruyff, whohas died of cancer aged 68, was the most complete footballer canada goose clearance sale of canada goose clearance his generation and one of the few great players to be equally successful as a manager. buy canada goose jacket cheap

Cruyff dominated football during the 1970s, becoming the first player to win the title of European Footballer of the Year three times and inspiring the Dutch team of which he was captain to the heights of “Total Football”.

The side’s finest moment came against Germany in the World Cup final of 1974. From the kick off, the Dutch strung together 16 passes before finding the deep lying Cruyff. He set off on a swerving run, his lissom frame gathering pace until he burst into the box past a startled Berti Vogts, the German defender, whose late tackle brought Cruyff to the ground. Johan Neeskens canada goose uk black friday converted the resulting penalty, and the hosts were a goal down without having touched the ball.

It was the most sensational start to a World Cup Final, and soon exposed the flaw in the temperament of both Cruyff and his side arrogance. It rarely counted against the Dutch maestro during the rest of Canada Goose Coats On Sale his playing career, but on this occasion it was fatal; his team thought the game would be easy, so letting the less skilful but energetic Germans score twice and win the match.

Cruyff, as happened when things went against him, became argumentative and was booked in the tunnel at half time. His complex personality and penchant for footballing politics denied him the chance ever to grace another World Cup.

Canada Goose online Hendrik Johannes Cruijff was born in Amsterdam on April 25 1947. Canada Goose Outlet His father was a buy canada goose jacket cheap grocer, and the family lived across the street from Ajax’s stadium. His mother worked as a cleaner at the club’s offices, and it was she Canada Goose sale who persuaded the staff to sign her son to the youth team at the age of 12. Young Johan’s potential was encouraged by Ajax’s English coach, Vic Buckingham, and it was he who gave Cruyff his senior debut at 17; he scored in his first match. Canada Goose online

canadian goose jacket Buckingham was soon replaced by the sterner Rinus Michels, in partnership with whom Cruyff evolved the style of play that became known as Total Football. Based on an idea first propounded by the Austrian Willy Meisel canada goose coats 15 years earlier, Total Football broke with the idea of rigid team formations and demanded of each player that he be equally adept in every outfield position. canadian goose jacket

This bred a most attractive and fluid style of game, with players able to take turns in sustaining the momentum of near continuous attack.

Canada Goose Parka While Cruyff was nominally a centre forward, he would invariably appear at the apex of each attack, his coltish pace carrying him down the wing, his nimble feet controlling the midfield; in the days before squad numbers, Cruyff’s choice of the No 14 for the back of his shirt was symbolic confirmation that on the field he would not be confined to one position. Canada Goose Parka

cheap Canada Goose Between 1964 and 1973 Cruyff played 215 league games for Ajax and won six league championships and four domestic cups. Ajax also won three consecutive European Cups the https://www.canadagoose-jackets-online.com first team to do so since the Real Madrid of Di Stefano and Puskas; the latter was the coach of Panathanaikos when they were beaten by Ajax in the final in 1971. cheap Canada Goose

The next year Cruyff scored both Canada Goose Online goals to defeat Inter Milan, and in 1973 completed a hat trick of wins with victory over Juventus, a game that for many observers contained the finest ever passage of football by a club side a 20 minute spell of total domination by Ajax that was inspired by Cruyff.

buy canada goose jacket Cruyff’s principal attributes which, unusually for a great uk canada goose outlet footballer, he put at the service of his team were speed of thought, vision and buy canada goose jacket acceleration. He was a wonderful player of long passes and noted for the pace at which he drove into the box, often winning penalties, as in the 1974 world cup final. He married cheek and skill, exemplified in the manoeuvre that bears his name, the “Cruyff turn”, canada goose factory sale a combined inverted cheap Canada Goose drag back of the ball and reverse of direction that could twist a defender inside out. buy canada goose jacket

canada goose clearance sale He knew his value too, and his aloof manner made canada goose uk outlet him unpopular in the Ajax and Dutch dressing canada goose coats on sale rooms, as well as with his sponsors. Contracted to wear one brand of boots, he renounced them when he decided that they hurt his feet, incurring stiff financial penalties for each time he played without them; undeterred, he did so 98 times. canada goose clearance sale

