Martin Malin

Ten years ago today Johan Cruyff passed away. The night Barcelona lost Pep Guardiola's first La Liga match as head coach, everyone around Cruyff said Pep was not ready. Cruyff watched the same game and said it was the best football he had seen in years. That tells you everything about the man we lost a decade ago. When Guardiola took his first La Liga match as Barcelona head coach in 2008, Barcelona lost 1-0 to newly promoted Numancia. Everyone around Cruyff was already calling it a disaster. Cruyff turned to his son Jordi and said it was the best football he had seen in years. Jordi disagreed. But Cruyff never looked at the end product of 90 minutes. He looked at the end product of many years to come. He was right. And I want you to understand exactly how right he was. That first season Guardiola led Barcelona to the treble, La Liga, Copa del Rey and the Champions League, becoming the youngest manager to ever lift the European Cup at 37 years old. In total he accumulated 14 trophies across four seasons at Barcelona, the most successful managerial stint in the club's history. He then went to Bayern Munich and became the first foreign coach to win the Bundesliga three times in a row, adding seven trophies in three seasons in Bavaria. At Manchester City he has won six Premier League titles including four consecutive ones from 2021 to 2024, the first time in history any club had achieved that. In 2023 he became the first manager in history to win the Treble twice, having previously done it with Barcelona in 2009. He now sits second on the all-time list of most decorated managers in football history with 40 trophies, behind only Sir Alex Ferguson's 49. All of that started with a 1-0 defeat to Numancia. And a man sitting in a room who saw something nobody else in the building could see. Without him I would not be here, Guardiola said. He changed not one club. He changed two clubs. It is impossible to find a person like this. Rest in peace Johan Cruyff. The architect never stopped building even after he left the room. My name is Ajoje. I am a FIFA Licensed Agent and International Sports Lawyer. I write on the Law and Business of Football, a lot. Repost and Follow if you want to read more posts like this.

Martin O'Neill has NEVER lost against Dundee United while in charge of Celtic 🔥