Defining Cruyff is not easy but there are some objective facts to assist: three times European Champion, three times Ballon d’Or winner, voted Europe’s Player of the Century in 1999, and third place in the World’s Player of the Century at the same time.
On the field, the most damming criticism of him is that he wasn’t Pele or Maradona, both of whom won World Cups, but neither changed the direction of travel in the game as Cruyff did. Pele’s Brazil seemed out of sight as they strutted their stuff at the 1970 World Cup. By 1974 the Dutch, with Cruyff pulling all the strings, had tactically moved the game on a generation. It would be decades before Brazil won the tournament again.
The Dutch know all this and, rightly, place Johan at the pinnacle of the game, but there was more going on in the Netherlands at the time. Feyenoord beat Cruyff and Ajax to the European Cup by 12 months as a generation of players matured together.
While the Netherlands took hosts Argentina to extra time in the 1978 World Cup final, Cruyff was watching on TV. Of course they would have won had he played, but that they came so close without him is a testament to the rest of his Dutch generation, forever in his shadow, but great nonetheless.
So would the Dutch revolution have happened without him? Something would have happened, Luxemburg would not have beaten the Netherlands in the 1970s, as they did in the 60s, but it would have been a revolution you might not have noticed. Ajax’ European Cup adventures may have ended with the 1-3 home defeat to Benfica in the 1969 quarter final. Feyenoord may not have edged extra time in the final the following season.
Allied to his skill, speed and strength, Cruyff opened the eyes of all who played with and against him. After Cruyff, opponents knew the old rules didn’t apply anymore.
Yesterday’s story in the Guardian, citing “sources at a major Premier League club” would signal the end of the last pretence of meritocracy in football, where the most wealthy will only play each other in European competition.
Resist of wither like Miss Havisham.
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Funny to see that a lot of rebels have headed to Dublin and the ole unionists have come out from their hiding places and are already polluting the blog.
Oh and a monarchist fae the dark ages.. won’t be forgetting that for a while lol.
Tony, anti-Irish? Nah, just grumpy.
Off out to that German company for some shopping. Tried Marks but i won’t be back. Guess i must be anti-Marksist!!
Matt, no lemon needed… it’s just an extravagance!!
Exits blog left… pursued by pitchforks. -:)
Matt Stewart
I’m sorry you had to witness such a culinary
outrage.
I would have asked the for the philistine to be
removed from the premises.
Matt Stewart,
I’m a Palestine, I never knew that!!
Duly noted.
Árd Macha
Apart from Tom ‘lucky strike’ Rogic, what other hoops were playing yesterday?
HH
blantyretim is praying for the Knox family on 25th March 2016 10:39 am
Lovely sunshine in Blantyre
Hope everyone heading over for the festivities has a great time
Me I’ll head to church then a wee fish tea
*me tae, Good Friday is a statutory holiday over here, wisnae when I lived at hame.
Woke up this morning, looked out the widnae and a wee song came tae my head “it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas”, one of the best winters in my 40+ years here but it’s still refusing tae leave.
Big Peat of Islay on 25th March 2016 12:21 pm
Green Man
No I’m a Tim through and through. I’m a monarchist. I would prefer we had Stuarts, Catholics, but if not we have to go with what we have. It’s the best form of Government. What we have – a puppet Monarchy – is NOT a monarchy.
*sounds a bit like my mother RIP who was a socialist through and through as well as President of the Women’s Guild, she did say tae me as a bhoy that the present form of government in the uk was way better than the US. Especially now with the Trumpet running for Pres.
On this Good Friday just thought I would share this with you:
There has long been a story that Pontius Pilate was actually born at Fortingall in Perthshire, also known as home to an ancient yew tree that could be as much as 5,000 years old (and, if so, is probably the oldest living thing on Earth).
