long live football

Cruyff, the representative figure of all-round football in the Netherlands, won the European Footballer of the Year three times as a player, and was also a world-renowned coach.

Since his transfer to Barcelona in 1973, he has formed an indissoluble bond with the Catalan giants. Cruyff's achievements as a player were not brilliant. By 1978, he had helped the team win a league championship and a One Copa del Rey.

But during the coaching period, Cruyff made outstanding contributions to Barcelona. He rebuilt the team and won the European Champions Cup, European Cup Winners' Cup, King's Cup and four consecutive league titles, including the 1992-92 season. The Champions League champion was the first European trophy in Barcelona's history. At that time, Barcelona was called the "Dream Team", and it was also the "Dream Team" that occasionally appeared in the media later.

Not only that, Cruyff is also one of the founders and leaders of Barcelona's youth training camp La Masia. He guided Barcelona's football philosophy. For decades, the entire club has been deeply influenced by Cruyff's thoughts. Influence, it can be said that it is not an exaggeration to advance under his guidance.

Therefore, Cruyff's status in Barcelona is very lofty.

However, in terms of being a player, coach and being a human being, the outside world's comments on Cruyff are polarized. Some people even use "two-faced man" to describe him.

Cruyff loved money.When he was a teenager, he often exchanged 95 points of Dutch guilders for 1 yuan of Dutch guilders in the Amsterdam store. This story is widely known by fans; The league, and then to La Liga's Levante, Ajax and Feyenoord, he and his agent father-in-law's desire for money is not much worse than that of Aneka and his brother today. What about Cruyff? Pay first” has become a well-known joke among the Dutch; at the behest of his father-in-law, Cruyff also became the first Dutch player to charge the media for interviews, and also for Adidas The more lucrative endorsement contract given, unilaterally tore up the contract with Puma.

Cruyff loved power.When he was a player, he had a great interest in power, and often discussed tactics with the head coach. From 1984 to 1996, when he was coaching Ajax and Barcelona as the head coach, he often gave instructions and asked the club's top management to act according to his wishes. Afterwards, he was fired by Barcelona due to poor grades, but he did not change his previous style. As long as there is a slight problem in the Barcelona team, he will always be the first to speak out; Cruyff can't hide it. After the 2004 European Cup, it was he who appointed Van Basten as the new coach. Although Van Basten performed poorly in the 06 World Cup, it was also his support that made him The Dutch Football Association did not dare to dismiss Van Baster.

For various reasons, the fans and media in the Netherlands are not very interested in Cruyff, because Cruyff has always supported the Spanish national team. Some extreme Dutch fans even said: "Cruyff? He has become a Are there Catalans?"

The Dutch regarded Cruyff as a Catalan, and the Catalans regarded him as one of their own.

Although he has retired from the position of head coach for more than ten years, Cruyff has been influencing Barcelona over the years.

Cruyff has been very dissatisfied since the news that Barcelona might find Mourinho to replace Rijkaard at the beginning of the year. , He couldn't sit still anymore, not only wrote an article criticizing Mourinho in "Daily Sport", another official mouthpiece newspaper of the Barcelona club, but also had an interview with "GOLAGOL" on Catalan TV The program said: "Mourinho's football philosophy is incompatible with Barcelona's traditions, and I strongly oppose the Barcelona club hiring him!"

"There are some things in Mourinho's character that I think are very dirty. Maybe his coaching experience is successful, but other people's praise for him, including compliments on Mourinho's personality and style. , but I don't agree, Mourinho is too selfish and egotistical, he only thinks for himself and doesn't listen to other people's opinions, if Barcelona really asks him to be the coach in the end, it will be a disaster for the whole club ..."

When the program host asked Cruyff, who is more qualified to be Barcelona coach than Mourinho, Cruyff said confidently: "Van Basten, Guardiola, Wenger, Ancelo Any one of them is more suitable than Mourinho to be the head coach of Barcelona!"

