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“Football is simple, but the hardest thing there is, is to play simple football.” – Johan Cruyff.
In order for the above title to make any sense to the average scope reader, I must indulge you in a little football history lesson. While the final between Spain and the Netherlands was largely dull, it could have been an entirely different contest where two traditionally attacking sides locked horns in a goals-fest. Instead, the Dutch failed to show up to the game.
Johan Cruyff, Dutch legend and arguably one of the most influential figures in football, is not the biggest fan of the current set up of the Dutch team; one that is intent to replace its more glamorous past for ugly football based on physicality. At the core of their midfield are two hard-tackling holding midfielders in Mark van Bommel and Nigel de Jong, both with the purpose of destroying their opponents’ plays rather than creating their own. The duo are a stark contrast to the likes of Frank Rijkaard and Ruud Gullit from the days gone by.
Cruyff should be forgiven for supporting the Spaniards over his own countrymen. Spain, after all, along with Barcelona, are the only two teams who have successfully adapted and developed the total football brand with desirable results. In late 1960s, Cruyff and his coach at Ajax Amsterdam, Rinus Michels, pioneered the first successful version of the total football tactical theory. With it, Ajax was transformed from a semi-professional side into consecutive European champions by the early 1970’s.
Total football is the purest form of attacking football. Prior to the introduction of the theory, teams generally fielded rigid formations where players stuck religiously to their positions; full-backs were strictly defensive and strikers were strictly offensive. That changed with Total Football as teams were encouraged to utilise all 11 players in both defensive and offensive situations. Players had no set positions and instead were free to roam around to create space for their teammates. The theory is simple: receive, pass and move the ball as a unit, create goal-scoring chances, and score. But, as Cruyff himself said, it is incredibly hard to pull off.
Only the technically gifted have been able to adopt the philosophy. World Cup 1974 was the first time the whole world witnessed total football in action. The Dutch team at the time humiliated opponents with such fluid football only to shockingly lose to Franz Beckenbauer-led West Germany in the final. Cruyff’s side became the standard bearer for the next generations of Dutch teams, all of which have failed to lift up to expectations.
Enter Spain. Cruyff and Michels left Ajax in 1974 to join Barcelona in Spain, mesmerising Spaniards with their brand of attacking football. Twenty years on, Cruyff had come of age to coach Barcelona to their first ever European Cup title. When he retired in 1996, he left behind a legacy that helped Spain to finally capture the elusive World Cup Trophy with their set of technically gifted players.
This was a victory 40 years in the making. Every successful Cruyffian team had their ‘conductors’, players who dictated the tempo and plays of the game, who went on to coach their sides with total football deeply embedded in their systems. Michels relied on Cruyff the player, Cruyff the coach relied on Guardiola the player, and Guardiola the coach relied on Xavi. Spain were quick to take advantage of this generational gain as Vicente del Bosque trusted Xavi to conduct his orchestra. The diminutive midfielder did not disappoint as he completed more passes (669) and created more goal-scoring chances (25) than anyone in the tournament.
Of course, today’s edition of total football has undergone changes from its pure beginnings. As Spain and Guardiola’s Barcelona show us, it would be suicide to play without dedicated defenders in today’s game where speed and physicality has become increasingly important assets. Therefore, at least three defenders must stay behind to ensure defensive security, while the rest of the seven outfielders are allowed to roam around and create havoc in the opponent’s half. The result: World Cup and Euro trophies for Spain and eight trophies for Barcelona all in the space of two years.
It’s hard to get excited by the current Dutch side, as hard as that is for a fan to admit. I would trade a place in the final for some traditional Dutch entertainment. It’s better to lose playing beautifully than to win ugly. I long for the days of Bergkamp wonder goals and Rijkaard gobbing onto Rudi Voeller’s hair. Instead, I get Dirk Kuyt and John Heitinga.
Kudos to Spain and their tiki-taka. They deserved it.
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