Quotes & Sayings About Cruyff

Coincidence is logical. — Johan Cruyff

Johan Cruyff was the first player who understood that he was an artist, and the first who was able and willing to collectivise the art of sports. — David Winner

My foundation now has some 120 football pitches laid out for children, a lot of them immigrants. We live in a multicultural society. — Johan Cruyff

The disabled people that do sport, they don't think about what they don't have but try to get better with what they do have. That is the same for me. — Johan Cruyff

Speed is often confused with insight. When I start running earlier than the others, I appear faster. — Johan Cruyff

Sometimes something's got to happen before something is going to happen. — Johan Cruyff

Soccer is simple, but it is difficult to play simple. — Johan Cruyff

Footballers from the street are more important than trained coaches. — Johan Cruyff

And then there was Johan Cruyff, who at 35 has added a whole new meaning to the word Anno Domini. — Archie Macpherson

Football is about having the best offensive play possible. I always like to play offensive football, and nobody will convince me otherwise. — Johan Cruyff

I don't want to be a thief of my own wallet. — Johan Cruyff

Ajax is a multicultural club, and we have found that many talented immigrant players quit when they reach puberty. So we wanted to tackle this problem with someone from the same background who had come through it. And that was Edgar Davids. During one of our fights, I pointed that out to him. But it had nothing to do with his skin colour. — Johan Cruyff

The ultimate space-measurer in Dutch football is of course, Johan Cruyff. He was only seventeen when he first played at Ajax, yet even then he delivered running commentaries on the use of space to the rest of the team, telling them where to run, where not to run. Players did what the tiny, skinny teenager told them to do because he was right. Cruyff didn't talk about abstract space but about specific, detailed spatial relations on the field. Indeed, the most abiding image of him as a player is not of him scoring or running or tackling. It is of Cruyff pointing. 'No, not there, back a little... forward two metres... four metres more to the left.' He seemed like a conductor directing a symphony orchestra. It was as if Cruyff was helping his colleagues to realize an approximate rendering on the field to match the sublime vision in his mind of how the space ought to be ordered. — David Winner

You have got to shoot, otherwise you can't score. — Johan Cruyff

Football is a game of mistakes. Whoever makes the fewest mistakes wins. — Johan Cruyff

One trophy is good, but two are better. That way, when a hero wears his medals on his chest, at least his steps are level as he walks by. — Johan Cruyff

I have played against (Michel) Platini, (Diego) Maradona, (Johan) Cruyff and played with George Best - a lot of big names, but none of them has been able to do what Messi does. Two years ago I said that the best player I played against was Maradona and the best player I have played with was Bestie. But I can now say I have never seen a player as good as Messi. He's in a league of his own. — John Terry

Every disadvantage has its advantage. — Johan Cruyff

If I wanted you to understand, I would explain it better. — Johan Cruyff

When I was a teenager, my idol was the Dutch footballer Johan Cruyff. He's the only person I've ever asked for an autograph. — Ferran Adria

My idol was Johann Cruyff (a Dutch soccer player) and I wanted to be like him. But when I realized that I would never be, I decided to do something else. I met the kitchen by chance and quickly became completely enamoured by it. — Ferran Adria

I'm not religious. In Spain all 22 players make the sign of the cross before they enter the pitch. If it works all matches must therefore end in a draw. — Johan Cruyff

Without the ball, you can't win. — Johan Cruyff

Before I make a mistake, I don't make that mistake. — Johan Cruyff

The best of all was Pele, who is a mixture of Di Stefano, Maradona, Cruyff and Leo Messi. — Osvaldo Ardiles

Pele wasn't as gifted as George Best and I would definitely put George above Johan Cruyff because he had more heart, — Johnny Giles

To win you have to score one more goal than your opponent. — Johan Cruyff

Critics have always questioned whether players like Pele from the 50s could play today. Lionel Messi could play in the 1950s and the present day, as could Di Stefano, Pele, Maradona, Cruyff because they are all great players. Lionel Messi without question fits into that category. — Alex Ferguson

I'm a footballing romantic just like Johan Cruyff. We like football that is attractive, attacking and easy on the eye. When you win playing like this it's twice as satisfying. I've always played attacking football: my footballing ideals are very clear and well defined. I've grown up at Barcelona with that style and that's the one I like. I think it's good to win like that, by taking the initiative right from the off. — Xavi

I look at Messi, and he makes me laugh. A beautiful footballer who is still like a kid. A world superstar, but still a kid. Innocent, you know. He just plays. — Johan Cruyff

Arsene Wenger was talking about comparisons with Johan Cruyff, a player who only comes around every 10 years and Thierry Henry is definitely one of those — Gordon Strachan

In Spain all 22 players make the sign of the cross before a game; if it worked, every game would be a tie. — Johan Cruyff

Leo [Messi] is the best player of all time - better than Pele, Maradona or Cruyff. There have been some great teams in history - Pele's Brazil, Cruyff's Ajax, Sacchi's Milan - but in the past 20 years this Barcelona team is the best. — Xavi

Italians can not beat us, but we can certainly lose against them. — Johan Cruyff