Johan Cruyff Quotes

When you play a match, it is statistically proven that players actually have the ball 3 minutes on average ... So, the most important thing is: what do you do during those 87 minutes when you do not have the ball. That is what determines wether you're a good player or not.

His legs have a mind of their own, his foot shoots by itself... Roberto Baggio is a big horsetail that flicks away opponents as he flows forward in an elegant wave.

There is a no more complete striker than Ronaldo. Left foot, right foot, header - he is in perfect control of everything he does.

I have great technique, a good shot, and I'm pretty good in the air.

I can honestly tell you that playing against Messi is very difficult.

I really admire Zinedine Zidane and Frank Lampard. They are really skilful, and I like the way they shoot from distance.

The best I've played against is Luis Figo. As for team-mates, it has to be Zinedine Zidane. He made things easier for everybody.

For skills and tricks, Ronaldinho was the best player I've played with.

What Zidane can do with a football, Maradona could do with an orange.

I think my history as a coach shows I like players who are gifted technically and have courage when it comes to being in possession of a football. That is a key quality for me.

I always threw the ball in, because then if I got the ball back, I was the only player unmarked.

Playing football is very simple, but playing simple football is the hardest thing there is.

Zidane is unique. The ball flows with him. He is more like a dancer than a football player.

Someone who has juggled the ball in the air during a game, after which four defenders of the opponent get the time to run back, that's the player people think is great. I say he has to go to a circus.

Technique is not being able to juggle a ball 1000 times. Anyone can do that by practicing. Then you can work in the circus. Technique is passing the ball with one touch, with the right speed, at the right foot of your team mate.

We can't replace Gary Speed - where do you get an experienced player like him with a left foot and a head?

Kicking is very important in football. In fact, some of the more enthusiastic players even kick the ball, occasionally.

Lampard, for me, was a marvellous servant for Chelsea, but I didn't think of him as an elite international footballer. And I am one of the few who felt Gerrard was not a top, top player.

Being thick isn't an affliction if you're a footballer, because your brains need to be in your feet. And Beckham works hard, he's brave and he crosses a ball superbly. He treats a football like he does a wife, lovingly, with caresses.

Every professional golfer has a seperate coach for his drives, for approaches, for putting. In football we have one coach for 15 players. This is absurd.

There are some things Ronaldo can do with a football that make me touch my head and wonder how on earth he did it.

There are very few players who know what to do when they're not marked. So sometimes you tell a player: that attacker is very good, but don't mark him.

I still have a lot of room for improvement. For example, I want to shoot equally well with both feet.

Geoff Hurst had a hammer in his left boot and good left feet are like bricks of gold.

If he continues like this then I think Messi will be the best player in the history of football.