The Greatest of Greats - Johan Cruyff

Number 14 Johan Cruyff is perhaps the greatest player ever to come out of Europe, his excellence only comparable to that of Franz Beckenbauer, Zinedine Zidane and Cristiano Ronaldo. As both player and coach, he continously revolutionised the game for both Club and Country. The identity he left at Ajax, FC Barcelona and the Dutch National Side remains with them to this day and they still play wit the same fundamentals and ideology as those taught by Cryuff and Rinus Michels.

When Cruyff first started his career with Ajax, he was too young to play in the fist team. His performances for the reserves however, made the coaching staff re think their decision and gave him a starting spot to start the greatest legacy in Dutch Football. His student to Rinus Michels' teacher formed the most enduring bond football has ever seen. Together they would dominate and totally change the landscape of the game of Football with their approach called "Total Football", a fluid system where everyone can play everywhere and the team plays as one transitional system, something like the tiki-taka of today only faster and more direct.

Cruyff led his Ajax team to three consecutive European Cups in the 1970's, becoming the first team since Real Madrid to do so. He also helped his National side to the finals of the World Cup and European Championship success over the course of his amazing career. His transfer to Barcelona from Ajax followig his Three Ballon d'Ors was a world record and he subsequently transformed Barcelona to take them to the top of European football.

Yes his records and statistics are glorious and make for wonderful reading, but what really set this man apart from the rest was his technique, his vision and an intelligence which can rarely be found on the football pitch. His ability to read the game, to understand the finer aspects of it and perform creative plays was legendary and second to none. He could play and toy with the players, the football and take over games in the most grandest of ways.

Cruyff also became a great manager, managing the Great "Dream Team' of Barcelona, a team that comprised the likes of Guardiola, Stoichkov, Laudrup, Koeman to name a few. His teachings and what he left at Barcelona has been the basis for much of the success that they have enjoyed this decade. Guardiola learnt from Johan Cruyff which he then passed on to his players as coach. The golden Generation of La Masia including Lionel Messi, Xavi, Iniesta, Fabregas were all just starting off when Joahn's era was ending and there is no doubt that his was the defing legacy for all these great players while growing up.

The career highlights are many and his skills and finishing make for a thrilling highlight reel, but what Cruyff was all about for me is the beauty of his game and his teams. He always played the game in the purest and simplest of ways, and tried to make the impossible look possible. Of all the great Dutch Masters of the past, Johan Cruyff stands head and shoulders above everyone else and is perhaps the Greatest player ever from Europe. Words fail to stress the importance this man had not only on football but on the numerous people who had the benefit of meeting him and knowing him.

Johan Cruyff R.I.P.