Van Gaal has a good vision of football, but it is not mine. He wants to gel winning teams and has a militaristic way of working with his tactics. I want individuals to think for themselves.
Interpretation
Cruyff emphasizes the importance of individual creativity over rigid tactics in football.
In this quote, Johan Cruyff highlights the contrast between his own philosophical approach to football and that of Van Gaal. While Van Gaal focuses on building successful teams through a structured, tactical mindset, Cruyff advocates for empowering players to think independently and creatively on the field. This reflects his belief that true success comes from the freedom of individual expression rather than strict adherence to military-like strategies.
In practice
Discussing coaching strategies at a football seminar.
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.
It's disappointing to see how football, the world's No. 1 sport, is not No. 1 when it comes to development. It seems to me that a wealth of practical football knowledge is being squandered.
Football is not about suffering. It's about enjoyment. Control the ball, be friendly with it, try to attack, try to score goals. Of course defending is part of it, but you can defend in a lot of ways.
If you look at other countries, you see they have different values: defend more, pass the ball out more, winning is holy. In England, you could say that sport itself is holy. They say, 'Look, guys, it's about more than just winning.'
If you take golf, you have a teacher for the drive, a teacher for the approach play, and a teacher for the putt. That's three specialist coaches for one player. In football, one coach looks after 25 players.
The most important part are the fans, that people going home are happy. It's their time off, and you should give them something to enjoy.
My suggestion is that at each state the proper order of operation of the mind requires an overall grasp of what is generally known, not only in formal logical, mathematical terms, but also intuitively, in images, feelings, poetic usage of language, etc.
Every one must act according to the dictates of his own reason, and mine tells me that civil powers alone have been given to the President of the United States, and no authority to direct the religious exercises of his constituents.
How do you put everyone in the pool, so you have the right to dry yourself in the sun?
A precedent embalms a principle.
It is while you are patiently toiling at the little tasks of life that the meaning and shape of the great whole of life dawn on you.
Sometimes he did not know if he slept or just thought about sleep.
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