The Greatest Mind in Football History? |

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[@eeeeezzz]

This guy retired, made some bad investments, started playing again and became champions with Ajax. When the club did not extend his contract he went to the rival team and won the title with them and the league mvp award at 37 years old. And Ajax still named their stadium after him. Absolute legend.

[@bastiaan4129]

The main stand at the previous PEC Zwolle stadium was named after Johan Cruijff, solely because he played his last official match at that stadium.

[@charlesward4314]

Thre is very good story about how Cruyff managed the contractual aspects of his return to Ajax. Makes him more legendary in my eyes.

[@rmyikzelf5604]

He was ripped off

[@bartk]

@@bastiaan4129​​⁠ bizar coincidence, the first match Ajax played after Cruijffs' death was against… PEC Zwolle. There was an impressive memorial, check it out

[@arjanpetersen]

@@rmyikzelf5604 yeah he wasn't good at finance indeed.

[@kalalas3170]

"I knew nothing about football until I met Johan Cruyff", Pep Guardiola

[@aceofspoons8382]

When I was growing up most people agreed that Cruyff was the solid choice for '3rd greatest ever' (behind Pele and Maradonna, pick your order) Then the 90s gave us players like R9 and Zidane who challenged that idea. Then the Messi/Ronaldo era came along and completely changed the entire 'goat conversation' I believe Cruyff is the player most in danger of being undervalued by future generations. He played just long enough ago that aren't many compilations of his skills/goals on youtube and his incredible mind is something that can't easily be described to those who never saw him play with their own eyes. But for me he is one of the Gods of Football, especially since he has a claim to be one of the greatest players AND greatest managers of all time

[@thomasnieuwenhuijse2905]

at least top 5

[@kledyrelacion8859]

​@@thomasnieuwenhuijse2905For sure he's top 10 (as an all time player). Imo Cruyff definitely deserves at least top 7, althought from top 5-7 I believe names such as his, Zidane and R9, to be interchangeable and I wouldn't complain that much.

[@PixTax]

There might be other great players, but none have influenced the game as a whole as much as Cruyff.

[@arjanpetersen]

yeah he is one of the apostles

[@barryschalkwijk9388]

The WC 74 was filmed as far as i know.

[@StheSharknl]

Some of his great quotes: 1) Playing football is very simple, but playing simple football is the hardest thing there is 2) If they don’t have the ball they can’t score 3) Ever advantage has a disadvantage / ever disadvantage has an advantage An absolute legend of the game. He was like a mix of Magic Johnson, Larry Bird and Phill Jackson for your American comparison ;). Watching videos of him playing is like watching a magician at work. RIP Johan 😢

[@rmyikzelf5604]

'So they have more money... I've never seen a bag of money score a goal'

[@rmyikzelf5604]

'Italians, they can't beat you. But you surely can lose to them'

[@rmyikzelf5604]

'Football is a game played with the mind'

[@lperea21]

There was a point about 6 years ago when every starting player in Barcelona's team had come up in their youth academy

[@insouciantFox]

It was in the 12/13 season. Montoya came on early after Alves was injured.

[@lperea21]

@@insouciantFox you killed my father! Prepare to die!

[@insouciantFox]

@@lperea21 I think that whenever I hear Inigo Martinez's name.

[@lperea21]

@@insouciantFox 😁😜

[@murri1972]

He had a child when he was playing for Barça. He wanted to give him Catalan name, but Catalan names were forbidden at that time. He didn't give up and insisted to the officials at the civil register that "Jordi" (most catalan name ever) was a Dutch name, and got away with it. He was quite more than a especially good player or manager.

[@Tea-is-joy]

It is a not too uncommon name in the Netherlands now. Though mostly because Cruijff named his son Jordi than the other way round. In the same way that there are lots of men named Jari in the Netherlands who were born in the late 90's/early 2000's after Jari Litmanen starred for Ajax.

[@lperea21]

Romario and Gary Lineker should be known names

[@Snitch55]

Well... Stoichkov won a Golden ball

[@gabrielrigaud9426]

Laudrup and Stoichov to

[@ramrm1460]

Yeah even I’m from 2000s era, I know who Romario and Gary Lineker are 😂

[@lperea21]

The difference between American teams and European clubs is that the clubs are often owned by the people. That's why they don't move around. This isn't always true though.

[@oskarstobinski4522]

At least every club started like that and in germany it is the rule that members must hold 50%+1 votes in every club

[@gabrielrigaud9426]

Mostly in Spain and Germany

[@oskarstobinski4522]

@@gabrielrigaud9426 all Clubs started democratic somewhen

[@dariogutierrez6716]

most Italian clubs have Italian owners, and the biggest clubs in Brazil and Argentina are also supporter-owned

[@lperea21]

@@dariogutierrez6716 just to clarify, "Italian owners" you mean one person owned the club, correct?