It seems that between the Romans’ first incursion into Britain and their later invasion, Caesar Augustus dispatched envoys to establish diplomatic relations with some of the important British and Caledonian chieftains. These included a Caledonian chieftain called Metellanus, whose stronghold was at the head of Glen Lyon. A member of the Roman delegation to Metellanus’s tribe fathered a child with a Caledonian woman, and this child subsequently returned to Rome with his father (and, possibly, his mother), and was brought up as Pontius Pilate.
Perth during much of the later medieval period was known colloquially by its Scots-speaking inhabitants as “St John’s Toun” or “Saint Johnstoun” because the church at the centre of the parish was dedicated to St John the Baptist.
Now one of the most important figures in the knights templar and their successors the goatshaggers is St John the Baptist, so what with PP washing his hands and shaking then dry and the trooser lifters always shaking theirs.
just saying csc
Is this what happens to the blog when all the good posters are drunk in Dublin? :-)
On this the most solemn day on the religious calendar the bickering on the board is unchristian and pointless.
Howevva, where’s Kojo, it outrageous that the controversial Matt should encourage honest hard working people, the infirm and the retired to use salt on anything.
Years of health education show that the consumption of salt is associated with the onset of edema, high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease and stroke.
Paul67, what the Dickens are you doing allowing posting like this to slip through the web to pose a threat to all the oul’ codgers and the impressionable middle aged posters?
Matt Stewart
I have no dogmatic views on the correct order of adding condiments to a fish dish.
I get confused enough with the correct order for Tequila drinking.
Especially half way through the bottle.
Sftb,
It’s like this most days when you aren’t around.
Get on more often posting the good stuff :)
HH
MATTSTEWART@1:53
——————————-
Ah yes, the cerimonial ‘dressing’ of the fish’ – as you rightly say it’s all in the adherence to the strict condiment & juice criteria, handed down through the generations.
Of course it is not to be confused with the ‘address to the haggis’, another sacred ritual carried out in the deep midwinter.
There would indeed be an “explosive” situation should the 25th of January ever fall on a Friday, and Sharkeys decide to accomodate both traditions – we can only hope that this never transpires.
Ynot67: Soccer is not the best attended sport in Ireland. Gaelic games are. You will get as good or better attendances at horse racing and rugby matches as you do at soccer matches here.
The notion that EPL teams are better supported than Celtic is also nonsense. In the same way that some people say they ‘support’ Celtic, others declare their ‘support’ for EPL teams. However, very few of these people actually ‘support’ a team. They don’t attend matches, regularly purchase a broad range of club merchandise or attend supporters club functions. All they have is an expressed allegiance to a particular club.
As a regular attender at Celtic Park I see the volume of real supporters who go to matches through Dublin airport. Trust me, Celtic supporters outnumber Man U, Liverpool and Arsenal supporters. Furthermore, Celtic supporter club functions in Ireland are very well attended, again at least equally well attended as the large EPL clubs.
Big bones: Great to see you posting. Hope you are well.
TONTINE TIM
Nice post.
Ive been looking at the connections between Lambhill and the Knights Templar
Seemingly the KT were given lands by King David l.
Acre Rd, Knightswood, , Temple, Templehill, all have significance.
Fascinating stuff.
HH
Ard Macha
I heard Charlie Higson from The Fast Show on the radio the other day and he said that Paul Whitehouse, who can mimic ordinary members of the public within seconds of meeting them, had based the character of Rowley Birkin QC on a Scottish Solicitor called Andrew Rollo whom he had met on a Fishing Trip to Iceland (no information provided on the correct order of condiment additions BTW) and found him to be incomprehensible once a few drinks were taken.
BRTH: re your escapades in Dublin. You shouldn’t have posted that. Delaneys Dunkey and his son are now on a mission to do as much in just three days:-)
SFTB….
Sorry that’s a cop out…you can’t NOT have an opinion on such a fundamental controversy of the “fish supper eating” dogma. As for GG’s saltless life….my god…how can you consider a piece’n’fried egg or a freshly sliced tomato without it.
