JOHAN CRUYFF- The Player
Johan Cruyff is without question one of the most influential figures in the history of football. His pedigree as a player, including three consecutive European Cups, winning with the great Ajax team of the 1970s and a World Cup final with the Netherlands in 1974, is enough to guarantee this. But his work as a coach, characterized by an unwavering commitment to an attacking and attractive style of play, enhances his legacy even more. But that’s a topic for later discussions. In this thread, we will be deep diving into Cruyff-The player and keeping the World Cup 1974 as our reference point, we’ll re-discover this legend of the game.
Introduction to “Total Football”
It is impossible to talk about Cruyff — the player, without talking about Rinus Michels — the coach. Rinus Michels was the first one to introduce the concept of “Total Football” in front of the whole world. In essence, this tactic allows any outfield player to take over the role of his teammates. This unique philosophy was ground-breaking for its time, and no player has ever embodied it better than Johan Cruyff. Though nominally a centre-forward, Cruyff was everywhere on the pitch, switching to different roles whenever his team needed it. Of course, Total Football quickly proved to be a complete success. During his nine seasons at the club, Cruyff led Ajax to six Eredivisie titles, four KNVB Cups, and three European Cups. In the process, he played 240 games and scored 190 goals. For his achievements, he was awarded the Ballon d’Or twice, in 1971 and 1973.
Road to Germany
After dramatically failing to qualify for the 1972 European Championships, František Fadrhonc appointed Johan Cruyff as the captain of the Dutch national team. And had it not been for Cruyff, the Netherlands might not have even qualified for the 1974 World Cup in West Germany. Cruyff scored a joint-high seven goals in the UEFA qualifiers leading to the finals, which helped the Netherlands narrowly hold off Belgium on goal difference and qualify for their first major tournament since 1938.
After the qualification campaign, Rinus Michels — Cruyff’s manager at Ajax until 1971 and at Barcelona in 1973–74, took over Fadrhonc’s duties to prepare a talented generation of players for the finals.
The Dutch World Cup squad was just about perfectly balanced, from 22-year-old youngsters Johan Neeskens and Johnny Rep to the more experienced Rob Rensenbrink, Wim Suurbier, and Willem van Hanegem. With the majority of the squad having won at least one European Cup with Feyenoord (1970) or Ajax (1971, ’72, ’73) in the years leading up to 1974 and with the 27-year-old Cruyff as their orchestrator, the Netherlands were certainly considered contenders for the upcoming World Cup tournament. And things started well.
World Cup 1974
On the first matchday of the tournament, the Netherlands recorded a routine 2–0 victory over Uruguay. It was a game in which the Dutchmen fired 25 shots while facing only one, and in which Johan Cruyff dictated the pace by recording 107 touches, at least 23 more than any other player in the game. This tally included 16 touches in the Uruguayan goal area, a tally of touches in the opposition box that has since been topped by just one player in a match in the 11 World Cups.
Sweden awaited on the second matchday, a game that made Jan Olsson famously become the victim of Cruyff’s later-to-be signature move. The Netherlands’s star fooled Olsson, turned him inside-out and the ‘Cruyff Turn’ was born. Although the turn wasn’t followed by a shot, it was one of the 12 times Cruyff successfully dribbled past a Swedish opponent on the day. Only two players have managed to complete more take-on in a World Cup match since showing just how elusive Cruyff was in the game.
Sweden may have stopped the Netherlands from scoring (0–0), but they secured their progress in the third game against Bulgaria. Cruyff was magnificent — again — by making the final pass leading to 11 of the Netherlands’ 23 non-penalty shots in the match. No other player has managed to create 11 goalscoring chances in a World Cup game since 1974, and Cruyff also won a penalty in the match against the Bulgarians. The captain assisted the Netherlands’ final goal against Bulgaria (4–1) as the Dutch won their group. Although Cruyff had thus far been involved in just one goal, the Dutch captain was leading the tournament charts for created chances (22), completed take-on (25), touches in the opposition box (36), and passes into the opposition box (50). His talent was certainly shining through.
Keeping these figures in mind, it was hardly a surprise that Cruyff scored three goals and assisted two more in the games against Argentina (4–0) and Brazil (2–0). Between those victories, the Dutch team faced two obstacles in East Germany (2–0 win) and a late-night dive in the Wald’s Hotel swimming pool, but Cruyff’s abilities to set everything to his hand brought the Netherlands to their first World Cup final.
Besides scoring and assisting goals, Cruyff’s value for the Dutch Total Football was expressed in his high tally of progressive ball carries — the number of times he moved the ball at least five meters upfield. The captain had the most progressive carries per 90 minutes at the 1974 World Cup (19.7), the most famous of which was the dribble leading up to the first penalty in the final, where opponents’ West Germany didn’t record a single touch of the ball until fouling the Dutch talisman.
July 7, 1974, World Cup final was 45 seconds old when Cruyff was fouled by Uli Hoeneß after the forward drove with the ball from near the halfway line into the box. Johan Neeskens’ third penalty goal of the tournament — 86 seconds after kick-off — is still the fastest goal in a men’s World Cup final.
Having scored three goals and assisted three more, plus his penalties won against Bulgaria and West Germany, Cruyff had direct involvement in eight of the 15 Dutch goals to that point. However, in the remaining 88 minutes of the final, the Germans managed to hold off the Dutch star, allowing him to register just two key passes without firing a single shot — both tournament lows for Cruyff.
West Germany had already turned the match in their favor before half-time, thanks to a penalty from Paul Breitner in the 26th minute and a 43rd-minute strike from Der Bomber Gerd Müller. The second half didn’t bring the Netherlands and Cruyff what some thought they deserved as arguably one of the best international teams ever. And so, it follows they’re widely regarded as one of the best sides to not win the World Cup.
Cruyff was still awarded the Golden Ball for his performance in the finals.
Cruyff created 36 chances for his teammates during the 1974 World Cup or an average of 5.1 per 90 minutes. It’s an average that hasn’t been matched by any other legendary players at their best, including Pelé (4.7 in 1970), Diego Maradona (3.9 in 1986), and Xavi (4.3 in 2010). A dozen of the goal-scoring chances he created came following a ball carry, which was twice that of any other player in the tournament.
Legend — Johan
The legendary performances of Cruyff in 1974 saw the Netherlands rise to the top world of football. Layer on top of his legend the much-adored Total Football Philosophy, and the memories of the second-place side in Germany will always remain a part of World Cup history.
After ending his playing career, Cruyff proved himself as a capable manager. Ajax and Barcelona still maintain his football philosophy, and the list of players and managers directly or indirectly influenced by him is too long to count. Not many would argue that Cruyff’s legacy, both on the field and off it, makes him one of the most important men in the history of football.
On 24 March 2016 came the sad news that Johan Cruyff had died, 68 years old. The beloved footballer died after being diagnosed with lung cancer in 1991.
Gracias Johan!
A short video summarising Johan’s 1974 world cup by FIFA.