[@GilangRamadhan-gi1dv]

That's called fan-owned club, the owner is socios who are a legal member fan. Barcelona is one of them. You should check it up socios scene in Spain or 50+1 rule in Germany.

[@USC9210]

Luke, think of the ownership structure of many European futbol clubs as the way the American Green Bay Packers are structured. The fans buy shares in the team, monitor and select upper management (who then select the coaching staff), set prices and operate the club on the day to day. Spain and Germany clubs in particular have this ownership/management structure, with Germany mandating fans own 51% of the shares of a club, thus control the club operations. The result is the futbol clubs, like the Packers, are operated as a community trust and not "corporate private property."

[@thacoonnn8492]

finally! Now we need a video about the greatest youth club in the world, also my club: AFC Ajax

[@thacoonnn8492]

@selinasultana7289 much love. We are often overlook, but if you think of it barca (and arsenal a little bit also) is a ‘big’ ajax, but we did everythink first. The only thing is that we play in a not so much of a profit leaque comparing to the premier leaque or la liga etc

[@muhammadryanelyeddari8631]

Usually teams with 4 at the back have 1 full back move forward to contribute to the attack and sometimes both but when they have both up 1 midfielder moves to the back.

[@itsover-sm5dt]

It is usually known as a holding midfielder.

[@MADroofer]

I saw a grown Catalonian man break down in tears after he was asked what JC14 meant to Barcelona. 'We can't thank him enough' Was his answer

[@albertgandiamodol5311]

For me, Johan Cruyff's best quote is: "Football is a simple game, but the hardest thing in football is to play it simple"

[@DityMac]

President of the club explanation: In Spain: Barcelona, Real Madrid, Athletic, Osasuna and other smaller clubs are still that, "clubs", meaning they are assotiations of members who own the club (you can be one, just sign up and pay a fee). So you are a member and you can run in elections to be the President of the club, and if you win you can run Barça or Real Madrid. there are tens of thousands of members and they can also kick you out if they organise a vote against you.

[@serenitytunes839]

I'll always respect people that have the interest in learning football. When you reach Cryjff, you've made it

[@ИгорьИванов-ы3ъ4ш]

13:25 - Ronald Koeman is a Dutch defender with a very powerful shot, could give great long passes and scored a lot from free kicks. Begiristain is a Spanish midfielder currently working alongside Guardiola at Manchester City. Salinas is one of the best Spanish strikers of the 90s. Stoichkov is the best Bulgarian football player of all time, striker, winner of the Golden Ball in 1994. Michael Laudrup is a Danish midfielder and playmaker. Romario is one of the best Brazilian strikers of the 90s, world champion in 1994.

[@guittadabe5214]

One of the GOATS as a player. One of the GOATs as a manager. Legend.

[@kristiantaylor9026]

Hey Luke, I’m an FC Barcelona soci (member), the concept of a club President is pretty cool. FC Barcelona is one of the few clubs in the world to be owned by the club members, we elect the President and vote on the major decisions. Great to see you learning about Cruyff! The philosophy of less physical, more technical players And the academy all training/playing in the same way. These are all the things that made me really love my club. The fact we won the treble with a team from the academy, was an incredible achievement.

[@etme1000]

Rinus Michels did not "invent" total football. They are part of a lineage that goes back to the Danubian School of football of Central Europe, and even further to names like Jimmy Hogan. Not only did these countries (Hungary, Austria, Czechoslovakia, northern Italy) dominate football in the interwar and immediate post-war period, but coaches from there spread the style in countries like Brazil (!), Portugal, Italy - and went on to trash the old style of playing represented, for example, by England (the famous 6:3 on Wembley) - and to shape the Brazil style of playing that dominated (with the Pele generation) football in the 60s, that mesmerized the world in the 80s (with the Socrates generation), and, in fact, up to today. I think that the viewers of this channel appreciate your willingness and openness to learn - in fact, that might be one of the reasons they stick around, and that they are happy to provide info and sources to help in that regard. Also, it is clear that your mind works well and fast with regards to sports, and tactics. Along those lines, therefore: I can't post the link, because KZbin blocks it, but do a quick Google search for this article which explains what I presented above very synthetically and concisely: "dictate the game guide to playing like a brazilian part 1" (dictate the game is the name of the site).

[@durgeshsss]

Ernö Egri Erbstein invented total football.. He was the legendary manager of gran torino fc.

