 
Ajax, Barcelona, Cruyff
Average Rating: 5.0 Total Reviews: 1
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 On: 2006-04-22
Ajax, Barcelona, Cruyff is one of my favourite football books. Its fascinating to read Cruijffs opinions on football. Theyre so clear - he gets across in a sentence more than youll ever hear from most footballers. Some of it is so simple, but it really makes sense. Just as an example, he says that the real indication of a good footballer isnt what he can do when hes got lots of space, its what he can do with none. When I read that, Jack Charltons "put em under pressure" tactics with Ireland, and images of Denis Bergkamp doing things with his first touch that most footballers cant in three come to mind. He says that a good footballer needs just two things - first touch and passing. Everything else is finesse. Think of how the Dutch at their best, or the Brazilians, or Barcelona play - they can all pass a team to death.
The book is written by a couple of Dutch journalists. Cruyff wasnt too generous with interviews - he would charge for them when he did them at all. He trusted the guys who wrote the book though, and they had more access to him than any other journalists. The material in the book comes from interviews with Cruijff over the years, and it makes for fascinating reading.
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