In Cruyff's mouth, Mourinho is not like a person who has little to do with him, but like his enemy.

……

If you really want to study it, there is actually no deep hatred between Mourinho and Cruyff. Mourinho once said that when he first joined Barcelona as an assistant coach, he admired Cruyff very much and wanted to Get guidance from the latter.

Then?There is no more.

But everyone can guess this follow-up. Cruyff advocates offense, and Mourinho has focused on defense since he was young. The two may have been in contact with each other, but later, perhaps because of their different football concepts, they gradually drifted away. Far.

Later, Mourinho returned to Portugal to start his journey as a head coach, and has come all the way to the present, while Cruyff has always stayed in Barcelona, ​​living a comfortable retirement life while not forgetting to be the "overlord" of Barcelona.

There was no connection between the two in the early years, but since Mourinho took charge of Chelsea, there have been more reports mentioning the two of them at the same time.

Especially after the Barcelona-Chelsea game in 2005, Cruyff immediately accepted an interview with BBC TV, accusing Mourinho of not playing football well enough, and Mourinho was not to be outdone, and quickly countered: "After 1996, Cruyff only does two things, play golf and criticize other football people! He imposes his ideas on Barcelona, ​​if he does that, I welcome him to the Premier League, we can personally in football compared on the court."

Mourinho has pinched Cruyff's weakness. To deal with people like him, there is a rogue but very effective method, that is-you say I can't, you can do it!

After Mourinho's words were thrown out, Cruyff really fell silent.

But the pause was only temporary. In the future, whenever Barcelona lost and Chelsea won, Cruyff would jump three feet high, beating his chest and mourning: "Beautiful football is dead! Beautiful football is dead!"

It's true that Barcelona's football is beautiful, but is Chelsea's defensive counterattack useless?

Just as the same thriving is meaningless, only the blooming of a hundred flowers can bring real prosperity, football must also be diversified to be attractive, if the whole world plays exactly the same tactics, the fans will definitely be bored to watch the game, and various media hire The football pundits are also out of a job.

However, Cruyff will not think about diversification or not. He is fascinated by the tactical system he created, and he only believes in his own tactics. If anyone sings against him, he will never stop. Pen, will never choose to shut up.

……

Cruyff's words caused great repercussions in Catalonia.

The status of "Godfather of Barcelona" has made most Barcelona fans in Catalonia admirers of Cruyff. His words are not only more useful than the head coach and team captain, but even more influential than the words of the club chairman .

When Cruyff made it clear that he didn't like Mourinho, even if Barcelona fans had looked forward to Mourinho's arrival before, their favorability would now be reduced by three or four points.

Most of the media in Catalonia also kneel and lick Cruyff. Of course they will choose the former between Cruyff and Mourinho.

As for other Spanish regions except Catalonia, especially the Madrid region, they are afraid that Mourinho's joining will be brought a strong boost by Barcelona, ​​and their teams will definitely be overwhelmed by Barcelona in the league. , So he also fanned the flames and tried his best to reject Mourinho from coaching Barcelona.

When Cruyff saw that even the newspapers in Madrid began to pursue him, he became more confident, thinking that his words were wise words, and he became more and more eloquent, and he became more and more unscrupulous in front of the media.

But in other European regions except Spain, such as Germany, France, and Italy, the media fans who speak for Mourinho account for the majority, especially the British media. After Mourinho left, they realized the madman Well, as much as the Spanish media belittled Mourinho, the Premier League media raised it as much. Suddenly, public opinion in European football formed an extremely strange formation.

Mourinho has always been a person who repays revenge and kindness, but this time Cruyff taunted him in front of the public, but he did not see any counterattack.

Carl then guessed that Mourinho really valued the job in Barcelona, ​​so he endured Cruyff.

He specifically called Mourinho and asked him: "Cruyff is messing with you like this, is there any problem between you and Barcelona?"