[@010Jordi]

Very important also was ernst hapel a Austrian coach who managed Feyenoord Rotterdam and won the European cup in 1970

[@michaelgrabner8977]

You don´t know those players from the 80ties because that is the pre - Internet era...therefore there is not that much hyped footage of those....but "Christo Stoitskov"/Bulgarian striker, "Michael Laudrup"/Danish offensive Midfielder= classical Nr 10, "Romario"/Brasilian striker, "Ronald Koeman"/ Dutch defender were part of the "creme de la creme" of the 80ties football players and are all time football Legends in their home countries.....

[@dariogutierrez6716]

He should check these four, yes

[@matoCC14]

what Guardiola did at the final was a variation of this 3-4-3. It is called now 3-box-3 because of the shape the 4 in the middle take. Basically in posession and attack, one of the center defenders (stones) goes up to the middle and the two wide centerbacks play as fullbacks or even wingbacks, in the case of Walker. This free up Gundogan to go into the rival area. With someone like Halaand in the center to fix the centerbacks, he has A LOT of space to move and do damage, same with De Bruyne. It's imposible to do it without someone like Rodri who covers so much space, nor without defenders with great touch and technique. It's a formation that lives and dies by having very specifics players to pull it off, a very Cruyff thing

[@MattijnPlayz]

Hi, I really love that you try so hard to understand football and it's history and it's tactical evolution, it's been around for a long time so it can be a lot! I understand that it can be intimidating but you'll get acquainted with the greats of the past if you'll stick with it. Anyway because football has such a long history it's tactics are always changing: Total Football is assosiated with Rinus Michels and Johan Cruijff and the Ajax and Dutch sides of the 70's but of course it can and should be seen as accumulation of idea's and tactics from the past. Cruijff and Michels 'perfected' (it depends on who you ask) those and build upon it. The foundations can be found in Jimmy Hogan and Hugo Meisl' Austrian Wunderteam in the 1930's. The great Hungarian team from the 40's and 50's called the Magical Magyars under Gustav Sebes also used elements of total football. So did the Grande Torino team of the 40's and the Argentinan side River Plate (also in the 40's) under Renato Cesarini and Carlos Puecelle. Also in the 40's Jack Reynolds implemented a sort of total football style at Ajax and later so did Vic Buckingham (who was at Ajax and Barcelona in the 50's and 60's). The philosophy of all those who came before were expanded upon and developed more untill we get to Michels and Cruijff. Ernst Happel also deserves a special mention for using it at Feyenoord in the 60's and 70's. Great coaches have their own philosophy but also know what lessons to learn and take from the history that came before them.

[@MattijnPlayz]

I know this might all be a bit much for somebody who hasn't even heard of Romario but I still think it's important. I wish you the best on your football journey!

[@youpie24]

A player you didn't recongise, one of them was Ronald Koeman, the most scoring defender of all time: 238 goals in his career. He's the manager of the Dutch national football team at the moment.

[@rmyikzelf5604]

This video criminally underhighlights Cruijff's paying carreer.

[@footballkorvendavid1092]

Another reason why you wanted home grown players at the time was because you could only have I think 3-5 foreign players. And they would grow up playing the football you would like to play

[@Fenix-lr6ez]

About the president or owner thing, most clus nowadays are owned. Manchester City, PSG, United, Tottenham, etc. These clubs also have a president, put there by the owner of the club. Then, there are other clubs, such as Barcelona or Madrid, that don't have a specific owner. They are owned by the fans (well, by so called "socios", which are fans that pay a certain amount of money per year to be that). Among other advantages "socios" have, they vote every 5 years (in Barcelona's case) for a president, who will run the club. If at some point they decide he's not doing a good job, they can throw him out if most of the "socios" agree to. Today, there's a bit over 100k "socios" for Barcelona. So the idea is the same as the other clubs, there's the president who makes all the decisions, and then there's the owners above him, who can be either multimillioners in some clubs cases, or just a large number of fans in others. Then there's Bayern that has a different structure than the rest, but I haven't looked it up, so I prefer not to mess up your mind

[@rmyikzelf5604]

The key thing Michels and Cruijff ingrained into their teams was positional play. In the Dutch teams of 1974 and 1978 still representing the height of Total Football, no player was restricted to a position, as long as the position in the formation was covered. And hunt the ball like a pack of wolves when you lost possession. Obviously this only works when you have players who are able to operate at many positions (which is why youth training in the same system is so important). Additionally (and that is actually where the total football moniker comes from) Michels and Cruijff started focusing on much more than just what players did on the pitch.

