FRISCO - Player, Coach or Philosopher? What isn't in doubt is that soccer lost one of its legends, even if it’s hard to say which of the three roles he's famous for describes him the best.
Johan Cruyff passed away today after losing his fight against cancer. The former Ajax and Barcelona player and manager (who also played in the U.S. NASL in the 80’s with the Los Angeles Aztecs and the Washington Diplomats) will be sorely missed by soccer fans everywhere and by all the players that have been coached under his “entertaining” and “attacking” philosophy. One of those players is current FC Dallas midfielder Mauro Rosales, who played for Ajax himself from 2004 to 2006.
“He was very respected,” he said. “I’m very sorry for what happened. He’s going to be missed because he’s left a legacy behind in the soccer world. He was a big part of making Barcelona what it is today: the best team in the World.”
Cruyff was widely respected around the World, and is nothing but a legend in his native Netherlands. Even more so for the club that made him a professional player, Ajax.
“Cruyff is very important for the Netherlands,” Rosales emphasized. “He’s been fundamental in what Ajax have done, and also with what the Dutch have done in recent World Cups with their ball-playing philosophy. He created the philosophy behind what we now know as the modern Dutch player: winners, with technique, a lot of ability with the ball on their feet.”
Even though Rosales was not coached by Cruyff himself, he was very much in contact with Cruyff’s ideas while at Ronald Koeman’s Ajax, with the former center-back being coached by the “Flying Dutchman” at FC Barcelona.
“Even though he wasn’t there, we knew Johan [Cruyff] was part of Ajax,” he said. “He didn’t need to have a position within the club to have people listen to him and ask him for advice. Everyone in the Netherlands was interested in what he had to say.”
One aspect in which Cruyff was very influential, not only in Ajax, but also in Barcelona, is in modernizing how academies work and integrating the youth teams in their path towards the first team.
“The most important thing for [Ajax] is developing players,” Rosales explained. “That’s what Cruyff has implemented at Ajax’s schools. They start playing with the first team’s tactics and playing style when they’re 4 or 5 years old, so by the time they get to the first team, they can do everything they’re asked of perfectly with that offensive 4-3-3 they’re always using. Cruyff’s created a system that has developed players like [Wesley] Sneijder, [Rafael] van der Vaart or Galaxy’s Nigel de Jong. And there’s more coming for sure.
Cruyff’s academy philosophy has become famous for the success both Ajax and Barcelona, and teams all over the world are looking to apply his methods. Rosales sees some of these 'best practices' starting to be applied in FC Dallas -and the MLS- too.
“You start looking at what Barcelona, Real Madrid, Bayern and Ajax in this case, are doing right so that you’re doing it too,” he said. “You want to look at teams that are doing things right so that you can be like them. Here, I’m starting to see changes in academies. They;re starting to be more involved with the first team. The mentality’s changing too. There’s a lot of young talented players that want to grow and win now. You’re starting to see coaches that are looking to learn and apply an offensive mentality too. That’s what modern soccer is all about. Being part of that is always good and enjoyable.”