Johan Cruyff revolutionised football. From a slender player with a ball at his feet to a true footballing icon who gave us the most successful team of the generation. Today, four years on from his passing, we look at the five ways he changed football forever.
The Iconic
The number 14 has been synonymous with the Dutch legend since his Ajax days, though his rise to become the greatest number 14 was merely accidental.
As football was back in the day, every player had to pick a shirt number between one to 11 and Cruyff had a bias for nine.
But before the game against PSV, Cruyff's teammate Gerrie Muhren misplaced his number seven shirt and the Dutchman generously offered his own and picked a shirt out of the spare bucket himself. No points for guessing what that number was.
He developed a liking for his new shirt and preferred it over his allocated number one in the 1974 World Cup. Ajax retired the #14 shirt in 2007.
The Cruyff Turn
During the 1974 World Cup in a game against Sweden, Johan Cruyff did something that'd be remembered for generations to come. Swedish defender, Jan Olson was marking Cruyff tightly and was on top of him.
Cruyff dragged his right foot, feinting a back pass out of the Swedish area but instead flicked the ball behind with his right; then turned his hip, twirled 180 and rushed to the Swedish area with the body-weight shifted to his other leg. The move gave him two yards over Olson who was left grasping for air.
Immortal Ajax and Dutch Side of the 70s
Cruyff joined Ajax on his tenth birthday without any formal trial, such was his talent. He quickly rose through the ranks and snatched his first league in 1966. Ajax won the Eredivisie again the next season and Cruyff ended up as the league's top scorer with 33.
Thus started Ajax's golden generation and Cruyff proved to be Rinus Michel's most important piece of the masterpiece, 'Totaalvoetbal'. During his time with the club, he won six league titles, three European Cups and two UEFA Super Cups. He also became the first Dutch player to win the Ballon D'Or.
Cruyff was also part of the most famous Dutch side ever assembled. Fueled by 'Totaalvoetbal', this team of spectacular talents took the world by storm in the World Cup of 1974 and eliminated two of the heavyweights, Brazil and Argentina.
Johan scored a brace against Argentina before hammering another past the holders, Brazil. Holland eventually lost to West Germany in the finals but Cruyff was chosen as the player of the tournament.
La Masia
Johan Cruyff came to Barcelona in 1973 and immediately found a place amongst the Catalans. He sympathised with everything they went through under Franco's regime and realised how much football means to them.
He was a sensational player and I'm sure the club's eternally grateful for his services as a player but his managerial stint is what turned Barcelona into one of the greatest teams in history.
It all started with an idea, the idea of producing and nurturing talents instead of just buying them. The objective was to teach everything the club stood for and this went beyond football.
It was about instilling values and philosophies. It was about playing the Barca way. His idea was taken up by the club and the project was named La Masia(the farm).
A farmhouse beside the Camp Nou was set up as the base, where the students would lodge and train. The rest, as they call it, is history.
Total Football
Perhaps the most successful strategy in modern football was perfected by the genius under the guidance of his mentor, Rinus Michels.
The philosophy was to eliminate any weakness in the team. Every outfield player must be comfortable in playing in any given position and Johan was the centrepiece of the grand puzzle.
He just didn't wait for the ball to come to him, he had the vision to slide into pockets of space, confusing the markers. Football used to be straightforward till Cruyff and the famous Dutch team of the 70's showed us how beautiful 'organised chaos' could be.
Cruyff brought this philosophy to every team he managed and the result shows us why he did so. Barcelona demonstrated how great this strategy this is given you have the right players and thanks to Cruyff's La Masia they've always had some world-class talents in their ranks.