[@davidsleith7222]

oh man, this drags me back to when i was a teen, van basten, hullet, bergkamp! dennis bergkamp is in my top 3 players of all time. ronaldiinho being #1, zidane #2, bergkamp #3. the great thing about footy is there SO MANY GOATS over so many decades, it's a deep well to quench yer thirst. one of my favourite moments was johan attending bergkamps testimonial game when he retired from arsenal and the game. thats respect, and cruyff was arrogant on an epic scale, the game had not seen an ego like his before. here's some players you should check out that predated messi, cristiano, mbappe etc ronaldinho - worlds greatest entertainer bergkamp zidane iniesta && xavi edgar davids platini ~great seeing americans embrace the game~

[@juwon2437]

i like your channel so much more because unlike other reaction channels, you dont seem to be doing this only for views but is very much learning stufff other people dont see, youre catching on quick, sidenote , dont support SPURS they are shit from an arsenal fan❤

[@lperea21]

Geometry and Grammar.... Great combo

[@andrewcoulson2375]

Don't be frustrated by a lack of knowledge, nobody knows everything! Every day is a school day 👍

[@Bogart401]

Cruijff is the father of total football. All players that he played with stated that they listened to Cruijff and that Michels just benefitted from his skill and thinking simply because they needed a coach at the head of the team, but it was Cruijff whom actually made the tactics....

[@sargonsblackgrandfather2072]

Cruyff’s mum was a cleaner at the Ajax stadium when he was a kid, she’d take him to work with her and he’d get to kick it about with the players, after a while he started to get pretty good at using his lack of size to his advantage to keep the ball and it was probably the start of his lifelong obsession about using space to your advantage

[@lperea21]

Mourinho joke .. wasn't a joke. 👍💪 Don't let them bully you Luke

[@isaksidenius7059]

You should check out Michael Laudrup one of the few both Barca and real legends that inspirer Xavi and ineista as Well as peps favorite player he played with. Also best player cruyff coaches according to him.

[@chicks-on-the-loose]

Dude, there is so much left for you to discover. What a delicious prospect that must be :)

[@arjanpetersen]

@13:34 Yeah these guys were unbelievably good. All legends of the game. For example Romario was responsible for winning the 1994 WC. Stoitchkov was part of yugoslavia, and that team especially in beginning of 90s is largely considered as one of the best teams ever existed. Sadly the war came...

[@soturi_]

In some parts of the world Clubs don't have a owner, like here in Barzil the great majority of the clubs are societies, people are voted to be part of a board and the socios vote for a President

[@albertgandiamodol5311]

well in Barcelona is the partners who pay every year to be part of the club who votes the new president, is different from any other club in terms that there is no % of companies involved, it is just people who pays to be part of the club!

[@SportGamingComputing]

13:28 Ronald Koeman, Hristo Stoichkov, Michael Laudrup, Romario, Gary Lineker are all some heavy names in the world of football bro !

[@muhammadrafa7189]

never thought u wouldnt recognize Ronald Koeman,Gary Lineker,Romario, For us they are household names, that just tell you the world of football is just so large even for u that i think studies it for what?? 2 years now its still fairly unknown, so grateful that i just born into a culture of football

[@cristiangarcia1260]

The original development of soccer was through clubs which (in most cases) were not created by a rich guy but founded buy an association of neighbors or workers of a company or something like that, who founded a sport club for the local youth or to compete with other associations. Joining the club or becoming a member means you are a equal part-owner. But who manages the club? Well all the members elect a president for fixed period of time. Eventhough some clubs (Like ManU) have had rich owners for decades the concept of soccer clubs having owners is relatively new, starting in the 80s and 90s when billionaires and investment groups begun buying all the members' shares in some clubs. I rembember it being controversial at the time because fans thought the club was not really going to be part of the community anymore. But fans of clubs that were failing welcomed the posibility of getting a huge inyection of money. Those are the cases of Chelsea, Man City and PSG for example. Clubs like Real Madrid and Barcelona remain as member-owned clubs

[@matyasszabo4130]

Great video, Luke You should check out the Brazilian coach Fernando Diniz. The video Fluminense have the wierdest football tactis in the world explain Very well his unique style.

[@Ns-071]

Yesss finally!!! This man litterely changed football and his changes are still the basis for the modern game. Michels took credit for total football, but in Holland we know that total football came into existence by cruyff and companions ignoring michels and play the way that was logic for them. Total football was consequent off Cruyffs leadership and dominance at a very young age. He used to clash a lot with Michels after the early successes Michels coined the term total football and ran with it. Also his playing career.... legendary

[@mckroket5779]

Wat een bull shit. Heb hier over gesproken paar jaar terug met Neeskens. Het was een combi van Michels en Cruyff samen, beiden brachten wat binnen en ook andere spelers, zoals Zuurbier als opkomende back.

