Thread by @Football__Tweet

The legendary Johan Cruyff would have turned 76 today, so to celebrate we thought we’d do a thread of some of his career highlights and most famous quotes. 🧵🇳🇱

Johan Cruyff was one of the most influential men in the history of football as a player and a manager: 1️⃣4️⃣

As a player:

◉ 702 games
◉ 402 goals
🏆 3x European Cup
🏆 3x Ballon d'Or

As a manager:

◉ 551 games
◉ 338 wins
🏆 1x European Cup
🏆 4x La Liga

Johan won 3 consecutive European Cups with Ajax in 1971, 1972 and 1973. 🤯

Cruyff always had a way with words, a way of explaining his values and philosophy:

🗣️ "Quality without results is pointless. Results without quality is boring."

🗣️ "Playing football is very simple, but playing simple football is the hardest thing there is."

🗣 Johan Cruyff: “Technique is not being able to juggle a ball 1000 times. Anyone can do that by practicing. Then go and work in the circus. Technique is passing the ball with one touch, with the right speed, at the right time, to the correct foot of your team mate.”

Run it back to the 1974 World Cup, where Johan introduced the world to the ‘Cruyff turn’ for the very first time. 🔙🇳🇱

🗣️ Cruyff: "Why couldn’t you beat a richer club? I’ve never seen a bag of money score a goal." 💰🇳🇱

🗣️ Cruyff: "In my teams, the goalie is the first attacker, and the striker the first defender."

🗣️ Cruyff: ”Before I make a mistake, I don’t make that mistake."

Cruyff having a smoke in the dug-out. 🇳🇱

Run it back to 1982, when Cruyff and Jesper Olsen scored one of the most iconic penalties of all time for Ajax. 🥶

33 seconds of Cruyff trying to teach Hristo Stoichkov how to skip while they were both at Barcelona. 😂

🗣 Johan Cruyff: “One day, Romario asked me if he could miss training to go to Brazil for carnival. I said: ‘If you score 2 goals tomorrow you can go.’

He scored twice in 20 minutes against Real Madrid and asked to be replaced: ‘Coach, my plane leaves in 1 hour'.” 😂😂😂

🗣 Franz Beckenbauer: “When players like Bale and Ronaldo are worth around 100 million euros, Johan Cruyff would be in the billions.” 💰💥

🗣 Pep Guardiola: "Johan Cruyff painted the chapel, and Barcelona coaches since merely restore or improve it. I knew nothing about football before Cruyff, for me he is the most influential manager of all time."

Before there was Ibrahimović and Haaland, there was Johan Cruyff’s acrobatic goal against Atletico Madrid from the 1973/74 season.

🗣 Pep Guardiola: "This was how Johan Cruyff worked. He was demanding a lot, but when you got there, and you were in his team, he was an incredible protector. He would push and push you and then he would protect you. He was a master at handling players."

🗣 Cruyff: “Every coach talks about movement, about running a lot. I say don't run so much. Football is a game you play with your brain. You have to be in the right place at the right moment, not too early, not too late."

Cruyff’s cheeky chip against Haarlem in 1981. 😮‍💨

🗣️ Cruyff: "I'm not religious. In Spain, all 22 players make the sign of the cross before they enter the pitch. If it works all matches must therefore end in a draw."

Sit back and enjoy 3 minutes and 40 seconds of his genius in action. ⚽️🔥🇳🇱

🗣️ Cruyff: "The most important part of football is the fans, that people go home happy. It's their time off, and you should give them something to enjoy."

"Football is now all about money. There are problems with the values within the game. This is sad." 🕊️

Cruyff x Maradona

🗣️ Cruyff: "For the world of football, Messi is a treasure. He is a role model for children around the world. He is the player who will win the most Ballon d’Or in all of history. He will win five, six or seven. He is incomparable. He plays in a different league." 🕊️

Bob Wilson, Cruyff and Eusebio on vacation in the Algarve.

Of course Cruyff's last goal for Ajax was going to be an absolute beauty. 😏

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