Johan Cruyff
technique juggle circus pass touch speed foot team mate
"Technique is not being able to juggle a ball 1000 times. Anyone can do that by practicing. Then you can work in the circus. Technique is passing the ball with one touch, with the right speed, at the right foot of your team mate."
— Johan Cruyff (1947-2016)
ball field big small possible
"If you have the ball, you must make the field as big as possible, and if you don't have the ball, you must make it as small as possible."
— Johan Cruyff (1947-2016)
moment arrive in time early late
"There’s only one moment in which you can arrive in time. If you’re not there, you’re either too early or too late."
— Johan Cruyff (1947-2016)
talent reject computer statistics quality technique vision
"I find it terrible when talents are rejected based on computer stats. Based on the criteria at Ajax now I would have been rejected. When I was 15, I couldn't kick a ball 15 meters with my left and maybe 20 with my right. My qualities technique and vision, are not detectable by a computer."
— Johan Cruyff (1947-2016)
playing football simple hard
"Playing football is very simple, but playing simple football is the hardest thing there is."
— Johan Cruyff (1947-2016)
trainer football movement run game brainright place moment
"Every trainer talks about movement, about running a lot. I say don't run so much. Football is a game you play with your brain. You have to be in the right place at the right moment, not too early, not too late."
— Johan Cruyff (1947-2016)
football play posession defend one ball
"If you play on possession, you don't have to defend, because there's only one ball"
— Johan Cruyff (1947-2016)
quality results boring meaningless
"You need both quality and results. results without quality is boring; quality without results is meaningless."
— Johan Cruyff (1947-2016)
football game mistake fewest win
"Football is a game of mistakes. Whoever makes the fewest mistakes wins."
— Johan Cruyff (1947-2016)
forward one vs one two vs two
"If my forward arrives in a one vs one situation, I always say: 'let him work it out.' Then my players say: But we can help him!'. My reply is: First, there's a good chance you'll only run in his way, and as a second attacker you're drawing a second defender with you, and two vs two is harder than one vs one.'"
— Johan Cruyff (1947-2016)
beat richer club bag of money score goal
"Why couldn't you beat a richer club? I've never seen a bag of money score a goal."
— Johan Cruyff (1947-2016)
shoot score
"You have got to shoot, otherwise you can't score."
— Johan Cruyff (1947-2016)
best player position 11 strong 1
"Choose the best player for every position, and you'll end up not with a strong XI, but with 11 strong 1's."
— Johan Cruyff (1947-2016)
small space player act quickly poor
"In small space a player has to be capable of acting quickly. A good player who needs too much time can suddenly become a poor player."
— Johan Cruyff (1947-2016)
playing against 10 11
"Playing against 10 is harder than playing against 11 players. You know why? The team with 11 will think 'ok, we can take it easy now', while the team with 10 will think 'We really have to work hard now.'"
— Johan Cruyff (1947-2016)
can't win don't lose
"If you can't win, make sure you don't lose."
— Johan Cruyff (1947-2016)
speed insight start earlier appear faster
"Speed is often confused with insight. When I start running earlier than the others, I appear faster."
— Johan Cruyff (1947-2016)
player shoot laces inside outside both feet
"Players today can only shoot with their laces. I could shoot with the inside, laces, and outside of both feet. In other words, I was six times better than today's players."
— Johan Cruyff (1947-2016)
play quicker run faster ball decide speed game
"If you want to play quicker you can start running faster, but it's the ball that decides the speed of the game."
— Johan Cruyff (1947-2016)
without ball win football game
"Without the ball, you can't win."
— Johan Cruyff (1947-2016)
italy beat lose
"Italy cannot beat you but you can lose to Italy."
— Johan Cruyff (1947-2016)
world football messi treasure role model children kids
"For the world of football, Messi is a treasure because he is role model for children around the world."
— Johan Cruyff (1947-2016)
quality result pointless boring
"Quality without results is pointless. Results without quality is boring."
— Johan Cruyff (1947-2016)
fottball shoot score goal
"You have to shoot. … otherwise you can't score."
— Johan Cruyff (1947-2016)
football one ball posession
"There is only one ball … so you need to have it."
— Johan Cruyff (1947-2016)
football simple hardest difficult
"Playing football is very simple, but playing simple football is the hardest thing there is."
— Johan Cruyff (1947-2016)
ball without win
"Without the ball, you can't win."
— Johan Cruyff (1947-2016)
football play quick run fast ball determines speed of game
"If you want to play quicker you can start running faster, but it's the ball that decides the speed of the game."
— Johan Cruyff (1947-2016)