"I think he knew that Barcelona's vice-chairman Ingra and sports manager Begiristan had met with me half a month ago and reached a verbal agreement, so he couldn't help jumping out." Mourinho said A few days is actually a bit of a bad premonition, but people, I always don't want to believe that I will be unlucky: "I have already met semi-officially, and I also handed over Barcelona's plan for next season to them, by the way , Mendez was there at the time, and there should be no more accidents."

"Proposals?" Carl suddenly remembered the scene a few months ago: "The ones you were busy working in your study around Christmas?"

"Well." Although this matter is still a secret that only a few people know, but for Carl, Mourinho will not hide it: "I have the habit of doing sufficient preparations before joining the job. The first time I met Abra When Movic met on the yacht, I took dozens of pages of Chelsea's detailed plan, and this time it was the same for Barcelona, ​​from the analysis of Rijkaard's current lineup players, to the strengths and weaknesses of the lineup, and what else? Dealing with the dressing room, even the transfer plans, I have mentioned that other candidates for Barcelona's coach, there is no one who has prepared better than me."

Mourinho has been planning for this job for more than half a year. He is ready enough to take over the team one day before and have the confidence to lead the team to play games the next day. This is why he feels that it is impossible for Barcelona to abandon himself and choose other people's reasons.

Hearing that Mourinho has paid so much for the position of Barcelona coach, and almost put his whole body and mind into it, Karl felt admiration, but at the same time, he was not worried about his friend: if there is only a verbal agreement and no contract is signed, the job will be lost. It can't be regarded as Mourinho's. What if Barcelona suddenly repents?Wouldn't Jose's whole year's hard work be in vain?

But think about it again: a giant like Barcelona will never backtrack on what it says, right?

So after thinking about it for a long time, Karl still suppressed the words of warning he wanted to say to his friend, and only followed Mourinho's words to comfort him a few words to strengthen the other party's confidence.

……

In the few days after the call between Carl and Mourinho, Barcelona's official mouthpieces "Mundo Deportivo" and "Daily Sport" successively published news that shocked the two: First, Cruyff told the Barcelona club I recommend Guardiola.

Then Barcelona chairman Laporta suddenly changed his tone. Half a month ago, he was still praising "Mourinho is one of the best coaches in the world today, and any team is very eager to get him", but now he suddenly hesitated and said : "Mourinho may not be very suitable for Barcelona's style."

Then there is Guardiola, who is currently the head coach of Barcelona's second team. The head coach of the Barcelona first team?" Guardiola smiled and said: "That is my dream."

Mourinho and Mendes finally couldn't sit still. They hurriedly contacted Barcelona's vice-chairman Ingra and sports manager Begiristan. It was these two people who visited Mourinho's home in Portugal. However, Different from the earnest attitude of the two last time, this time they didn't even answer the phone.

Mourinho was so angry that he immediately wanted to contact the media to expose the actions of the Barcelona club, but the rational Mendes stopped him-after all, Barcelona and them were only verbal agreements, and there is no legal effect without black and white Well, if Mourinho just scolds back regardless, they will not be able to convince the public without evidence, and they can only make a mess of themselves.

However, Mendes did not do nothing. He found a well-known Portuguese reporter with a good relationship and told the other party the whole matter. The focus was on the CD that Mourinho gave to the Barcelona club. Convinced by several reporters, Mendes also extracted a lot of key information from the CD, copied them and handed them over to the other party.

As soon as the reporter saw the thick copy paper and the training schedule of the team that was obviously full of madman style, he believed most of it. After going back, he read all the materials overnight, and then rushed to write a letter before the newspaper was printed that day. Article news: "Barcelona turned its face overnight, and the madness wasted!" "

This report not only perfectly reproduced Mendes' words, but also portrayed the ruthless face of the Barcelona club with added fuel and vinegar. A lot of things were written in the report of the day, including Mourinho's transfer suggestions to Barcelona, ​​and the rectification plan for daily training and the atmosphere of the locker room.

The European football world was stunned again: it turns out that there is such an important disc in this coaching farce!

