Johan Cruijff Player Quotations

When you play a match, it is statistically proven that players actually have the ball 3 minutes on average ... So, the most important thing is: what do you do during those 87 minutes when you do not have the ball. That is what determines wether you're a good player or not.

The hardest thing about an easy match is making a weak opponent play poor. A poor player isn't poor because he tends to kick the ball in his own goal. It's because when you put intense pressure on him, he loses control. So you have to increase the tempo of the game and he'll automatically give the ball away.

If my forward arrives in a one vs one situation, I always say: 'let him work it out.' Then my players say: But we can help him!'. My reply is: First, there's a good chance you'll only run in his way, and as a second attacker you're drawing a second defender with you, and two vs two is harder than one vs one.'

In small space a player has to be capable of acting quickly. A good player who needs too much time can suddenly become a poor player.

I always threw the ball in, because then if I got the ball back, I was the only player unmarked.

Ronaldo is better than George Best and Denis Law, who were two brilliant and great players in the history of United.

There are very few players who know what to do when they're not marked. So sometimes you tell a player: that attacker is very good, but don't mark him.

We must make sure their worst players get the ball the most. You'll get it back in no time.

Eric Cantona is a great player, but he's not as good as Ryan Giggs

Players today can only shoot with their laces. I could shoot with the inside, laces, and outside of both feet. In other words, I was six times better than today's players.

To play well, you need good players, but a good player almost always has the problem of a lack of efficiency. He always wants to do things prettier than strictly necessary.

Every professional golfer has a seperate coach for his drives, for approaches, for putting. In football we have one coach for 15 players. This is absurd.