Legends of the game part 4: Johan Cruyff part 9
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Article part 9 of 10
"Throughout my career I've simply tried to instil what I learned from Johan Cruyff. He has had the biggest influence on football out of anyone in the world, first as a player and then as a coach. He taught me a lot and you can see that in the fact that so many of his former players are now coaches." - Pep Guardiola
There were some teething problems with Cruyff's regime, such as when goalkeeper Andoni Zubizarreta asked him how he wanted the team to defend a set piece: "How should I know?" Cruyff replied. "You decide. You're more interested in how to defend a corner than me." However the team went on to win the Cup Winners Cup in his first season, beating Sampdoria 2-0 in the final in Switzerland. The 1989/90 season was seen as so disappointing, despite winning the Copa del Rey, that president Josep Lluis Nunez had to veto a vote of no confidence which was aimed at sacking Cruyff. How near it came to all crashing down before he had really begun!
In 1990/91 Barcelona won the league, despite Cruyff being forced to miss the last 9 games after his smoking habit clogged an artery and he needed a 4 hour heart bypass op. He gave up smoking after that and would suck on a lollipop on the bench, where in the past he would smoke to ease his nerves. It led to Cruyff being used as the star of an anti-smoking commercial aimed at Catalans. When Cruyff went along to shoot the advert, the director began explaining to him how trick photography would be used to make it look like Cruyff was juggling a cigarette packet. While the director spoke, Cruyff nonchalantly flicked the packet up with his feet, thighs and shoulders before volleying it into a nearby bin. Needless to say, the trick photography was dispensed with and Cruyff can be seen juggling the packet 16 times in the final advert.
There was more to come from the team the following season as Barca took on the European Cup. In November, leading Kaiserslautern 3-1 after the first leg, Barcelona were having a stinker in a bitterly cold Germany, losing 1-0 at half-time. Miguel Angel Nadal recalls the half-time team talk: "Cruyff came into the changing rooms and we were expecting a rocket. He just rubbed his hands together and said, 'bloody hell lads, it's fucking freezing out there'. Our season was about to end, and all he did was talk about how cold he was. All the pressure had gone. He was full of self-assurance that the team he had built would triumph."
It worked a treat as Barcelona went through, all the way to the final, as well as retaining their La Liga trophy. Barca had never won the European Cup before and Johan Cruyff's final words, before the players went out, were "salid y disfrutad" - go out and enjoy it. They went out and won it, beating Sampdoria again with a Ronald Koeman free kick in the 111th minute in extra time after a goalless 90 minutes. One million people took to the streets of Barcelona to welcome the team home.
The European Super Cup was added to the cabinet before the 92/93 season got underway with the team now being called 'The Dream Team', following the Barcelona Olympics that summer. A third straight La Liga title was won as Barca dominated in the league but it was not all plain sailing from then on as the 1993/94 season saw Barcelona's league dominance challenged by Deportivo La Coruna. February was a real low as Real Zaragoza thrashed them 6-2 to leave them chasing Depor. Following that game Cruyff promised new contracts to every out of contract squad member that summer if they won the league.
They were relentless in their pursuit of Depor but were still trailing as Depor fans danced in the stands with giant Chupa Chup lollipops to taunt Cruyff during the penultimate game of the season. That season has since become known as the Liga of the Chupa Chups as Depor threw it away on the final day allowing a Barca side, that had picked up 28 of a possible 30 points since losing to Zaragoza, in to lift their 4th successive La Liga title. The press dubbed the team 'Hostia Team' (Bloody Hell Team).
Four days later they faced AC Milan in the final European Cup final, before it was rebranded as the Champions League, only to get humiliated 4-0. Cruyff was furious and went back on his promise to give out new contracts, instead tearing the team apart. Andoni Zubizarreta, Michael Laudrup, Andoni Goikoetxea and Julio Salinas never played for Barca again. Romario followed in January 1995, with Cruyff saying of the Brazilian forward, "he's not as good as I was. I made others play better; he can only score goals." The 1994/95 season ended with no silverware for Barca, but that failing was compounded as Ajax, still playing the way Cruyff had set them up to play before moving to Barca, went on to win the Champions League that season.
The following season was a second without silverware and rumours abounded that Bobby Robson was being lined up to replace Cruyff, Barcelona's most successful ever manager at that point. With the season all but over Barca's vice-president Joan Gaspart went to the dressing room to talk to Cruyff about the rumours. The pair came to blows and Gaspart threatened to call the police if Cruyff did not leave Nou Camp immediately. The longest serving coach in Barcelona's history, as well as the most successful, but that was the end of his time. The fans showed who they favoured the following day as Barca came from behind to beat Celta Vigo 3-2, inspired by Johan's son Jordi Cruyff, who left the pitch to a standing ovation and chants of "Cruyff, si! Nunez, no!" It did not matter though as Nunez sacked him anyway.
Written by Ed001