Johan Cruyff: Last News

Manchester United could fail to deliver Erik ten Hag's request over grass length at Old Trafford because it might die in the cold winter months if it is cut too short. The three-time Eredivisie winning manager is confident he can bring major silverware back to the club using the methods that made him successful at Ajax, but playing his brand of 'Total Football' might not be as easy at their home ground.

While Erik ten Hag was an embracive positive aura in his first press conference, history shows the Dutchman can also be ruthless in his examinations.

Pep Guardiola, Johan Cruyff and Sir Alex Ferguson are three of the most revered coaches of our time, but for some reason, none of them have tried the revolutionary idea of sticking a goalkeeper up front.Thankfully, there's one man who has.Step forward Stuart Pearce, who, on the final day of the 2004-05 season, made the madcap decision to convert David James into a centre-forward as Manchester City chased qualification for the UEFA Cup.With two minutes of normal time remaining and City needing to score, 'Psycho' lived up to his name (and then some) by replacing midfielder Claudio Reyna with second-choice stopper Nicky Weaver and throwing James up front.Pearce had hoped to unsettle the Middlesbrough defence, but according to Boro No.1 Mark Schwarzer - James' opposite number in the Teessiders' goal - it actually delivered the opposite effect. Schwarzer, speaking exclusively to Ladbrokes at its launch of the 5-A-Side Bet on Leicester v West Ham, revealed the reaction of the shocked Boro players.

Josip Juranovic got his big footballing break by being a midfield maestro.

Daily Star Sport reflects on his career fuelled by goals and derailed by alcohol, sex and constant partying… If there were some concerns over his professionalism, no one could question Romario’s appetite for finding the back of the net during his playing days.His exploits for Vasco da Gama as a teenager caught the eye of clubs from Europe and he was snapped up by Dutch giants PSV in 1988.In his five seasons in the Netherlands, there was simply no striker on the same level as him, as Romario bagged an incredible 128 goals in 149 appearances under Guus Hiddink.Johan Cruyff recruited him for his Barcelona ‘dream team’ in 1993 and he carried on where he left off, steering the Catalan giants to the title with 30 goals in 33 La Liga appearances in 1993-94.Despite some fine performances, including a hat-trick in the Clasico against Real Madrid and in the 4-0 drubbing of Manchester United in the Champions League, he lasted just 18 months in Spain after a row with Cruyff.HAVE YOUR SAY: Who is the greatest footballer to have ever graced the game? Comment below.After contributing to Brazil’s World Cup triumph in 1994, Romario saw his stock fall dramatically and he headed back to Brazil with Flamengo before joining Fluminense and boyhood club Vasco for two more spells.His form would have secured him a place in the Selecao’s World Cup squad four years later at France ’98, but a knee injury robbed him of the chance to feature.

Tributes are pouring in for former Feyenoord and Celtic manager Wim Jansen, who today passed away aged 75.

Liverpool defender Nat Phillips performed an audacious 'Cruyff turn' on the edge of his box against AC Milan in the Champions League on Tuesday, we thought we'd take a look back at some of the game's greatest tricks and who invented them.As you might expect, their architects are often some of the sports finest ever players, but not always.So with that in mind, here are eight footballers who invented iconic skills.We'll start with the aforementioned Cruyff turn, first introduced to the world by Dutch legend Johan Cruyff during Holland's tie with Sweden during the 1974 World Cup.Being closely marked by defender Jan Olsson, Cruyff feigned a pass before unexpectedly executing an abrupt 180-degree turn by playing the ball behind his standing leg

Antonio Cassano claims he received an angry text from Cristiano Ronaldo demanding respect after he criticised the Portuguese superstar.

Ajax has one of the most renowned youth academies in the world: after all, Johan Cruyff, Frank Rijkaard, and Dennis Bergkamp have all called it home.And when Rafael van der Vaart arrived through the doors in 2000, big things were expected of the midfielder.In fact, so highly rated was Van der Vaart in Amsterdam he was dubbed the next Cruyff.For a brief period, he lived up to the moniker too, and the Dutchman was even awarded the FIFA Golden Boy award.However, shortly after breaking into the first team at Ajax, the Dutch side splashed out on a young Swedish striker, Zlatan Ibrahimovic."At that time we were both young and I was the best player in Ajax," Van der Vaart recalled to Ukrainian news outlet Football.ua."He came to the club and

When Ajax made it to the Champions League semi-final in the 2018/19 season, there was an array of young stars exceeding expectations, playing fluid and dynamic football and representing the Dutch giants like Johan Cruyff envisaged.