[@timmurphy14]

I love the station and am enjoying seeing your journey into loving the beautiful game. One thing I think you should do is to watch some classic games and discuss. I would start with 2006 World Cup Semi-Final between Italy and Germany. Regardless, keep up the good work.

[@paper_man]

6:25 One basic thing about formations is that they are one with the ball and another without it, like u can have a back of 4 without the ball that turns into a back of 3 with the ball, both side backs go to the attack and you drop one midfielder, i'm sorry if u know this already, just thought i mentioned..

[@Pelerincha]

It was the KEY principles of how to play soccer that Cruyff follows along with his tactical acumen known to manh as 'genius'. Like at Ajax, the best way to instill is for all teams to follow the principle of how to play great soccer...It basically has to do with Technique and Intelligence, not size, and speed...

[@matriquess]

You should look up about Romario, could've been even greater than he was, but was key on winning 94 World Cup (on US) for Brasil after 24 years

[@jacksmith4460]

simply the best finisher ever, no doubt in my mind, Sure Messi, Zidane, Ronaldinho, Maradona, etc all better footballers but Romario is the best finisher i have ever seen bar none

[@matriquess]

@@jacksmith4460 for us as brazilians, I'd say only Pelé and Ronaldo 9 are considered above (we take world cups very seriously)

[@Bogart401]

@@matriquess Romario is one of the best ever... Seen him play when i was young at PSV and never ever seen something similair (until Ronaldo came to PSV 🤣)

[@augustomourao2486]

The president of a club is like the governor of an NBA team. Someone the owner, in case of most football clubs, the supporters, trusts to run the team.

[@jacksmith4460]

Football Icons is REALLY down playing how good Cruyff was as both a player and a manager. Absolutely one of the best players to ever play the game( you get a turn named after you, you are probably pretty good) and probably one of the best managers to do it too, comparable to someone like Larry Bird in NBA in terms of impact as a player and after retiring as a player. Also its important to give props to Michels (Cruyff's coach at Ajax) In the 60's most leagues in Europe were professional leagues, but Holland was not, yet Michels and Cruyff managed to win the European cup, more than once as essentially part timers (who had a habit of smoking "jazz" cigarette's prior to training) Michels is REALLY the father of Total football, Cruyff expanded on his ideas, and Michels got his ideas fro the Hungary national team of the 50's. Also Bill Shankly did similar with Liverpool in the 60's

[@ikke2757]

To give some extra perspective; the people of Barcelona who are devout Catholics, gave this man the nickname "El Salvador!" A Catholic nation naming you the Messiah, says it all! And on a totally different level. Cruyff left Ajax for Feyenoord. The next year he played with Feyenoord, against his old team mates. One of the Ajax players had the ball and Cruyff told him to kick the ball back to the keeper; and he did! 🤣🤣🤣

[@norma73]

Most of the clubs in Europe were originally Clubs, where a group of people would get together and create a team, so that team was owned by these people. As time passed, and things started to get more expensive, these associations were sold to a person that would become the owner. In Spain there are just 3 clubs that are still owned by the people: Madrid, Barcelona and Athletic de Bilbao. So these associations have presidents that get elected and get sacked if the result are not the expected

[@josecambronero9419]

Think of president as basically the GM of a team. Responsible for general direction of the team

[@allainangcao28]

Johan Cruyff was not the Father of Total Football, but he was the key to making it work. Michels on his own, could not always control the team from the sideline, that is where Cruyff comes in. He is an avid thinker and heavily critical of tactics, so much so that he would constantly clash with teammates and even Michels himself over what tactics the team should employ. "He (Cruyff) likes to think that he is always right... The funny thing is, that he really is always right." - Former Ajax Striker Johnny Bosman describing Johan Cruyff. Without Cruyff learning and perfecting Total Football ideology from Michels, Guardiola does not become the manager he is today.

[@matthewturley9694]

Ronald Koeman is one of my favorite players of all time, he scored so many bangers, I'm sure you'd find a good video on him

[@Pelerincha]

Luke, Cruyff used 3 defenders because the norm offense was that most teams played with 2strikers. If they played with 3 strikers there would 4 defenders. Always one more defender than attackers

[@suke9502]

There are hundreds of goated players you’ll eventually learn. I learned tons by going through fifa ultimate team and reading all of the icons bios😂😂

[@roryasrorri701]

13:50 take your time, man. no need to rush.

[@jjaxs1571]

Bavarian man slowly dominating the entire industry. They have this planned. I have the documents!!!