A group of reporters from all over the world flocked to Mourinho's home in Portugal. Facing countless microphones and cameras, the madman didn't say that he was only one step away from becoming the coach of Barcelona, ​​and he didn't directly nod that the CD-ROM did exist. Euphemistically said: "I used to think that I was infinitely close to the Barcelona club, and I made a lot of efforts for this."

The reporters' eyes lit up: acquiescence!This is the default!

No matter how crazy and arrogant Mourinho is, he still disdains to lie. This is the consensus of most European fans. In addition, some Dong Qiudi and football reporters have studied the legendary "CD-ROM" and found that it is true. There is something, almost every suggestion exists to change the current bad situation of Barcelona, ​​and I believe even more in Mourinho's words, "The reputation of the Barcelona club has become a bit stinky in Europe for a while."

Perhaps irritated by Mourinho's actions, Barcelona chairman Laporta was interviewed by the media again three days before the first leg of the Champions League semi-final: "The club's head coach for next season has been finalized, not Mourinho. "And there is also an explanation for the so-called CD-ROM: "Mourinho said that he made all the plans for Barcelona next season? Hundreds of pages of information."

It was almost like Barcelona slapped Mourinho, Mourinho slapped back, Barcelona slapped again.

The most exciting news in European football recently, apart from the upcoming semi-finals of the Champions League, is the "Disc Gate" incident.

As Mendes said, Mourinho handed the CD to the vice chairman of Barcelona. There is no record of sending emails, and the two parties have not signed a contract. Both Rinho and Barcelona are people without evidence, so some fans believe in Mourinho, and some believe in Barcelona.

A few months later, the summer transfer window in European football opened. Barcelona bought Alves and Keita, but did not let Eto'o go.

This coincides with Mourinho's transfer proposal to Barcelona that was exposed in Portuguese newspapers in mid-April.

However, in addition to buying these two players and keeping Eto'o, Barcelona has also done some other transfer activities, so it cannot be said that they copied Mourinho's hard work. Smart.

……

Carl called Mourinho, who only had a wry smile: "I don't believe what they say anymore."

Carl didn't know what to say.

Mourinho quickly let go of these pasts and decided to look forward: "Anyway, I am not nobody wants, Mendes is already in contact with a new club, I will not suffer the same loss twice. Wait and see , me and Barcelona will meet again sooner or later."

Carl thought for a while, then smiled and said, "Maybe I can vent your anger on you first."

……

The first leg of the UEFA Champions League semi-final between Barcelona and Munich 1860 was held at the Nou Camp.

At the pre-match press conference, after announcing the starting lineup, Karl indicated that the press officer could enter the media questioning session.

Dozens of arms were raised in unison, and some reporters who couldn't wait asked questions directly, and the venue suddenly became very noisy.

The question from a well-known reporter is very interesting. What he asked was: "What do you want to say about this matchup with Barcelona?"

Perhaps the original intention of the reporter was to let Carl express his confidence in the victory, or to provoke a final little war of words when the game was approaching, but Carl took advantage of this opportunity very well and threw a big blow to the media present. Bomb: "Just now I checked the perpetual calendar with my mobile phone and found out that tomorrow, April 4th, is not only the match day between 25 Munich and Barcelona, ​​but also Mr. Cruyff's birthday! What a coincidence! I want to give Mr Cruyff a birthday present, I hope he will feel happy when he sees it tomorrow."

All the media present fell into a one-minute sluggish period.

Then they woke up after Karl got up and left the field: Oston mentioned that he would give Cruyff a gift on tomorrow's match day, but he didn't say what kind of gift it was. It didn't make it clear that he wanted to give the result of the game to Cruyff Husband!

As the head coach of Munich 1860, could Oston curse his team and congratulate Barcelona on the victory in advance?impossible!So what Oston said just now must be cursing that Barcelona must lose, and then celebrating Cruyff's birthday with Barcelona's loss... Poisonous, too poisonous!What kind of hatred does Oston have with Cruyff, that he would say such vicious words without a word of swearing on the day before the birthday of the godfather of Barcelona?