Pep Guardiola summoned the spirit of his mentor Johan Cruyff ahead of Manchester City's latest Champions League test.

Lionel Messi has won everything there is to win at Barcelona, but there's one award the Argentine ace is missing out on - the club's greatest ever player.Despite having scored 663 goals in 768 matches for the Catalan club, Messi is currently only second in a poll of Barcelona's greatest ever players.The six-time Ballon d'Or winner is runner-up on the list, putting him ahead of the likes of Johan Cruyff, Diego Maradona, Ronaldo and Pep Guardiola.Messi is polling 5,000 votes in total, leaving him almost 10,000 behind the legendary Barcelona figure who holds the number one spot.The number one position belongs to mid-90s star and member of Cruyff's Barcelona 'Dream Team', Hristo Stoichkov.The Bulgarian star currently has over 14,000 votes,

straight to your inboxJamie Carragher has warned Manchester City that their winning run will count for very little if they are not crowned European champions.City made it 20 wins in a row in all competitions at the weekend when they beat West Ham 2-1 thanks to goals from Ruben Dias and John Stones.That victory means they are just six wins away from equalling the European record for consecutive wins, which is currently held by Johan Cruyff's Ajax side in 1972, managed by Stefan Kovacs.Speaking on Sky Sports' Monday Night Football, Carragher said he feels Pep Guardiola's side have already won the Premier League thanks to their 12-point cushion over second-placed Manchester United.Yet he warned that their winning run will mean very little if

Laurie Cunningham signed for Real Madrid in 1979 in the presence of the then Baggies' boss, Big Ron AtkinsonAnd where sporting dinners would be held with soccer legends from Johan Cruyff and Bill Shankly to Brian Clough and Trevor Francis as well as motorsport favourites Nigel Mansell and Barry Sheene. Welcome to the 1863 London Museum Tavern and Music Hall which became a cinema from 1912-31 and was later reinvented as Lorenzo's, unquestionably the city's No 1 celebrity restaurant in the 1970s and 80s.

Georginio Wijnaldum has made it clear his mind is only on Liverpool's derby clash with Manchester United on Sunday afternoon.

Gini Wijnaldum will snub Liverpool's last-ditch efforts to keep him at the club – to fulfil a boyhood dream with Barcelona.

Manchester United legend and Ajax CEO Edwin van der Sar is “honoured” by transfer interest from his former club in Dutch stars.The 50-year-old spent six seasons at Old Trafford, winning four Premier League titles and a Champions League honour under Sir Alex Ferguson.Having retired in 2011, the Dutchman chose the business path as he joined the board at the Johan Cruyff Arena.As CEO for the last four year, he has been responsible for bringing in talents such as Donny van de Beek, Hakim Ziyech and Matthijs de Ligt.And Van der Sar admitted that he was happy to see them leave for clubs such as his former stomping ground.

Van de Beek could have Fernandes impactIt wasn't just the sublime turn on the 40-minute mark, which MUTV's commentators compared to Dutch legend Johan Cruyff, that showed what Donny van de Beek can do. It was his entire performance, for the whole 90 minutes, that showed United may well have signed a gem in the former Ajax playmaker.And while there may be gripes from some United fans unhappy that their side lost the game, and the fact that former transfer target Jack Grealish was influential in Villa's win, they cannot complain about Van de Beek's display.

Don't wait 30 years - sign up for our daily football email newsletter today!Real Madrid pair Sergio Ramos and Karim Benzema conspired to produce a similar penalty blunder to that of former Arsenal duo Thierry Henry and Robert Pires.On a night where Los Blancos sealed the La Liga title, Ramos and Benzema still somehow gave Barcelona fans something to laugh about.With Real 1-0 up against Villarreal, the duo attempted to imitate the famous spot kick routine made famous decades ago by Johan Cruyff and Jesper Olsen.The plan was for Ramos to pass to Benzema from 12 yards rather than go for goal, but it went pear-shaped for them just as it did for Pires and Henry against Manchester City in 2005.Madrid's talismanic duo hoped to provide fans with a

Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has given his verdict on who is the greatest between Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Barcelona legend Hristo Stoichkov claims Pep Guardiola just got lucky when he was made manager of the Catalan giants.