[@tomaskoptik2021]

9:00 A lesson that even if you win everything 4:0 but you lose 1:0 in the title match your rival who had won everything only 1:0 wins the league anyway :) I don´t know how it happened in reality but it´s a possible competition scenario... But obviously that was not the case here as PSV was +78 with 60pts. 8 pts ahead. I believe at that time a win was 2 pts, not 3 pts as today so it means exactly those 4 matches lost. PSV had only 1 loss, Ajax 7 loses. Goals scored are a very nice stat but matches won is what counts, what actually only matters at the end of the day... Btw, Johan Cruyff is the best symbol to represent this game. Encapsulates everything that makes modern football a great sport for passionate people of all sizes and colors...

[@HelgeKS]

Johan Cruyff - the PLAYER - is the greatest thing I've ever seen on a football pitch.

[@rmyikzelf5604]

Indeed. Like a dancer. With incredible ball control at great pace. And vision like no other.

[@mdptg1990]

I always hear NBA analysts talk about a Basketball player not reaching their prime until they hit 26/27. Whereas in football a player can easily hit their prime by 23 (or even younger) and sustain it for much longer. I think the biggest reason for this is because the American sports system is so disjointed. The AAU teams for kids are completely different to college ball, and college ball is totally different to the NBA. I bet the same applies for American football too. It almost seems like American sports are prolonging their athletes to reach their prime due to the college system

[@andorifjohn]

It's a bit overstated. Any evolution of a philosophy isn't one mans doing. It's manys. That said Cruyff is one of them.

[@sujoydutta920]

Man whatever you are doing I love it so much

[@Londronable]

"Top to bottom uniformity". In 2000 the Euros were in Belgium and the Netherlands and Belgium got eliminated in the group stages and we realized we had to turn things around. We applied the same idea nation wide more or less. Youth football should focus on development, not on winning. 4-3-3 formations were seen as the best formation to develop more technical players. Seems to have worked well enough. In 2002 most of our national team was from our national league. In the last 10 years being the best player in our national league might not even get you a spot on the bench. And omg, I want this in football manager. In FM at this point you can only really adjust what recruits you get every year by looking at the preference in formation of your youth coach but it's still a crapshoot. Would love to tinker more with the stats before they're really there.(you don't see characters for 12 year olds, only from 15 onwards) If my 4 at the back has 2 INVERTED wingbacks that drive central the further up the pitch I don't want wingbacks ffs.

[@marcelrenes2435]

2010 was on of the biggest dissapointments in Dutch football.(The world cup in 1974 was the biggest upset in my country whem we lost from West Germany). In 2010 Spain won from The Netherlands in the final thanks to Cruijf's influence in Spanish football. And we, The Netherlands, became second for the third time in football history...

[@thom9484]

Very happy you did a video on the greatest footballer ever in my opinion, would just like you to dive into his playing days as well since he was such an amazing player. Definitely one of the GOAT's as a player.

[@jonisilk]

Before Messi and Ronaldo, the contenders for GOAT were Maradona and Pele, but the other 2 that would often come in 3rd &/or 4th, were Johan Cryuff and Georgie Best. Even as a Liverpool fan, Best (a Man Utd legend) is worth taking a look at, an incredible talent, but fame and alcohol destroyed him. "I spent a lot of money on fast cars, fast women, and alcohol. but the rest I just squandered."

[@CaiusAureliusCotta]

11:22 The thing about football clubs is that they started as associations, or social clubs. Sports events were social gatherings and most of the players were upper class amauters. Eventually, clubs started to hire players and charge for entrance ticket while football got popular with the masses. Along the decades it became a worldwide business, but many football clubs kept their association structure to this day. In Brasil, for example, some of the oldest clubs started as regatta's clubs. And many of them keeps Olympics sports teams like basketball, volleyball, judo or swimming.

[@skarpio2000]

I FELL OFF MY CHAIR WHEN YOU SAID LOOKING AT YOU MOURINHO...

[@fedegwagwa]

6:40 You have seen a 3-defenders line before!! In the UCL final Inter was on the pitch with their typical 3-5-2 formation. The main characteristic of that formation is, the two wings cover the whole field, dropping back to form a 5-defenders line during defensive action, and moving forward to cross the ball in the box and make runs on the outside to always add a 3rd attacker in the box. It opens the game and allows long balls and changes of direction, which complicated Man City's life in the final. Its not a very common formation but with the right players it works great

[@Feeber2]