A reporter reacted quickly and exclaimed instantly: "Mourinho!"

So all the people present understood: No wonder everyone said that Mourinho has a good relationship with him. In order to vent his anger on Mourinho, Auston is not afraid of offending the famous football player. Such a friend... I am also fine I want to have it!

After the press conference, the editor-in-chiefs of the major newspapers immediately called the reporters of the Portuguese branch and asked them to find Mourinho to see his reaction.

Mourinho is easy to find. He has been staying at his home in Lisbon recently. The reporter squatted in front of his house for two hours, and easily waited for the madman wearing a T-shirt and shorts to go out to take out the garbage.

When the reporter played the video data recorded at the press conference to Mourinho in his notebook, Mourinho was silent for a few seconds, and then laughed wildly: "Hahahaha!" He laughed very happily, It's like wanting to vent all the depression and unhappiness that has been going on for so long!

……

On April 4, Barcelona played against 25 Munich at home.

Cruyff came to the Nou Camp early, gave up celebrating his birthday with his family and friends, and came to watch the game. One is because today’s Champions League game is very important to Barcelona, ​​and the other reason is that Cruyff Ive wanted to see Munich 1860 bad luck.

After seeing the news about the pre-match press conference last night, Cruyff was so angry that one Buddha ascended to heaven and two Buddhas were born. He immediately called Rijkaard and ordered the other party through gritted teeth: "Tomorrow's game must be won. They must beat them and walk out of Camp Nou crying!"

Rijkaard, who also watched the news, naturally knew who "they" were referring to.

However, unlike Cruyff's panic, although Rijkaard agreed to Cruyff on the surface and comforted him, he was actually very dark in his heart-the relationship between him and Cruyff is negotiable. Not good, even a little bit bad.

At the beginning of this season, when Rijkaard's coaching performance declined, Cruyff gave him and the team very severe criticism, and even instructed him to start cleaning the locker room, such as selling Ronaldinho, etc. But Rijkaard had great expectations for Ronaldinho and refused to listen to Cruyff, which made the relationship between the two go from harmonious to bad. Today's phone call is still the relationship between the two since the New Year The first private conversation between.

Play as hard as you can, this is what Rijkaard must do, but not for Cruyff, but for Barcelona.

Laporta invited Cruyff to watch the game in his chairman's box, Cruyff went, but there he met a stranger.

"This is the newly appointed chairman of Munich 1860, Mr. Wildermoser." Laporta introduced the two: "This is Cruyff, the honorary chairman of our Barcelona club, and the honorary principal of La Masia. "

Cruyff's expression turned ugly all of a sudden.

Wildmoser immediately put on a smile on his face, friendly, and even stretched out his hand in a flattering way.

When Wildmoser resigned from the chairmanship last time, 1860 Munich was still a small club, and there was no chance to fight against giants from other countries, because they could not meet those legendary figures who were well-known in football history. Later, the club rose. The team began to fight in Europe, and the one who represented Munich 1860 as a guest at other giant stadiums became Auer who succeeded him as chairman... How much has Wildmoser missed in the past few years to meet and talk with famous football figures? Chance for friendship!Fortunately, starting from this year, everything can be made up for.

Facing the smiling face of the new chairman of Munich 1860, Cruyff could not arouse much enthusiasm. He shook hands with the other party as if going through the motions, and then went to sit in front of the seat, showing very disrespectful to Wildmoser.

Wildmoser was treated coldly, and his face became a little ugly.

Laporta took the initiative to invite him to sit down, and did not explain to Cruyff: "John (Cruyff's name) did not mean to target you on purpose, he was just in a bad mood, because yesterday..."

Wildmoser felt angry when he heard this: Oston, Oston again!It doesn't matter if the team management is so airtight that he can't get in, but he dares to offend the godfather of Barcelona and let him be implicated!Damn, it's really too hateful!