The football that Johan Cruyff proclaimed, both at the player level with Rinus Michels as a teacher and as a coach in the different teams he led, is characterized by having the ball, constantly pressing, being offensive, treating the ball well and organizing with it. within the field of play with the aim of disorderly the rival. A style that, worse or better than others, has worked for the FC Barcelona to win important titles and go down in history as one of the best teams in the world, with Pep Guardiola as one of the main exponents of that idea today. A game philosophy with which the Blaugrana team is recognized historically, but which has been lost over the years with coaches who did not bet on the aforementioned concepts, such as, for example, Ronald Koeman.
The Dutchman is a legend of the Barça team and no one will forget everything he achieved at the club, but as a coach he has left many doubts at all times with decisions that have moved away from the original idea that has led the institution to success. And, despite the fact that he calls himself Cruyffista and Joan Laporta supports him, he is not a coach who bets on the philosophy of the club, which transcends the game system (4-3-3, 3-4-3, 4- 4-2, 4-2-3-1…).
A wrong message
Koeman does not practice positional play because, beyond using 4-3-3 and always looking to have the ball, his Barcelona does not exert pressure on the keeper, does not move the ball with speed to generate spaces within the rival block and yields the initiative when the score is in your favor. Everything transcends playing with three centrals (Cruyff used three centrals and Guardiola defended with a line of 4) or using wingers, it comes hand in hand with the collective way of behaving on the court and, after watching all the games with this coaching staff This version of the Barça team does not play positional play.
The problem is not betting on a different idea, as Luis Enrique MartÃnez did at the time, the problem is that Koeman proclaimed himself Cruyffista when his team bet on a totally different style of play. Despite being part of the Dream Team and knows Johan well, Ronald is far from being a coach who believes in the philosophy of the game that helped the club to be one of the best in history.
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