Regarding your comment about an elected president: It's really hard to explain to Americans, because this concept basically doesn't exist across the pond, and you also don't have a word for it. But I try my best and also touch on some history along the way: In Europe, we have a special legal form for organizations that are bound to a certain cause. This dates back 100-200 years, but basically, people interested in books, religion, art, culture, football, or whatever can form an organization where they meet like-minded people. Everyone interested can become a member. They have member lists and you usually pay member fees which are invested to support the overall cause again. For example, an art club would use the money to visit museums or pay for paint. A football club could pay for sportswear and organize matches. The state supports all this by giving them tax discounts, but he checks whether the funds are only invested in the overall cause. By law, these clubs need to be democratic and elect a president. Major changes to the club need to be approved by the members as well. All this differs slightly from country to country, but generally, it's always very similar. You could call it a club, a non-profit, or an organization, but nothing really fits 100%. Basically, every single club in Europe once was this kind of organization and until roughly the 60ties, this was how European football was organized. People didn't play for the money, but just for the game, because there was almost no money to earn back then. It was something you did in your free time, after work. Clubs financed themself only through member fees and ticket sales. But since then things changed rapidly. TVs became a regular thing in people's homes and suddenly there was money to be made. This also requires a new legal form. Clubs got really creative and today most of them are some kind of hybrid. There still is a non-profit part somewhere, with members and member fees, and the money goes into youth soccer or something similar. But there also is a possibly stock-listed company that deals with all the tv money, buying players for millions, paying their wages, and so on. Who has the say depends on the details of the club's statutes. For the top tier clubs, there are the ones like Barcelona or Munich, where the member elected president of the club holds power. But there are also clubs like Chelsea, Man City, and Paris where the owner of the company makes the decisions. Traditionalists hate these teams and despise them because they "buy" their success through rich owners with shady political backgrounds. Football is the wild west though. There is no salary cap and no draft system and if you don't perform you get relegated. You either earn your money somehow or you're out. So I personally believe, it's going to be a part of the future whether one likes it or not.

[@insouciantFox]

In Barcelona and Real Madrid, the clubs are owned by the fans. They vote on a President once every six years. Other than the power of ownership (issues resolved by plebicite), the President has all the powers we see in GMs/Owners.

[@DavLiaz]

some of the so-called barca fans wouldn't recognize those legends either, let alone an american guy trying to learn and catch up the beautiful game just recently. so no pressure take your time learning man, it's been fun watching your process

[@SportGamingComputing]

19:45 the champions league before 1993 was called the european cup FYI

[@davidsleith7222]

absolute legend of the game.

[@zombievikinggaming4258]

It's amusing when Americans realise they changed words to be simpler and that others aren't saying words wrong worldwide

[@xaviertarre8279]

"wining without quality", you have got the Mou's way

[@lostinveda]

love your work. someone with limited knowledge of the game yet a keen interest to learn. keep it up man!

[@n-zedorai6613]

Coming from an old video I wanna say you something. there is also a world cup for Clubs which is called Club world cup. It is arranged with 6 champions league winners from 6 continent + champion of host nation league. Which means 7 teams participates in club world cup. From 2025, the format is going to change and 32 clubs are going to participate in the club world cup. 12 clubs from Europe, 4 from Asia, Africa, North America each. 1 from Oceania and 1 from host nation. Ronaldo is in Saudi league so he cant play European champions league(Ucl). Ronaldo will play Asian champions league. Same for Messi now. Messi will play North american champions league because of Miami. Details you will find in Wikipedia. Explain these easily to your american friend.

[@amekgomo5250]

4 for africa is crazy considering they have the most countries. Ancon qualifiers are so tough

[@n-zedorai6613]

​@@amekgomo5250quality matters.

[@ImSempTic]

17:50 The most recent case of a player not fitting into a Coach’s game play is Antonio Rüdiger, a Real Madrid CB who comes from Thomas Tuchel (3-4-1-2) Chelsea’s probably the best CB of that squad and now his performance has been a little disappointing. On the other hand Christensen another CB from Tuchel’s Chelsea squad had a poor season that year playing with only 3 CB but after going to Xavi’s Barcelona with 4 Defenders he’s been a crucial player when people didn’t expect that because he was benched for Rudiger at Chelsea.

[@littlemissmello]

Cruijff was amazing! A philosopher of the sport in ways that not many others were. Beautiful!

[@arjunpillai6892]

In football, there's usually two types of clubs. One owned by owners who have the majority share eg. Todd Bohley and Chelsea and the Glazers with Manchester United. Two is the club is owned by the people. A large group of people own shares in the company. They may have an IPO or may not. Barcelona has been owned by the Sociis for a long time. They're club members who have a vote in the happenings of the club. They hold elections and a president is elected based on the campaigns of the candidates. It is different for different clubs but FC Barcelona is owned by the people of Barcelona. It has its positives and negatives as well. But that's why Barcelona has a president. A spearhead towards club policies and the head of the club. Similarly, though I don't know clearly, Real Madrid also has a president. That's how the story goes.

