Jordi Cruyff interview: Ten Hag and Slot doing battle at Man Utd and Liverpool would make Dad proud

Manchester United’s Ten Hag and Liverpool’s Slot built reputations coaching two of Johan Cruyff’s former Dutch teams

If there is a directors’ box in paradise, the architect of modern football Johan Cruyff will surely be taking a VIP seat to watch the Premier League’s “Dutch derby” between Manchester United and Liverpool this weekend.
Cruyff’s eternal legacy now penetrates a fixture that routinely attracts a global TV audience of 500 million and will this weekend captivate supporters in Amsterdam and Rotterdam as much as Salford and Bootle.
United’s Erik ten Hag and Liverpool’s Arne Slot built their reputation coaching Cruyff’s former Eredivisie sides, Ajax and Feyenoord, their vision rooted in the Dutch master’s work.
“The incredible thing with my father is it is a never-ending, beautiful story. He was a legend and immortal,” says Johan’s son, Jordi. “My father used to say, ‘my wallet and my trophies do not fit in the coffin. What am I really leaving behind?’
“What people want to see is enjoyable, offensive football – to be happy with the effort and the intent and to be proud of the team. That was the religion of my father.”
The inevitable follow-up is which leader of the Premier League superpowers is the most effective disciple of Cruyff’s total football? The answer, of course, is the one who Ten Hag and Slot must overtake, Pep Guardiola.
“Pep always mentions my father and we are super grateful and immensely proud for that,” says Cruyff. “Although as a family we think that he has modernised it and all the credit is his own.”
Ten Hag and Slot aim to get closer having studied the same gospel.
“In general, the Dutch way is to say, ‘I am not afraid to lose, I play to win’,” says Cruyff. “It doesn’t matter who it is against or if it is an away game, if we play well, the statistics show we are more likely to win, so I want to dominate, I want to play my game, I want to be the boss on the pitch and press as high as I can.
“This is typical Dutch, but it is no longer just Dutch. It has expanded across all levels. You see it with Spain because there is an obvious synchronisation between Spain and Holland and the way Barcelona played for many, many years.
“In Germany, the champion is a Spanish coach. In France, the champion is a Spanish coach. In England, the champion is a Spanish coach. Maybe there are small details that differ, but the philosophy is there.
“My father would prefer to win 5-4 than 1-0. I think 90 per cent of coaches prefer 1-0, but he had this romantic feeling. Pep also has it, although he would prefer to win 5-0!”
Cruyff says judging which of Ten Hag and Slot most closely reflects those ideals needs the context of the conditions in which they are working.
“Slot has brought that typical Dutch way of playing to Liverpool,” says Cruyff. “He knows how to combine what is needed for modern football. The challenge is to bring this into a game of such speed, knowing the English way is so different. When you look at the big leagues, Spain is more technical and England is more transitional. There are good players with technique, of course, but the games are much more about a lot of back and forth, very fast. On Tuesday you can have a game go one way [tactically], and on Saturday you might play a team that goes with long balls and you need a different adaptation. That is the beauty of the Premier League. But Slot is definitely ready for this step.
“Ten Hag made the step a while ago for what he did with Ajax. Ajax has always been a huge ‘export’ club. If you do well at Ajax all the markets are open. Feyenoord is also a huge club, but with Feyenoord you have to do a lot to be seen. Feyenoord is not a team that won the league seven times over 10 years, so Slot has done very well and he made a clever decision waiting for a year when Spurs came for him and he decided to stay.”
Cruyff believes Ten Hag shares many of the familiar Dutch traits. The Old Trafford manager famously quizzed – or more precisely lectured – his idol Johan as a 13-year-old appearing on Dutch TV. Cruyff Jnr almost appointed the United manager when sporting director of Maccabi Tel Aviv in 2016, opting instead for the then more experienced Peter Bosz. He suggests it is now, under a “calmer” United board, that a fairer assessment of Ten Hag can be made.
“United is a club that has been waiting to make that next step up again,” says the former United winger. “It has all the potential, but it has not been easy with the ownership situation and now new people coming in. It has not been the ideal moment because sometimes you need 100 per cent stability to get the maximum from yourself and the team. When it is unstable it is more difficult. But now is the moment Ten Hag will really be expected to produce. People will be saying, ‘you have everything the club needs’ with stability, new people coming in and the players he has been able to bring.
“The FA Cup gave Ten Hag more time and belief. It was an important moment for him. He is bringing more players he has worked with before, so you would imagine that will bring the Dutch style he wants. From the outside, it looks like he is surrounding himself with more people who understand what he wants and expects.
“Now you have to do it, whereas Slot is at the beginning and will have more patience.”
Sitting from his plush Barcelona apartment preparing for his own return to coaching after a two-year spell as sporting director at the Nou Camp ended last year, Cruyff recognises the genetic trail from Rinus Michels to his father and every aspiring coach.
When appointed at Anfield, Slot remarked on the “expectation” at the biggest clubs to play possession football back to front, while also being open to tactical flexibility.
“If a coach stays with what was happening 30 years ago, they are already falling behind,” says Cruyff. “It is about certain characteristics to play to win and play in the opponent’s half. There are many different ways to play to win, of course.
“I am always shocked when I see some images from the World Cup in 1974. You see Holland playing the offside trap so high up the pitch and when you look at it now, it looks crazy. Seriously, look it up. What that shows is how much football is always evolving.
“I am still curious if the fans in England still prefer for the keeper to kick it long and play for the second ball. Is there still nervousness if the keeper risks too much from the back, or do the fans enjoy it? I think it depends on the club’s DNA. Now, even in the lower leagues, you see goalkeepers taking a lot of risks and I love it.
“This idea of the goalkeeper being an extra player started with my father. He did not see the keeper only as someone to stop balls. He wanted a better build-up. This was a discussion as far back as 1986-87 when Carles Busquets [Sergio Busquets’s father] was the example. My father would tell him to play 20 or 30 yards out of his area to be like [Franz] Beckenbauer. Then it was a huge shock to people. Now it is normal. My father also played his full-backs inside and believed in the multi-system which Pep now evolves so much. If the opponent played with only one striker, he asked, ‘why do I need four defenders?’ He would rather have more players in midfield.”
Cruyff hopes the presence of Ten Hag and Slot to such stellar positions reflects a renaissance of Dutch coaches after a period out of fashion at the elite clubs.
“I have worked as a sporting director and on the coaching side and now I would like to go back into coaching. I think it is an advantage to have both visions,” he says. “Football goes in cycles and there was a time when there were a lot of Dutch coaches at top teams. Then it went quiet for a little while. Suddenly Portugal went up and there were a lot of Portuguese coaches at big clubs in Europe.
“To have two Dutch coaches at England’s two historical red clubs is a moment of pride for the Dutch people. It is beautiful to see and it will be a ­special game on Sunday.”