JORDI CRUYFF: All the best managers were midfielders in their playing days... but I never thought Roy Keane would be a great boss

Published: 01:30 EST, 9 September 2013 | Updated: 01:30 EST, 9 September 2013

Jordi Cruyff played for Barcelona, Manchester United, Alaves and Espanyol, among others, during his club playing career and represented the Dutch national team. The son of Dutch legend Johan Cruyff, Jordi appeared nine times for Holland and featured at Euro '96. Since retiring from professional football in 2010, Cruyff has ventured into management, assuming the position of Director of Football at Cypriot side AEK Larnaca, before becoming general manager at Maccabi Tel Aviv in the summer of 2012. The team, guided by Cruyff's pick as manager, Oscar Garcia, won the Israeli title last season.

You always look up to your father when you’re a little boy – and my dad is Johan Cruyff. If my father was a beach guard, maybe I would have liked to do that. But my dad was an amazing footballer and that a had a huge influence on me.

The first thing I saw when I was little was the boots and the ball. He didn’t teach me his tricks or the Cruyff turn – the matter of fact is that he had a very busy career – normally it was my mother who would bring me to games and when he could, dad would come along.

He has given me a lot of tips and advice but I’m a stubborn one and in the end, I do what I think is best.

Talking a good game: Jordi Cruyff explains his role in Israel at Maccabi Tel Aviv

Father and son: Johan Cruyff with his son Jordi in Barcelona

Dutch master: Jordi's father Johan Cruyff is regarded as one of the best players to have played the game

There are two types of football players – the legends and the mortals. My father is a legend and I am a mortal.

The legends like my father – they come, they do and they remain. I am part of the vast majority of mortals – we come, we do and we die. I never had a problem with the pressure to live up to my father’s achievements.

It was more the media who were dreaming that my genes would be identical to my father’s. To my pain, it was never like this!

At Manchester United, it was difficult for me to nail down a regular first-team place. I had the likes of Beckham, Scholes and Giggs in front of me in midfield. I could also play as a striker but there was Sheringham, Cantona and all these magnificent players.

At the time, you don’t understand why you aren’t playing but looking back, I see the players who were around me and think ‘Fair enough.’ You need a squad to succeed. Often, the players who don’t play decide how good the players who do play will be. Everybody has his role.

The higher the level the subs have, the higher the level of the team. I thought at United I would fit in well because they had a young squad but there was a real difference between the passing game of the Spanish league and the Premier League at that time. We are talking about almost twenty years ago.

Now, England has a good technical level but it was still very physical in England then and it was a really hard adjustment to make. It was the opposite of Spain.

Sir Alex Ferguson was very intuitive. As you get older, you start to understand certain things that confused you when you were younger. I thought it was strange that a manager could turn round to you and say ‘You’re not playing today, but keep your head down, train well, because I need you ready for a big game in two weeks.’ I would say, ‘What if everybody scores a hat-trick? How can you fit me in then?’ And he would reply, ‘That’s my problem, don’t worry.’

At that time, I didn’t understand but looking back Sir Alex was very clever. He was one step ahead of the rest. He was capable of thinking not only for the first game but for the second, third and fourth game. His squad rotation was intelligent. I came from Spanish football, which I thought was miles ahead of the English game – not Sir Alex Ferguson. He is a strong personality and he knew when it was the time for a player to go, regardless of the consequences.

The United attitude was so good. There was a week where we had three games and Paul Scholes scored in all three, maybe six or seven goals in total. I was looking at him in the dressing room the next day and he was so calm in the dressing room, completely normal, as though he’d done nothing all week.

Big chance: Cruyff celebrates scoring for Manchester United against Wimbledon

Plenty of stars: Cruyff played at Manchester United when David Beckham was at his peak

The master: Cruyff was impressed with Sir Alex Ferguson's man management skills

I said, ‘Jesus, if I’d scored seven goals in three games, I’d be walking in with a new suit! They would have had to make the doors wider because my ego would not have fit through anymore!’ I learned a lot of these small lessons at that time.

The strength was how that group maintained their hunger and the willingness to fight every day. I loved it – and this is the key to Barcelona too. Players who have been winning everything during these last few years that still have the passion and motivation to compete with each other and keep winning.

It is going to be tough for United without Ferguson. How many years has it been? Twenty six? Wow – that’s a stupid, unreal, unbelievable amount. It is almost impossible to maintain that success and stability. One of his strengths was keeping the media out – he was very selective and it is important.

Clubs need stability and the media don’t bring stability. They give you praise and just when you are too high, they bring you down again. Sir Alex controlled that very well. I maybe learned that in particular from Ferguson.