[@samwilliams0901]

You're absolutely right on the importance of uniformity throughout the age groups. It's something that Spain have been doing better than everyone else for a long time, in large part because of Cruyff. In England, we are awful at embedding these philosophical principles. Youngsters are given their positions almost entirely based on physical attributes e.g. stronger, bigger kids being put in central midfield, centre back or as strikers, with the smaller kids playing as full backs and wingers. Kids get released from academies every day because they don't have the "correct" physique. As you get into your early teens, you are taught that your role has certain, limited responsibilities in specific areas of the pitch e.g. wingers are supposed to stay wide, run down the wing and deliver crosses into the box. Young wingers who aren't fast/fit enough to repeatedly run down the wing will be released. If you're lucky, at some point in your teenage years or early 20s you will be coached by a foreign manager who will try to imprint some actual football ideas into your brain, by which point you are so focused on your physicality and specific role that it's almost too late to start learning anything substantive, and you'll be behind the foreigners who grew up in football systems that prioritise intelligence and tactical awareness. In the Cruyffian style, the most important thing is that you learn and understand the deep philosophical principles of total football - how the positions interact with each other, how to create and utilise space, how to keep the ball effectively under pressure and much more - all of which lend themselves to a more fluid and expressive brand of football. Any physical atrributes you have are merely bonuses that you are encouraged to use to the extent those attributes support the philosophy. In fact, your physical suitability for a specific role is close to being irrelevant, because you are expected to interchange positions with your teammates on the fly, rotating in order to cause tactical problems for the opposition.

[@bgsash242]

Theres different rule in every european league, in spain, it varies. Some may have full ownership, but some is owned by fans. For example, two most successfull club in spain are not owned by a single person, but a bunch of fans who buy the small share of the club and become a member, known as socios. In german, there also a 50+1 rule. That means the members of the club must owned at least 50+1 percent ownership of the club, and personal investor may hold the rest. Thats why they need a president for the club, ang the president is elected by the member of the club.

[@Sicarii86]

Turkish clubs are mostly associations too and owned by all the supporters. Congress members of the club elect the president of the clubs for three or four years.

[@arjanpetersen]

Cool to see americans dive into the world of Football. Football is so much deeper rooted in society as american sports. The passion, religion, ultra, riots, figts etc is on a totally different level compared to any american sport. Cruyff has been one of the most influential players that ever existed. Not to mention that the most succesful coachs of current era (like guardiola etc) are massivly influenced by him. He is known by billions of people.

[@fays_bn4321]

Some clubs are owned by fans, and a president is elected by them. Barcelona is owned by curlers (Shareholders) you can be one if you want to.

[@lennartvers1767]

Pep Guardiola: "Cruijff build the cathedral, we are just maintaining it".

[@tytheeblaiseR]

The two people i wish would have seen Messi win the World Cup, Maradona and Cryuff...

[@euganieldamiao8084]

9:00 you should react to Mourinho's record breaking Real Madrid season 11/12, they scored 121(most ever in a la liga season) in 38 league game and conceded 32 with a goal differential of 89+. Won 32(most in aspanish top flight season), drew 4 n lost 2.

[@marciasantos6645]

The Greastest Mind is Pelé, everything Cruyff made Pelé did long before him, and winner 3 world Cup.

[@tomeboaventura9054]

Mourinho literally broke the goal record, points record and wins record in La Liga against the cheaters from Uefalona. Luke, don't fall into false statements on football, specially about Mourinho. When he has the players he plays awsome football. First 2years at Chelsea, Porto second year, RealMadrid 2nd year, even at Tottenham he made Kane Son Moura explode with goals.

[@hrs9018]

What a legend, both as a footballer and manager, pure class

[@MATI640]

13:26 only four of them are legends😊

[@glennheuts407]

We have football pitches sponsered by J.Cruyff's foundation everywhere.. im from Netherlands 🇳🇱🇳🇱 i guess every city has at least one

[@TheGabrielPT]

Top 5 best players of all time (no particular order): Messi, C. Ronaldo, Maradona, Pelé... and Cruyff

[@andorifjohn]

Lots of clubs in Europe are member owned. Sweden and Germany has this and probably other countries that i don't know of.

[@lordprefab5534]

Rinus Michels is the originator of total football.

[@tevlar]

What Rosell/Bartomeu did to Cruyff was also very bad :( He was a honorary board member and had alot in say in Barcelona philosphy until they threw him out. Hristo Stoichkov is definatly one of the greats (although also known for his temperament) Michael Laudrup is one of the most fluent players of all times and was Iniestas idol. Romario is one of Brazils best strikers ever (also very narcissistic)