And then there is the tequila question…so just dropped into Laureston for a quick 12 pints with Grand 67. They tell me the bottom has dropped out of the tequila market ever since glesga burds got stuck into prosecco wae a dash of saki.
I’ll continue my research after the fella playin Led Zeppelin on the banjo realises I broke his strings when he went for a leak…
Hail hail
Matt
More controversy on the Fish Supper topic
The definitive Guide to eating Fish & Chips
setting free the bears for Res. 12 & Oscar Knox,
A class sketch.
Árd Macha
Mr Pastry
Yep, TLSS and Seinfeld in the same decade. No wonder there’s a comedic hole in my life!
I recall Larry trying to lie about how he acquired a black eye.
When his assistant says: “She hit you!” Larry asks how she knows.
“Everyone in the loop knows,Larry!”
Enter Hank.
“Gee, Larry! What happened to you?”
Almore spot on. Ynot67 visited us, Masty was asked to stop singing Rebel songs in a pub, so that’s it. Country is sh*te, the Celtic thing amongst the Irish is sh*te and he is not coming back.
Ynot67 an Thank you for coming over to see us, in fairness to you, you gave us every chance to impress you, sorry we didn’t come up to scratch.
Just to let you know though not all places or pubs are the same here, some don’t allow singing, some encourage it. There are plenty of places & pubs I wouldn’t go back to but you know I found the very same thing in any country I went to. Why don’t you come back and try a different pub.
And yet more..
some learned opinionating on the Salt & Vinegar dilemma
Off home, and will be in Donegal hopefully from tomorrow evening.
Beannachtai na Cásca oraibh uilig.
Árd Macha
Seems the Definitive answer might be to mimic the KFC approach and apply salt twice.
GG will be doubly offended.
“Thou shalt not bicker”.
Nah, ten’s enough!
CorkCelt: Thanks, and well said about the pub scene also.
Ard Macha: Agus duit Féin
Ah Matt highlights the dilemma of the sodium addicted Scottish diet.
As an enthusiastic but unskilled tomato grower I savour the taste of a still warm newly picked tomato, round, firm and glistening red as its plucked from the vine.
The various heirlooms need no salt to appreciate the sharp flavours of the succulent slice, either as a side, in a salad or as an ingredient in salsa along with ripe guacamole.
I’m away to check my seeds.
Salt, Vinegar lemon; lemon salt vinegar; vinegar lemon salt ? Whatever the order of the combination, it might matter of course, but where is the best fish and chips to be had ?
On the tomato growing theme, I may try to find a Green Zebra plant this summer.
Green Zebra
Of the green tomatoes, nothing stands out like Green Zebra. Not only does it taste wonderfully sweet-tart, but the color is incredible–apple green with gold stripes. It stays green when ripe, which can be a puzzling at first, but once you learn to “feel” rather than “look” for ripeness, this pretty tomato quickly earns favorite status. It is a somewhat small tomato, maturing at only 2 to 3 inches in size.
The colours are certainly appealing but the size is a wee bit of a concern.
Almore
Some of my Dublin escapades simply cannot be repeated online — too complex, would take too long and well…. never mind!
Anyway — Advice time.
Looking for advice for the best broadband phone and TV package? No exiting line so that will have to be installed. High speed fibre BB is available.
Firestick or Chrome cast?
All thoughts freatly received — will check in later.
Thanks
Battered,fish dressing or breadcrumbs
:)))))))))),
Cheers Almore
I lurk everyday, great post.
CorkCelt, well said, Na Corcaigh abú
Ard Mácha, go dtaitneoidh Dún na nGall leat
Hail Hail
Leftclick,
Battered and Roasted :)
HH
WITS
Captain Joy wins 12/1 cheers
Till later all
Thank you for being here,
Mam sitting tomorrow let the fun begin,
Wits
I love ye…
HH
Got it at 14s yesterday. Some man
BRTH up here in the Hebrides can’t see past BT or Plusnet, might be better getting advice from city based posters with hand-on experiences. H H Hebcelt
Captain Joy wins.
Outstanding work WITS