Johan Cruijff Quotes

“Before I make a mistake, I don’t make that mistake.”

“Choose the best player for every position, and you’ll end up not with a strong XI, but with 11 strong 1’s.”

“Every disadvantage has its advantage.”

“Every professional golfer has a separate coach for his drives, for approaches, for putting. In football we have one coach for 15 players. This is absurd.”

“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.”

“If I wanted you to understand it, I would have explained it better.”

“If you can’t win, make sure you don’t lose.”

“In my teams, the goalie is the first attacker, and the striker the first defender.”

“It’s better to go down with your own vision than with someone else’s.”

“People who are not of my level can’t affect my integrity.”

“Players that aren’t true leaders but try to be, always bash other players after a mistake. True leaders on the pitch already assume others will make mistakes.”

“There is only one ball, so you need to have it.”

“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.”

“We must make sure their worst players get the ball the most. You’ll get it back in no time.”

“What is speed? The sports press often confuses speed with insight. See, if I start running slightly earlier than someone else, I seem faster.”

“When you play a match, it is statistically proven that players actually have the ball 3 minutes on average… So, the most important thing is: what do you do during those 87 minutes when you do not have the ball. That is what determines wether you’re a good player or not.”

“Why couldn’t you beat a richer club? I’ve never seen a bag of money score a goal.”

“Winning is an important thing, but to have your own style, to have people copy you, to admire you, that is the greatest gift.”