Canada Goose Jackets In 1973 Cruyff moved to Barcelona for 922,000, a canadian goose jacket sum that doubled the previous world record canada goose uk shop for a player; money was always important to Cruyff, and he collected 400,000 himself for the deal. Cruyff had threatened to retire unless Ajax sold him, and the transfer was completed after the Canada Goose Parka Spanish Federations’ deadline; as ever, the rules were bent to accommodate Cruyff’s talent. Canada Goose Jackets

canada goose clearance His fee was quickly justified. When he arrived at Barcelona the club was in the relegation zone; within six months Cruyff had taken them to a league championship that included a 5 0 away win of Real. His status as the greatest player of his era was confirmed in 1974 by his third award in four years as European Footballer of the Year. canada goose clearance

canada goose store Yet Cruyff won only one more trophy with Barcelona, a domestic cup, and when he left the Nou Camp in 1978, having retired the previous year from the Dutch team after a spat with the manager and after making only 48 appearances, his career seemed destined for an embarrassing end. canada goose store

He refused to play in the 1978 World Cup and, having been fleeced of much of his savings by business partners, began to drift around the infant cheap canada goose uk American League, playing for the Washington Diplomats. He then tried to hire himself as a footballing mercenary to clubs on a weekly basis for half the gate receipts, even contemplating an offer from Robert Maxwell’s Derby.

canada goose black friday sale He was rescued by Ajax in 1982 and repaid them by winning two league titles before, in typically chimerical fashion, deciding that the club could not afford him and joining their arch rivals Feyenoord. There he took a young side, including Ruud Gullit, to the Dutch title and was paid a pound for each spectator above the average canada goose outlet gate who was drawn to the ground; at the age of 37, Cruyff played some of the most sublime football of his career. canada goose black friday sale

canada goose coats on sale In 1986 Cruyff returned to Ajax as manager. He again proved his value as an inspiration to young players, bringing through the talents of Marco van Basten, Frank Rijkaard and Dennis Bergkamp and winning the European Cup winners Cup. But his demands once more proved too much canada goose black friday sale for the club, and after a quarrel with the directors, he left for Barcelona in 1988. canada goose coats on sale

He remained at the Catalonian club for nine years, becoming their longest serving manager. Cruyff took the club to four successive Spanish titles, the European Cup Winners Cup and, in 1992, their first European Cup, beating Sampdoria at Wembley.

canada goose deals The team cultivated a free wheeling style, using the full width of the pitch to tire and then dismantle opposing defences, uk canada goose while Barcelona’s defence was based as canada goose much on passing as tackling, forcing opposing forwards into positions that denied them space to attack and left room behind them that could be exploited; the Dutch team had used the same system in 1974. canada goose deals

Canada Goose sale The proud and mercurial Cruyff’s managerial career was not without incident. He refused to sit for his coaching exams in Holland and at Barcelona discipline players who did not conform to his playing instructions, notably Gary Lineker, whom he insisted on playing on the right wing, not his natural position. Canada Goose sale

canada goose Cruyff’s determination was never better evidenced than when he returned to watch his team play a tense European semi final only a month after having had heart bypass surgery in 1991. Having lost the opportunity to coach the Dutch side after a squabble, he left canada goose store Barcelona in 1996, after his side had lost the European Cup Final 4 0 to Milan. canada goose

canada goose coats Cruyff was unusual in his ability Canada Goose online both to play international football and smoke upwards of 40 cigarettes a day. He gave up the habit after his heart surgery, and agreed to take part in an anti smoking television commercial. canada goose coats

Canada Goose Outlet As the director was explaining that trick photography would be used to Canada Goose Jackets make it seem like Cruyff was juggling a cigarette packet, the finest player of his era began nonchalantly to flick a packet around with his feet, thighs and shoulders, before volleying it into a bin Canada Goose Outlet.

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