I played with Pep Guardiola at Barcelona and you could tell he had the intelligence to be a great coach. He was not a fast player, or a strong player. It meant his technique was excellent on the ball. I don’t mean juggling with the ball and tricks – that’s not technique – but technique in decision making and his first touch, and with his two-touch football.

It gave him a sixth sense because he didn’t have the speed, the explosiveness, or the stamina – he didn’t know how to jump. Everything was based on intelligence, movement and anticipation. Everything was considered and thought-out. When you play football, you aren’t really thinking about what the guy on the left of you will be doing in twenty years, but now I look back and I see that he had the profile to be a great manager. Of course, there are a lot of players who you think will be a good manager but are not.

I never thought Roy Keane would be a great manager. No, I would have said Gary and Phil Neville would do well – they had the right education and passion for it. Ryan Giggs? If he’s not tired of playing football after so many years, then he could be a manager. There are some players who have the luxury of being able to choose what they want to do.

Troubled times: Cruyff says he never saw Roy Keane going onto be a successful manager

Tipped for the top: Cruyff says both Phil and Gary Neville have had the right education to be managers

Bayern have overtaken Barcelona in the last year. Germany have made a big step-up in their football, they are playing at a good, technical level combined with energy and power. One of the key factors in German football at this moment, though, is the mix of cultures. You can see it in their national team.

There are Turkish born players, like Mesut Ozil, and Ghanian-born Germans. In the under-21s, you will see it is no longer the blonde with the blue eyes, the typical tall German. You see a big mix now and it blends together really well. It is similar to that brilliant France team from around 1998 and 2000 when Thuram was from Guadeloupe and Zidane was from Algeria.

In Israel, we have a limit of five foreign players that clubs can have in their squad but I think the free market system elsewhere is better. With more overseas players, the level of the league increases because it can benefit from a mix of players from different cultures.

Going onto big things: Cruyff says he could tell Pep Guardiola would become a good manager from when they played together at Barcelona

I know people talk about the negative impact of the Premier League on England but did the English national team win anything in the twenty to thirty years before the influx of foreign players? The thing is, in England, there is also a very strong Championship and even League 1, so there is enough room for English players. That is the main difference.

We lost our manager Oscar Garcia to Brighton this summer. Maccabi Tel Aviv is well organised and a big club, but ultimately, the league is in Israel. If Oscar has a good year at Brighton, then he is at the door of everyone’s dream: to be a manager in the Premier League.

I have a theory that the best coaches are those who were defensive midfielders in their playing days – look at Pep Guardiola, Oscar Garcia, our current coach Paulo Sousa and Roberto Martinez.

Cultural mix: Cruyff believes Germany have excelled in recent years by having a mix of cultures in the squad - like Turkish-born Mesut Özil who has just joined Arsenal

Starting the trend: France had players like Zinedine Zidane and Lilian Thuram who were not born in France

The defensive midfielder always has players around him – he has to have a very good awareness and possess the ability to make decisions quickly.  It is not a guarantee of success, but it is not a coincidence that the two coaches I have appointed - Oscar Garcia and Paulo Sousa - played in that position. It doesn’t mean we will only appoint a former holding player as a coach, but I do believe it gives them a certain tactical advantage.

The role of a sporting director - which is essentially my role - is becoming more appreciated now. A lot of clubs let their coach make eight signings in the summer and they spend a fortune. All of a sudden, they lose five in seven games and the coach is out.

Moving on: Brighton manager Oscar Garcia was at Maccabi Tel Aviv before he moved to England

The men in charge: Jordi Cruyff and new manager Paulo Sousa

Then, the next manager comes in – he wants to change the squad and another eight players arrive. Before you know it, you have sixteen contracts, so a sporting director brings greater continuity and allows for financial stability. You need an understanding with the coach, though. In England, it is different because it is more traditional, but little by little, it will change to the way things are done in Europe, especially because there are more and more foreign owners.

Roberto Martinez is a good friend of mine – I was best man at his wedding! He has his football philosophy. He has his ideas and he holds onto them. Of course, you have to be flexible and sometimes he will have to adjust but he keeps with a vision and I respect that. I wish him all the best as a friend but I also believe in him as a manager.

Best man: Cruyff and Roberto Martinez are good friends and the new Everton boss is an optimist

When we were friends in England – Martinez was at Wigan, I was at United and he helped me through some really difficult times. When I was there, he kept on motivating me. We did a marketing post-graduate degree together at Manchester University. He pushed me a lot to do those things.

We were different kinds of substitutes. When I was not playing, of course I wanted the team to win but if they do too well, you never get in the team! Roberto was so positive when he was a sub for a while, wishing everybody well from his heart.

A lot of times I spoke to him and told him not to judge people like me because we have different ways of suffering while not playing. He has a character that very few people have in football. He’s an optimist but it has brought him a long way and he will have a great career in football.

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